“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” Luke 11:13
How much to do we really know about God? How well do we really know HIM? The Heavenly Father is One who, in His holiness, and in spite of our sinfulness, (He calls us from a sin standpoint, “evil”), is the Giver of, “…every good and perfect gift, (which) is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17) Why does the Apostle James write this of the Father? It is to inspire the believer to look closer at Him, His unchanging character, nature and disposition to give. Even the Apostle Paul wrote of the same matter, but in a different way: “He that spared not His own Son, buut delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him, also, freely GIVE us all things?” (Romans 8:32) The God which we worship, the only true and living God of Creation and Redemption, is the same today. He is the perfect Giver, Sustainer in life, Keeper, Provider, Guide. To the Ephesian church, Paul would write in his prayer, “…that He (the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ) would GIVE you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith…” (3:6) From “good and perfect things” that enable us to “taste and see that the Lord is good,” to all the riches that are in Christ, the Father is waiting to be gracious to any and every believer who will truly call upon Him, seek Him earnestly. He will be found by those who pursue Him in this manner. But how specifically are we to seek the Father, and receive from Him all that He desires to give so that His name will be truly worshipped, His kingdom come, and His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven? It begins with a Person, a Promise, and His faithful Provision.
Throughout Scripture, Christ is presented to man by revelation in the creation, and in redemption, as the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending. Paul even goes so far as to say that, “…all things were created by Him, and for Him.” (Col. 1:16) Creation reveals to us indirectly that Christ is previous to all creation, and that many things were settled in eternity, before the foundation of the world, with regard to us on this earth. In, by, and through all the dimensions of creation, the Creator and Redeemer reveals to us that He is the perfect, good, and everlasting GIVER of all that will truly bless mankind, saving and sanctifying all who will truly repent and come unto Him. To Abraham, the Lord would promise, “…and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3) And to all the world, John would declare: “For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Jn. 3:16) Here is revealed the infinite heart of God, who is willing, beyond all capacity of man to understand, the GIFT of His Son, first as the sacrifice for man’s sins, and also as the very Life by which the saved soul shall live for eternity. This promise a door from heaven through which the salvation of God is revealed to all lost men, that they might receive cleansing and deliverance from sin, and Christ’s indwelling, indestructible life by the Spirit.
To receive all that is good, and then the promised Holy Spirit, in the fulness of His ministry to the sinner, one must see the Wondrous Person with whom we are dealing, or rather, who is dealing with us. Then comes the promise and provision: “Ask, and it shall be given; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” (Matt. 7:7)
Dear Father, Make us good receivers. In Jesus’ name, Amen.