“I
will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.” Jesus
to His followers {John
14:18} I love Mother’s Day (remember to
sign-up for our Mother’s Day drive-thru
photo booth at each Rock Bridge campus) because I’m so thankful for my mom and
her impact on my life. The question “Where would I be without her?” only helps
me thank God for the gift of my mom and all moms. Jesus’ disciples were asking a
similar question as Jesus began preparing them for His physical departure from
earth. What would they do without Jesus beside them? To give them assurance and
hope, Jesus used the metaphor of an orphan to teach them that in fact He was
not leaving them but would be with them as the indwelling Holy Spirit. As unthinkable as it would be to
forget our moms (especially on Mother’s Day!!), too many of us and our churches
forget about the Holy Spirit (see blog post, “The Forgotten One”) with
the practical result that we live as spiritual orphans. Spiritual orphans exhibit some (or
all) of these characteristics: However, the great news is this does
not have to be us! God has given His Spirit and Jesus said that the Spirit
living in us was BETTER THAN Him being beside us (John
16:7)!! We are not orphans, even though we may be tempted to live like one. Perhaps I love this orphan analogy
because my two boys were once orphans and so I’ve seen firsthand the orphan
crisis in the world. But I also have seen the transformation of two boys who no
longer live like orphans. They live as my sons. They call Beth “Mom” and me
“Dad.” They live in our house not as temporary guests but permanent residents.
They ask us for food, for help, for opportunities to have fun, and yes, for
money! Why? Because they are no longer orphans, they are our sons! Perhaps you are better at living as
an orphan than as a child of God and the home to His Holy Spirit? Can you
imagine what life would be like if we truly lived as if God was at home in our
heart as a permanent resident and if we enjoyed the privileges of being His
kids?!? And because Jesus did everything
legally required for God to adopt us (Romans
5:1-2) and because the Spirit of God has been poured out and into the
hearts of those who believe (Romans
5:5), we are most certainly not orphaned by God but have the capacity to
know and be filled with His fullness (Ephesians
3:16-19)! So how do “not … orphans”
live? By Faith. I remember when we first met our
boys at their orphanage in Ethiopia. They had never met us, but they had heard
we were coming for them as their legal parents. Those initial interactions were
all by faith as they had to trust us as parents instead of as strangers. God does not want to be a stranger. He
wants to be our Father and live in us by His Spirit. This is always an act of
faith. With Confidence. Let this sink in the all-powerful
and eternal living God is with you and lives IN you. Presence brings confidence but not
the self-confidence the world says we need but the God-confidence that says in
Christ I have all I need to fulfill my purpose and for everlasting joy. In Relationship. Eternal life is not going to heaven
when you die. It is a living and active relationship with God that begins at salvation/adoption
and continues forever into eternity. Therefore, we practice His presence
because we are always in His presence “not … as orphans…” but as His
very own children. There will always be more of God to know, to enjoy, and to worship. The Holy Spirit in us is a “deposit”, a “down payment”, and a “first allotment” (2 Corinthians 1:22)—there is more to come and the best is yet to come! matt
About Matt Evans
Matt Evans is the Founding and Lead Pastor of Rock Bridge Community Church in Dalton, Georgia. Matt and his wife, Beth, grew up in the Dalton area and saw the need for a church that would reach the lost, broken, de-churched, and spiritually wounded.