The Heavenly Father Disciplines His Children, Part 1

Perhaps our list could be 100 loving acts of the Father, but we have resigned ourselves to merely 10, in chronological order. To recap the ground we’ve covered, our Father …

1. Loved us before anything or anyone existed.
2. Predestined us to adoption before the foundation of the world.
3. Created this world to show us His glory, to give us a place to live and an inheritance.
4. Offered up His only begotten Son to die for us.
5. Gave us the gift of physical life and myriads of blessings that go with it.
6. Gave us the gift of spiritual life, causing us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
7. Adopted us into His family, making us His legal and permanent heirs.
8. Gave us the Holy Spirit as a precious birthday gift.

Two through eight are clearly one time events, with six through eight all happening at the beginning of our Christian life. Here then is a gallery of gifts flowing down from the Father of lights. But number nine is different.

Raising children to maturity is not all birthday parties and presents. If we stopped at number eight, our list would be misleading and potentially damaging. We might develop both a warped view of fatherhood, God Himself and what it means to be His child.

Loving act number nine is our Father patiently disciplines us for our good. Being a father involves giving out some loving pain or negative reinforcement. Being a child of God means you are on the receiving end, for your entire life. This is the only one of our list that is a life-long process involving some temporary discomfort on our part.

The Father adopts whom He regenerates and disciplines whom He adopts. There are no exceptions. Our wise Father will not step back and just leave it up to us to raise ourselves. When we disobey, we should never fear His wrath of destructive judgment but we should fear His discipline as a displeased Father.

Often an earthly father is painfully portrayed as an out of touch dufus, unaware and selfishly off doing their own thing while children flounder and fail without love and guidance. Not the case with God the Father. He is involved, aware, engaged, proactive and reactive. He is always, always on top of things.

Because of these realities, He will not be mocked by His wayward kids. He will never break a promise or forget a threat. He is a perfect model of consistent follow through.

Using the classic passage on discipline of believers, Heb. 12:5-11, we can discern seven principles related to our Father’s loving discipline of us. Today we consider the first four.

One – Don’t Under-React

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord” (v.5). The word discipline here means upbringing, training or instruction. It’s how He gets our attention. He’s got plenty of time and options and knows what works! So … fear Him! Don’t make light of His discipline when you disobey. Don’t blow it off.

Two – Don’t Over-React

“Nor faint when you are reproved by Him” (v.5). Don’t become weary and give out when your sin is brought to light, exposed and rebuked by your Father. It is for your good. Some might be tempted to fall apart. Don’t.

Three – Be Encouraged

Discipline is proof of your sonship and no true child is exempt (vv.6-8). As v.6 reminds us, “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” Scourge is a strong word. Used figuratively here, it’s literal meaning is to whip, flog or punish. The idea is God’s discipline of us can be severe at times.

I have a moral and legal duty to control and correct my minor children. I could be sued, go to jail or lose my kids if I neglect them and they do enough wrong. But I could also go to jail if I spanked your child without your permission. Discipline is proof of sonship, of being in the family, under the authority of another.

As kids grow up, parents find themselves no longer able to discipline in the same ways. For a while, they cling to some mirage of control with statements like, “young man, you are not too old for a spanking!” But the day comes when he is. Our baby of 16 years ago is now 6’ 2” and counting and looking down on me and mom. He works out five days a week in off-season. I tell him often not to hurt me. But as children of the Ancient of Days, we never catch up, we are never too old or too big. When the all-knowing Father looks at us, He always finds something to work on.

Be encouraged, even severe discipline is better than the alternative. Those who receive no constructive discipline are not sons at all but are headed for destructive punishment unless they repent. “Those whom the Lord loves He disciplines.”

Pastor Chris McKnight
Kerrville Bible Church