Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Father's Exchange
By Ramone - November 10, 2008
In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God...
God the only Begotten Son, in the bosom of the Father...
The Father loves the Son...
This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us
and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins...
This is how we know what love is.
God loved the world so much
that He gave His only Son,
so that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 1:1-3 & 3:35, 1st John 4:10 & 3:16, John 3:16) I was not sure what the shiny "stars" meant in Father's hands here. I first thought it meant something about how He is precious, and He holds all things precious, and all things from Him are precious, but the most precious thing of all, the brightest star in the universe, is His Son, whom He gave to us on the cross... in giving us His Son, He has given us everything.
I am beginning to understand now. The starts in Father's hands are us, and we are stars in His hands because of the Star of His heart, His Son, whom He gave on the cross so that we could become His. We are counted righteous because of what He did for us. We "shine like stars" and "like the sun in the kingdom" of our Father because the Word of Life gave His life for us on the cross.
This is a picture of that exchange. The Son given to the cross below, and we in Father's hands as His redeemed stars. It came as I was praying about pictures to lend to a friend's art show. His church had been studying the Apostle's Creed and the show was to have pictures based on the themes of their study. After praying I had already selected three pictures for that show (including a new one the Lord had shown me), when He then gave me this one on top of it (to make four in all -- see link here).
I believe He gave it because He wants us to re-focus our sight on the only thing in His sight -- the sacrifice of His Son! My friend's church is part of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, the church I grew up in and later left at the leading of the Holy Spirit and the conviction of the Scriptures. SDA was founded on many, many things which distracted from the one thing that is needed. A larger framework was created (called "the great controversy") which made the Old Covenant Law the center of the galactic debate and war between good and evil, and which preached the keeping of the law to vindicate God.
But in God's sight, there is no "great controversy". The universe knows the difference between Light and darkness -- it is only we who have been confused about the matter. In Father's clear sight, He sees only two realities: His Son and everything else. Because of His Son's sacrifice, because of what He gave, we are counted righteous. If we do not embrace His Son, we are not even on the map. But if we are in His Son, we shine like stars in His hands.
I pray for my old denomination, that the eyes of their hearts will be opened to the simple "view" that Father sees instead of the "view" that has been handed down to them by their spiritual parents and carefully guarded by the denominational leadeship. In these last days, God is pouring out His heart to us all. All of us --no matter what church we've been part of -- all of us have at times imposed our own "view" of things on what God has shown us. He is pouring out His Spirit on us now that we may lose our view of things and embrace His:
"And I will pour out on them a spirit of grace and supplication.
They will look on Me, the one they have pierced,
and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child,
and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son."
- Zechariah 12:10
"I have made You known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I Myself may be in them."
- John 17:26
# posted by Ramone @ 10:45 PM 
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Note: I've just re-titled this painting "Father's Exchange". When I first saw it and painted it, I could only call it "Father" because I was overwhelmed with His heart, and I still am now as I write this! But after finishing writing out the interpretation today, I feel that the new title fits it more and describes it more.
P.S. to above Note: I could also call it "Father's Heart", because that's what it is. Or "Father's World", or "Father's Universe", or "Father's View". Somehow ALL of these titles speak the truth.
And all I can say is, Thank You, Father.
And all I can say is, Thank You, Father.
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