Ron Dunn Podcast - What Is God Really Like?

Episode Date: May 31, 2013

You are listening to the Ron Dunn Podcast. Ron Dunn is a well-known author and was one of the most in-demand preachers during the latter part of the 20th century. He led Bible studies all over the United States, Europe, and South Africa. For more information and resources from Ron Dunn, please visit rondunn.com. I want to read this morning out of Luke chapter 15, verses 11 through 24. So if you have your Bibles, would you open please to this passage of Scripture. Luke chapter 15, I'll begin reading with verse 11 and read through verse 24. Very familiar story to most of us,

and I trust that the Lord today will speak to us in a new and fresh way. Beginning with verse 11. Then he said, there was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of the property that falls to me. So he divided his property between them. Not many days after that, the younger son got together all he had and went away into a far country.

And there he squandered all his living by living in dissipation. After he had spent it all, a severe famine struck that country, and he began to suffer want. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, and he sent him to his fields to feed the swine. And often he craved to fill himself with the husk which the swine themselves were eating, and nobody gave him anything. Then he came to himself and said, How many of my father's hired men have more to eat than they need, and here I am dying of hunger. I will get up and go to my father and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me

like one of your hired servants. So he got up and went to his father. But while he was yet still a long way off, his father saw him, and his heart was moved with compassion, and he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. His son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I no longer deserve to be called your son.

Treat me like one of your hired servants. But his father said to his slaves, Bring out the best robe, the finest one, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. And take the fatted calf and kill it and let us feast and celebrate. Because this son of mine was dead and has come to life, was lost and has been found. So they began to celebrate. One of my favorite writers through the years is a man by the name of C.S. Lewis,

and I'm sure that many of you are familiar with him. In the last few years, there's been a revival of interest in C.S. Lewis and his writings. C.S. Lewis was a very prolific writer. He was a very interesting man. He was a professor of medieval literature at Cambridge University and Oxford University. He wrote quite a few science fiction novels, but he's best known to us for the books he wrote that deal with the Christian life, probably the best known Screwtape, the great divorce, mere Christianity, the problem of pain, miracles, and a number of others.

C.S. Lewis was an atheist until he was converted to Christ after being an adult. He didn't marry until he was 60 years old. I guess he was thinking about it all those years and finally made up his mind to do it, but he was married when he was 60. Three years later, his wife died of cancer. Of course, even when they were married, she had the disease. They just weren't aware of it.

During the next three years, as his wife suffered from that cancer, C.S. Lewis kept a notebook during that time. He never intended anybody else should read it. It wasn't to be published. So he would pick up a scrap of paper here and half of a notebook here and just jot down the feelings that he was experiencing and the thoughts that were going through his mind. And since he intended nobody else to read them, he was very candid and very honest.

And during those three years, there would be times when his wife would look as though she had been healed, when the disease would go into remission and they would just be filled with hope and thanking God that their prayers had been answered. And then three or four months later, the disease would come back with even a greater intensity than before and their hopes and hearts would be plunged into despair. And so, as I said, Lewis never intended anybody should read these things, and so he was very honest. He wrote down a lot of things that probably many of us think at times

but are afraid to admit it because it sounds so bad. That has been published now in a book by the title, A Grief Observed. And it's one of the finest little books on that subject I've ever read. And I recommend it to you on one condition. And the condition is that you read it through to the end. For if you read that book through to about the middle and then lay it aside, you'll go away saying, well, here is a man who was a Christian and yet when tragedy came into his life, he lost his faith. And that's the way it looks about halfway through. But if you read the book through to the end, you'll see he comes out all right. But he does get shaky in the middle. So you need to read it through to the end. But there is a

statement that Lewis makes about halfway through that book that I want to share with you this morning, remembering that he was an atheist before he became a Christian. At one of the lowest points during that time, Lewis wrote these words. He said, I am not in danger of ceasing to believe in God. In other words, he wasn't going to become an atheist again. But he said, I am in danger of coming to believe such dreadful things about him. The conclusion I fear is not, well, so there's no God after all.

The conclusion I fear is, so this is what God is really like. The danger is not in ceasing to believe in God. The danger is in coming to believe such dreadful things about Him. I was brought up in the church. I don't understand people who are atheists I admit that I can't comprehend how someone can not believe there is a God

and I have always thought that being an atheist had to be about the most pitiful and tragic spiritual condition a person could ever find themselves in but I have come to believe there's something even more tragic than that. Even more tragic than not believing in God is believing in God and yet believing the wrong things about Him. Believing in the wrong kind of God. I think it is easier to win to faith in Christ an out-and-out atheist

than it is to win somebody who believes in God, but they believe the wrong things about Him, believe in the wrong kind of God. You see, there is God as He is, and then there is God as you and I conceive Him to be. And the fact is this morning, we're not necessarily worshiping God as He is. We're worshiping God as we conceive Him to be. If our concept of God is wrong, then our

worship will be wrong. If our concept of God is right, then our worship will be right. But everything depends upon what I know, what I believe, what I conceive about God. That's why there have always been religions in the world where some have offered the firstborn child in sacrifice. Why would they do that? That's the kind of God they believed in. You see, the truth of the matter is, you and I live in response to what we believe about God.

What I believe about God determines the kind of life I'm going to live. If I don't believe in a righteous and holy God, then I won't necessarily live a righteous and holy life. That's why the Bible says we love Him. Why? Because He first loved us. You see, we simply are reacting to what we believe about God. Peter says we're to be holy. Why? Because God is holy.

John says God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Therefore, if we want to have fellowship with Him, we must walk in the light as He is in the light. What you believe about God will determine how you pray, and it will determine how you react when your prayers aren't answered. What you believe about God will determine whether or not you praise Him in good times and whether or not you cling to Him in bad times. There is no other thing as quite important as knowing what God is really like. And that's what Jesus is talking to us about in this 15th chapter of Luke. I read to you this morning the parable of the prodigal son,

and that's what we call it, and I guess in a sense it is, but the truth is that it is not preeminently a parable about a prodigal son. The main figure in this story is not a prodigal. The main purpose of the Lord here is not to reveal to us that children sometimes become prodigals. You don't need God to tell you that. You don't need a Bible to tell you that children can sometimes become prodigals. Some of us have been prodigals. Some of us have had some prodigals, and we found that out all by ourselves. You don't need the Bible to tell you that. Of course, I might as well go ahead and say that not all prodigals are boys. Some of them are girls. And not all prodigals leave home, unfortunately. They hang around,

they hang around, make life miserable for everybody else. No, we don't need the Lord to tell us that boys sometimes become prodigals. The purpose of the story is not to tell us about the boy. The purpose of the story is to tell us about the father. This is not so much a parable of the prodigal son as it is a picture of the father's heart. And it's very clear that this is what Jesus is doing. If you go back to the first verses of chapter 15, you'll find it stated there very clearly. Jesus was sitting down and eating with some sinners and publicans. And this outrage, the Pharisees, these self-righteous Pharisees were outraged. They said, how can this man claim to be a holy man? How can he claim to be a rabbi? And he sits down and eats with folks like that.

And Jesus knew what they were thinking. And in effect, what he says is this, the trouble with you fellows is you don't know what God is like. You think God is self-righteous like yourself, but he's not like that. God is like a shepherd who has a hundred sheep. Ninety-nine are safely in the fold, but there's one lost out, John, in the wilderness. He leaves the ninety and nine and he goes out into the wilderness and he searches and searches and searches, not until he gets tired,

not until it gets dark, but until he finds it and he brings it home. That's what God is like. God is like a woman who has ten coins. She loses one and not content with nine, she sweeps and dusts the house until she finds it. That's what God is like. God is like a father who has two sons. One is at home, the other is in the far country. Jesus is telling us what God is really like, and how you and I live our lives and choose to live our lives will depend upon what we believe about God. There are just two or three things I want to share with you this morning that Jesus gives to us out of this story.

What is God like? This God that we gather to worship this morning, what is He really like? First of all, Jesus is telling us that God is a Father kind of God who grieves over every prodigal. He is a Father kind of God. Not only is He a God of holiness and righteousness and judgment and power and creation, but He is preeminently a father kind of God. Now, the unique revelation that Jesus brought, the unique revelation of the New Testament is that God is a father. You'll not find that in the Old

Testament. God is spoken of occasionally as a Father, but usually as a Father to the nation, Israel, or a Father to the king. But you'll have a difficult time finding Abraham or David or Moses or Daniel anywhere in the Bible praying to God and calling Him our Father. The very first time those words appear in prayer are in Matthew chapter 6 when Jesus arrives on the scene and He said, Listen, when you pray, this is the way to do it. Say, Our Father. The unique revelation that Jesus brought is this, that God is a Father.

That's how you and I are to think of Him, first and foremost, as a Father kind of God. Now, when you talk to a three-year-old, you have to accommodate yourself to him. You don't talk to a three-year-old the way you talk to a 30-year-old. You have to talk his language. You have to use symbols and terms that he understands.

Now, when God wants to talk to me and God wants to make known to me what he's like, how does God talk to me? Well, I'll tell you this much. I don't know that I'd understand divine language. God's going to have to accommodate himself to my inability to understand. He's going to have to come down and talk on my level. And so when God wants to reveal Himself to us, He's saying, what I want you to know about me is this. The best way I know to describe myself to you is this. I am a father.

And the moment He says that, we know what He means. We understand that because we know what a father is. We know what a mother is. We understand that concept of parenting. And God says, I want you to know this about me. I am first and foremost above everything else. I am a father. And immediately I understand. I can grasp it. I can comprehend it. Now, some of you may be saying, well, that doesn't do much for me because I had a lousy dad. Well, you may have, but the only reason you know he was a lousy one is because you know what a good one's supposed to be.

We understand that. And so Jesus is saying, more than anything else, what you need to know about God is he is a father. Now, I tell you, that is a remarkable revelation. I think that is the most remarkable thing about God that there is revealed to us in the Bible. And I'll tell you why that's so remarkable.

Let's look at these two people again. Here's the father, the wealthy man, over here in this palatial house. He's eating three meals a day, waited on hand and foot by his servants. He's in great shape. And here's his son in a far country. He's lost all of his money and with it his friends. He's

reduced to abject poverty. I mean, he's living with pigs and eating what they eat. Now you have these two people. I want to ask you a question. Which one of those is suffering the most? Which one of those two people

is hurting the most he said oh that's easy that's that boy in that far country I mean look at the mess he's in look at how he's suffering that's easy it's the boy who's suffering the most no

it's the father who's suffering the most well I don't see how that can be he's living in wealth and comfort and convenience he has everything a heart could desire and look at this boy I don't understand that it is the father

suffering far more than that son suffers and I'll tell you why the greater your capacity to love the greater your capacity to hurt it's just that simple. I remember some years ago, a friend of ours was going through a very difficult divorce, and during the process, she said to us one day, I'm never going to love anybody again. It hurts too much. And I thought, isn't it tragic that you had to put those two things together,

love and hurt, and yet that's the way it is. I mean, if you don't ever want to be hurt, if you never want to be hurt by anybody or anything, I can tell you how to do that. Just don't ever love anybody, just don't ever care about anybody, and you won't be hurt.

But the moment you set your heart hurt. But the moment you set your heart on somebody, the moment you start caring, the moment you start loving, you make yourself vulnerable to hurt and to pain. That's one of the puzzles of life, that we want to love, and yet at the same time, the same thing that brings us such love and joy also can bring us such pain. There's nobody on the face of the earth that can bring joy. And there's nobody on the face of the earth that can bring pain equal to the pain that a child can bring.

But that's the way it goes. That's the territory. That's an occupational hazard. If you're going to be a parent, if you're going to be a husband or wife, if you're going to love somebody, you understand, everyone here this morning, we understand one thing, that everybody we love one day is going to be taken from us. We don't think about it because we don't want to think about it, but the fact is, we make ourselves vulnerable when we love people. Now the point I'm making is this.

I can't even begin to imagine God's capacity to love. And I cannot even begin to imagine God's capacity to hurt. The greater your capacity to love, the greater your capacity to hurt the greater your capacity to hurt and what amazes me is that God himself would voluntarily make himself vulnerable

expose himself to pain God experienced something that he had never experienced before when he made man and loved him you know what he experienced that he had never experienced before when he made man and loved him. You know what he experienced that he had never experienced before? He experienced pain and suffering. And the Bible all the way through talks about a suffering God. What kind of God is this who suffers? What kind of God is this whose heart is broken? It is a father kind of God. That's why. I never will forget a few years ago, I was in a meeting in Arkansas, and the pastor was in his early 60s, and usually after the service, he would just drive up to the motel, and I'd get out and go on in.

That was the end of it, but one night he pulled up in front of my room, and he cut off the ignition, and he just sat there for a moment, and then suddenly fell across the steering wheel crying like a baby. I had no idea what was going on. I sat there for a moment then I reached over and put my hand on his shoulder and I said, Pastor, what in the world is wrong? And he told me about a 39-year-old son, a medical doctor in another state, wife and three children, great medical practice, clinic, home, all the things that go with that kind of successful lifestyle. But something had snapped in that young man, and well, to make matters short, he had lost everything, lost his family, lost his house, lost his medical practice, lost everything. He was nothing but a bum. And here was this father weeping over this 39-year-old

son. Now, folks, I'm going to tell you something. My first thought that night as I sat there in that car, my first thought was not for that man or his son. Do you know what my first thought was? My soul. Do you mean to tell me that after your kids are 39 years old and are married and have their own families and live in another state, you still cry over them? Well, that was the most discouraging news I ever heard in my life, folks.

I mean, you know, that's what we wait for, isn't it? I mean, I didn't have these kids to keep. They're supposed to grow up and get married and go on out. Won't it be nice when the kids are gone and we can settle back and enjoy life? Yeah, mm-hmm. The fact of the matter is it doesn't make any difference if they're 4 or 40.

They're still your kids and you're still their mom and dad. And the fact of the matter is I think it gets a little worse because the older they get, the more trouble they can get into. We're talking about serious trouble. But you see, there's not anything you can do because if you're going to love, you have to risk it. And it's worth the risk. And that's what God thought. God thought it's worth the risk. It's worth the pain. It's worth the suffering. How much does a father or a mother love a child? Enough to risk pain. Enough to risk heartache. How much does God love me? Enough to risk pain and suffering. Jesus says, this is what I want you to know about God. He is a father kind of God who grieves over

every one of us. But there's something else. He's also a kind of God, a father kind of God who grieves over every one of us. But there's something else. He's also a kind of God, a father kind of God that receives us just as we are when we come to him. The turning point in this story, of course, is when that boy gets up and makes his decision to go home. And the Bible says, and when he was yet a great way off, the father saw him. You know what that tells me? That tells me that his father was watching. I mean, the boy was yet a great way off, and the father saw him. You know why? Because the father always had one eye on that road. And I can see him in the evening after supper coming out on the porch, sitting down and looking down that long, long road. And one evening as he sits there, suddenly a little dot appears on the horizon.

And he watches it. And as that dot grows larger and comes closer, he recognizes something. There's a walk. There's a step. He'd recognize that anywhere. That's his son. And he runs out. Runs out to meet him

and says, yeah, I told you this would happen, didn't I? Now you stink like pigs and you're broke. That's not what he said. That's not what he did. You know, sometimes, just to be honest with you, we parents sort of feels good sometimes

to be able to say, I told you so. And yet, this father had every reason to say, well, I told you so. But he didn't. God never says, I told you so. He ran out without any rebuke, without dredging up the past, threw his arms around him,

smothered him with kisses, treated him just as he was, accepted him just as he was, put the best robe on him, even while he stinks, put the best robe on him. And the best robe was a robe that the son wouldn't even wear in the best

of conditions because it was reserved for a guest of honor at some banquet. Put the best robe on him. Put shoes on his feet. Put the ring on his finger. Let's kill the calf and have a party. Let's celebrate. Why? Because my son has come home. He treated him in that way. Received him just

as he was. That's why I love that hymn we sing, Just as I am, without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me. O Lamb of God, I come. How do we come to Him? We come just as we are. And there's another old hymn that says, If you tarry till you're better, you will never come at all.

You see, you have to come just as you are, or you don't come at all. You may say, well, one of these days I'm going to come to Jesus. No, you have to come just as you are, or you don't come at all. You may say, well, one of these days I'm going to come to Jesus. No, you'll never come. Well, when I get a few things settled, or I know I can really live it, or this or that, I'll come. No, you'll never come. You come just as you are, and He receives us just as we are. Now, He doesn't let us stay that way, of course. He cleans us up and changes us, but He receives us just as we are. Now, he doesn't let us stay that way, of course. He cleans us up and changes us, but he receives us just as we are. And I tell you, I used to wonder

why this boy waited so long to come back. I would have thought that he would have had enough sense to save a few dollars, you know, and a good change of clothes to get back home, at least looking halfway respectable. But what made him so stubborn? Why did it take him so long to come back? I think it's because, like many of us,

he didn't really understand his father. Remember what he said while he was there in that pig pen? He said, I will go to my father, and I will say unto my father, Father, I am no longer worthy to be called thy son. I no longer deserve to be called thy son. I no longer deserve to be called thy son. Now when he says that, he's implying that he thought at one time

he was worthy to be called his son. I am no longer worthy. Well, at one time he thought he was worthy, and that was his whole problem. That's why he asked for the inheritance. But the fact of the matter was, his worthiness had never had anything to do with it. His worthiness didn't matter one bit.

He wasn't the son because he was worthy. I am no longer worthy. The fact was, he never was worthy. A child doesn't have any right to brag about its parentage. You know why? Because you didn't choose your parents. You didn't choose them. You didn't have anything to do with it.

I remember some years ago when my daughter and I were having a little heated discussion. She said, well, I didn't ask to be born. I said, if you had, the answer would have been no. I'm no longer worthy to be called thy son. Listen, you never were worthy. Your worthiness never had anything to do about it. And it's the same way with God. I know I'm talking to people this morning that you feel unworthy. Well, I'm no longer worthy to pray, to come to church, to read the Bible. I used to be worthy because I was living for God and doing all the things right, but I've done some bad things and I'm no longer

worthy. That's why some of us stay away from Father, because we feel we're no longer worthy. Could I say to you this morning, you never were worthy. Your worthiness never had anything to do with it in the first place. It's always been a matter of grace from start to finish. Your sin makes you no less worthy and your righteousness makes you no more worthy than you are right now. You come to Him and He'll receive you just as you are. And then the last word is this. Not only is He a Father kind of God who grieves over us,

receives us just as we are, but treats us as though we'd never been away. He treats us as though we'd never been away. He treats us as though we'd never been away. Put shoes on his feet, the sign of sonship. He wanted these slaves to know that this boy was his son and not a servant. Put shoes on his feet. Put the ring on his finger, referring to the signet ring that was worn in those days

when you were a man of means or property. It was to us what a credit card is. For instance, if you were signing some financial transaction, you'd sign your name and then down at the bottom there'd be a little pool of hot wax and you'd take that signet ring and put the impression there like a credit card. I like to think that the father was saying to the son, son, here's your American Express card. Don't leave home again without it. Well, don't you think we ought to put him on probation, see if he takes off again? No. Well, you know, he's done all these bad things, and shouldn't we? No. We treat him as though he'd never been away, as though he'd never been gone. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just

to forgive us our sins and to do more than that, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You see, God does more than forgive us. He also cleanses us. You say, what's the difference? Well, just this. Let's say your little boy,

about four years old, you get him all dressed up for Sundayay school and church and he says mommy can i go outside and play and you said yes but stay out of the mud which is probably a bad thing to say he comes back in in a few moments and he's covered from head to foot in mud. I mean that boy is muddy, and he knows he's had it. And when you see him, you're ready to give it to him. And that little boy begs and pleads. He says, Oh, Mommy, I didn't mean to do it. Oh, Mommy, please don't spank me.

Oh, Mommy, forgive me, please. Mommy, don't spank me. And, of course, no self-respecting mother could ever turn away from that. And she says, All right, honey, Mommy forgives you. Mommy's not going to spank you. Mommy forgives you. She said, Now to spank you. Mommy forgives you. She said, Now take off your clothes

and get in the bathtub. And he just stands there and says, No. Son, I've forgiven you. Take off your clothes. Get in the bathtub. No.

Why? He said, I like the mud. Mommy's not only going to forgive that boy, he's going to clean him up. So he looks like he's never been in the mud. That's cleansing. God does more than just forgive us.

He also washes away the dirt and the stain that that sin left on us. Treats us as though we'd never been away. One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 103. There's one part in that psalm where the psalmist says, as far as the east is from the west, that's how far I've removed your sins from you. As far as the east is from the west, that's how far I've removed your sins. I wonder why he didn't say as far as the north is from south. I mean, that's a long way.

I'd settle for that, wouldn't you? But he didn't say as far as the north is from the south. He said as far as the east is from the west. Why do you suppose he put it that way? Well, maybe it's because if you were to start out walking north today, if you walked long start out walking north today, if you walked long enough and far enough, you would eventually be walking south.

If you started out walking south today, and you walked long enough and far enough, you would eventually be walking north, because north and south meet. There is a north pole and there is a south pole. But if you were to start walking east today, you could walk east for a million years and you'd always be walking east. And you could start out walking west today

and you could walk west for a billion years and you'd always walk west. Why? Because east and west don't meet. There is no east pole. There is no west pole. God says as far as the East is from the West, that's how far I've removed your sins from me.

You'll never meet them again. They're gone as though they never occurred, as though they never were. You know, I think it's ironic that this young man found everything he went to the far country searching for, he found it in his father's house. It's kind of a sad irony.

What he was looking for out yonder was all the time in his father's presence. And I don't know what it is you're looking for this morning, what far country you're living in, what you're looking for, but I think I can say this to you. Everything your heart longs for is found in the presence of the Father. You'll not find it out yonder.

It's found in the Father's house. Someone asked me one day where I thought the far country was. I said, well, I don't know. And yes, I do know. It's just one step outside the will of God. It doesn't take long to get there. I mean, you can get there between the opening hymn of a service and the closing hymn of a service.

It's just one step outside the will of God. I mean, you can get there between the opening hymn of a service and the closing hymn of a service. Just one step outside the door. Ron Dunn's podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church. For more Ron Dunn materials, sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from his study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.