Acts 3:2 (King James Version)
2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;
With that last teaching we gave about being under our Father's grace all the way back to the womb, I can hear those gears squeaking in your brain. Pastor, if that is the case, how can anyone be born with any of the problems we have in the world today? Such as this man born out of his mother’s womb with this physical defect. I can understand this when a sin of the parents causes it. For example, when a mother who is a drug addict gives birth to a child, many times, the baby is also a drug addict when birthed. What about a Born-Again mother who is taking care of herself in all the proper ways and discovers that the little person within her womb has some physical defects.” First, the proper reference to such a child is a child of special ministry needs. As you know, only the physical body of the little one has a problem. The spirit light form living in the little one’s body is healthy. Also, the first man and woman were never sick until they got expelled from the garden.
When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, they had daily fellowship with our Father as He came and walked in the Garden of Eden. (See Genesis 3:8.) They could eat of the Tree of Life in the garden, enabling them to survive physically and have continual fellowship with Our Father. This arrangement could have continued on except for one thing. Adam and Eve chose to disobey Our Father and eat the forbidden tree's fruit, The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. After they disobeyed, they were no longer holy enough to continue fellowship with Our Father. So, Our Father expelled them from the garden and placed Cherubim at the entrance of the garden so they could not get back into the garden. Our Father did not want Adam and Eve to get back into the garden, eat of the Tree of Life, and be able to continue to live forever in their sinful or fallen condition. (See Genesis 3:22.) While Adam and Eve were living outside the Garden of Eden, sicknesses and illnesses started. Satan became involved in this, trying to bring about both the spiritual and physical death of human beings.
WHEN CHILDREN ARE HURTING
Some say that Our Father continues to punish humans for something one man and woman did centuries ago. There is one thing to consider about this idea. Adam and Eve were typical of the human race. For example, if you had been the first man and your wife the first woman, your humanness would have been like that of Adam and Eve to such an extent that you would have been the first to eat the forbidden fruit. So, what happened and is happening because Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit cannot be totally blamed on them.
Human beings do not need to understand everything involved in our situations, but you do need to know that Our Father’s Grace and Mercy are involved with humans as we are still living outside the Garden of Eden. Here is one thought that may help. When the angels that became the fallen angels rebelled against Our Father in Heaven, He expelled them from Heaven permanently. Since then, the fallen angels have not had fellowship with Our Father and will never again have fellowship with Our Father. When Adam and Eve, and we as a human race, were expelled from the Garden of Eden, Our Father began to provide a way for you humans to be freed from your sin and come back into fellowship with Your Father.
Yes, there are some things about being under Our Father’s Grace that we humans do not understand. One example is that of children with special ministry needs. But the truth remains: from conception, every spirit being created and placed in a human body is under Our Father’s Grace during that one’s total life on Planet Earth. There is only one real question about this, and that is. Whether or not a person chooses to continue to accept the Favor and Blessings of being under Our Father’s Grace when each person comes to the Age of Choosing.” With that said, three things have to happen for a child if the child is to receive the full benefits of Our Father’s Favor and Grace. First, the parents need to be Born Again Christians. Secondly, the parents need to realize that Our Father plans to give a child the Favor and Blessings of His Grace through the child’s parents. Thirdly, the parents of a child need to realize that at the age of choosing, each child needs to decide to become a Born-Again Christian in order to continue receiving the Favor and Blessings of Our Father’s Grace.
Luke 2:41-42 (King James Version)
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
EXAMPLES OF PARENTHOOD
Though Christ Your Lord grew up in a town about seventy miles from the city of the Temple, since His parents took him to the Yearly feast and then returned home, we know that He did not go to the school of the rabbis in the city of the Temple. This event shows that His parents were teaching Him the Scriptures and preparing Him for when He would become thirteen years and one day old and responsible for the Law of Our Father in His own life. The parents of Christ Your Lord prepared Him for the time when He would come to the Age of Choosing. His parents also saw that He was educated in other things so He could survive in the natural things of life. For example, (HS) had one reference included in the Bible that lets you know that Christ Your Lord could write. When He was confronting the scribes and Pharisees about a woman they brought to Him caught in the act of adultery, Christ Your Lord wrote in the sand. (See John 8:6.)
Luke 2:49 (King James Version)
49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
This statement of Christ reveals that at the age of twelve, He is beginning to understand the purpose of His life. Christ knew that (HS) had explained to His mother the purpose of her Son. Thus, He actually told His mother that when she could not find Him, she should have expected to find Him in Our Father’s House, the Temple. The parents of Christ followed Our Father’s plan for them as parents, extending the Favor and Blessings of Our Father’s Grace to the child from conception to the Age of Choosing. What born-again parents should always do is encourage their children on to higher learning, whether that be completing high school or going on to college. Along with consistent bible reading so that the Holy Spirit might minister to them concerning one's destiny.
Luke 2:51-52 (King James Version)
51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
This verse summarizes Christ's life from twelve to thirty when He was living on Earth. The word subject includes the idea of obeying. Thus, during those years of His life, He chose to obey the leadership of His parents. “The parents of Christ Your Lord had a role in Our Father extending His Grace to Him. The idea of increase includes growth and maturity- 1. Wisdom includes the idea of being educated to live in the natural world. 2. Stature is about the growth and maturity of one’s physical body. 3. Christ Your Lord experienced a growing understanding of the meaning of the Grace of Our Father. 4. Christ experienced a growing understanding of how the Grace of Our Father was to affect His relationship with other people. “Our Father’s plan is that through the teenage years of a child's life, Our Father not only continues to share His Grace through the parents but also through a personal relationship with the child or children.”
Mark 6:3 (King James Version)
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
He learned the trade of a carpenter from his earthly Father.
Luke 4:16 (King James Version)
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
Christ learned the personal custom of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath Day from His parents.
CONTINUING TO SHARE GRACE
Parents still have a role in sharing Our Father’s Grace with their children even after their children leave home. Most of this sharing is not done by conversation, though there are times when children who are away from home will still ask their parents about spiritual matters. Most of this sharing is done by example. If the parents continue to live their own lives like they taught their children to live their lives, the example of the parents will continue to be an example and challenge to the children as long as the parents are living. One example that I still remember from my parents is that they never quit at anything. “As Born-Again parents, you continue to share Our Father’s Grace with your children through the example of having spiritual priorities in your lives.
Timothy 1:5 (King James Version)
5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.
Timothy's father was not saved (see Acts 16:1), so he received spiritual influence from his mother. First of all, in this Scripture, the Christian experience had a generational movement to it. The Born-Again Experience went from the grandmother to her daughter and from her daughter to her grandson. Secondly, the word genuine explains how the influence went from the grandmother and mother to Timothy, even though he was an adult away from home. The word genuine means unhypocritical. Holy Spirit used the quality of his grandmother and mother not being hypocritical to influence Timothy to receive Our Father’s Grace. In a very real sense, Our Father gives His Grace and makes His Grace available to anyone willing to (receive) His Grace.
WHY GRACE DOESN’T APPEAR TO WORK
Matthew 5:45 (King James Version)
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
In this verse (HS) had it recorded that Our Father owns the sun that is the center of the universe, and this also means that Our Father owns the rain that waters the earth. Satan's evil has some influence on the benefits of the sun and rain, but Our Father owns them as He still owns all of His creation. Humans are users or stewards of the material things of Planet Earth, not the owners. “Secondly, note that it is only material blessings that Our Father bestows on both the good and just, and evil and unjust. Thus, Our Father’s grace does include material blessings. It is important to know why this statement is in the Bible. Our Father gives the Blessings and Favor of His Grace to all human beings on Planet Earth. This includes both material and spiritual blessings and favor. Something very important here needs to be pointed out. When it comes to adults, only Born-Again Christians can receive Our Father’s spiritual blessings, but all human beings receive the material blessings included in favor of His Grace. Before children come to the Age of Choosing, they can receive Our Father’s Grace through their parents, but at the Age of Choosing, the children need to be led to decide to receive the spiritual blessings of Our Father’s Grace by choosing to become Born Again Christians.
When Our Father’s Chosen People were on their wilderness journey from their land of captivity to the Promised Land, how did Our Father provide food for them? How was the food distributed among the people? “Our Father miraculously gave them manna from Heaven to eat. They were to gather a daily supply of manna for each family, and two days’ supply the day before the Sabbath Day- The manna was to be gathered according to each one’s needs.” (See Exodus 16:18-30.) “When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, Satan placed a quality of sin in the human nature that included the quality of selfishness. After Our Father’s Chosen People entered the Promised Land, Our Father told them that the manna from Heaven would stop and that they should eat from the land's fruit. Because of selfishness in the human spirit, food distribution did not continue based on each one’s needs. Each one’s wants and desires also became a part of the consideration. Also, Satan was able to disrupt Our Father, giving the sun and rain to all people. The result was that some people began to be richer than others, and some began to be poorer than others. Thus, some of Our Father’s Chosen People started to be poor people even though Our Father was equally giving His sun and rain to all His Chosen People.
For a short period of time after the Day of Pentecost, the early Christians had so much love for each other that they brought their possessions to the Apostles and had them distribute the possessions among the early Christians according to the needs of each one. (See Acts 2:44-45, 4:34-35.) This was not a command of Our Father; the early Christians had enough love for each other that their emphasis was upon the needs of people like it was when Our Father’s Chosen People were on their wilderness journey. We see here our Father’s grace continued because of love. Then again, wants and desires started to be given more priority than the needs of people. This continued to the present day, and thus, some Born Again Christians are still poorer than others. This will continue until the Great Millennium when the spirit of selfishness that Satan inserted into human nature will no longer be a part of Born Again Christians who then will be Spirit Light Beings living in Resurrected Bodies.”
