Abiding in Jesus, Living in Him (8)

 

 

What does the pruning of our Father look like?

 

I think it is vital that when we ponder this question, that we remind ourselves that we are talking about a relationship, we must view the question in the context of our relationship with our kind heavenly Father. We are not speaking of a “system” of spiritual formation or discipleship or religious development – we are not trying to make good Baptists or Presbyterians or Roman Catholics of Pentecostals of ourselves and others – we are focused on our union with Jesus Christ (the Vine) and of us being the sons and daughters of the Living God.

 

Our Father desires to form us into the image of His Firstborn Son, so that Jesus might be the “Firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). Let’s recall that the glorious purpose of the Incarnation is that our Father might bring “many sons to glory” through the Firstborn, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:10 – 11). In fact, as we ponder the Vine and the branches we see that the Incarnation continues on earth as the life of the Vine flows through the branches – Christ lives in heaven and on earth, the Body of Christ is transcendent, the communion of saints is glorious (Hebrews 12:18 - 24).

 

Since we are a family, we can expect that while there are commonalities in the ways our Father prunes and cleanses us, that there are also peculiarities, there are distinctives. Psalm 139 portrays the intimate knowledge our Father has with each one of us – we know Him as “our Father,” and we also know Him as “my Father.”

 

Sometimes we can help one another understand our Father’s pruning, for we are members of one another; then there are times all we can do is to “be there” for our brothers and sisters, for we are foolish to try to interfere with the working of the Holy Spirit.

 

“It is for discipline [think of pruning] that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:7). The writer of Hebrews is clear that the purpose of God’s discipline is that “we may share in His holiness” (Heb. 12:10).

 

Now consider that God is “holy, holy, holy (Isaiah 6:3), and then consider that our Father desires that we share in His holiness. Here is an element of how our Father brings many sons to glory, here is an outworking of the Incarnation and Atonement (which takes us back to Hebrews Chapter 2).

 

And here is something vital, we must be secure in God’s love for us in Jesus Christ – otherwise our insecurity will cause us to see our Father’s pruning as rejection – our relationship with the Father and Jesus is not conditional, it is not tentative – they have called us and justified us and given us a new nature and glorified us – and we now belong to God, we have been “bought with a price.” (See Romans chapters 5 & 8; 2 Cor. Chapter 5.) “Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39).

 

Well now, I suppose we can say that our Father’s pruning has at least two elements to it; dead and diseased elements of the branch need to be pruned, and healthy elements which do not contribute to the overall form and growth of the branch and vine also need to be pruned. Then there are times and seasons in which entirely healthy plants should be radically cut back to ensure flowering and long-term health.

 

“Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the word of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Yahweh, my rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:12 – 14).

 

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” (Psalm 139:23 – 24).

 

What do you see in these passages from Psalms 19 and 139?

 

How might they relate to our Father’s pruning in John 15?

 

How do the contexts of both these passages help us to understand them? In other words, how does the entirety of Psalm 19 help us understand and experience verses 12 – 14? How does the entirety of Psalm 139 help us understand verses 23 – 24?

 

We’ll look at this in our next reflection, the Lord willing.