Good Stewardship and the Imitation of God
Dr. Peter W. Dunn,
February 5, 2006, FATEB
In John’s Gospel Jesus says that he has seen him has seen the Father (John 14.9). Thus, we can say that one aspect of the mission of Jesus is to reveal the nature of the Father to us. In Matthew’s Gospel, he says (Matt 11.27) that no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Thus, one very clear aspect of the Parables of the Kingdom is that Jesus is trying to reveal to Jewish people of his time what God is really like. And there was then as there are today many misimpressions about God’s character. In looking at the parables of the Kingdom, I would like to focus on the issue of God’s generosity, to complete a two part series on giving. In the first sermon, which I gave Friday, January 27, I spoke about how we as evangelical Christians often view giving in terms of the law of tithing instead of as a charismatic gift of the Spirit. I would like to continue this teaching of giving because I believe that when God pours out his Spirit into our hearts and our hearts overflow in generosity to others, we are actually becoming imitators of God. Jesus does tell us that we must be perfect, even as our heavenly Father is perfect. And Paul calls us to be imitators of God (Eph 5.1). So I would like to study God’s generosity so as to be a better imitator of that generosity.
The Righteous Investor 