Mothers Day Special: The Motherhood of God

Grace Bible Church
Tree of Life
A Weekly Review
Week ending 050414
Mothers Day Special: The Motherhood of God.

It seems like today very few believers do not take into consideration the ministry of God the Holy Spirit and His role in the Trinity. And, believe it or not, His place in the Royal Family of God has everything to do with what the majority are celebrating today as Mothers Day.

GEN 1:26, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;

Please notice that God said Let Us make man in Our image according to Our likeness which is in the plural because it speaks of the doctrine of the Trinity.

GEN 1:27, And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

GEN 5:1-2, This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.

The point is that there seems to be an overlooking attitude of the existence of the female part of God which I like to refer to as the motherhood of God. Think of the analogy. In the doctrine of the Trinity, we have God the Father representing the leader of the family, or the Royal Family. We have God the Son representhing the Son of the Father, willing to die for the other sons and daughters in the family called the body of Christ.

He is the good son as it were as 2CO 5:21 insinuates when it says He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. HEB 7:26, For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;

He was, as it were in the analogy, the good son in the Royal family, whereas you and I would would be known as the bad sons or the rebellious daughters. Rememeber what God the Father said about His Son. MAT 3:17, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well‑pleased.

As a son to the Father, our Lords life is described for us in many passages. I dont know if there are many more passages filled with more enlightment on this passage that 1PE 2:18-24, Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer   for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

And so in the analogy of the family of God, we have the Father and His role, as well as the son and His role, but what is missing in this family? Of course it is what I like to refer to as the motherhood of God. Remember, God is neither male or female, in reality He is both, though we do acknowledge Him as a male,

GEN 2:7, Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

GEN 2:15-23, Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die. Then the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place. And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.

The point is that if God created the man and then He took a rib from the man who was created in the image of God and built a woman than the woman was created in the image of God as well. Therefore, there must a female part of God even though we address Him as He. It is that feminine part of God that I believe is revealed by the third member of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit.

We read in GEN 1:27 we read, And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

GEN 5:2, He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.

I am not making an issue out of Gods gender but rather I want to focus in on the motherhood of God and how it relates to the nature of God. For if you miss out on the motherhood of God, you are missing out on the divine nature of God as it is portrayed throughout the scriptures. Notice what our Lord said about the motherhood of God as it relates to the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

JOH 14:16, And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

The word for Helper is the masuline singular noun of parakletos which means a Comforter, Counselor, Helper, one called upon for support or assistance. What a description of the ministry of God the Holy Spirit and a godly mother, the motherhood of God.

JOH 14:16-17, And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; {that is} the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, {but} you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.

In JOH 14:25-26, These things I have spoken to you, while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Again in JOH 15:26 When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, {that is} the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me,

Then in JOH 16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

For many scholars throughout the ages, it was better for the believer to call the Spirit Mother than anything else because that word communicates something essential about the way in which the Holy Spirit deals with the children of God.

The name which many scholars believe to be the best which communicated the reality of the Spirits relationship to Christians is simply Mother because those who know the Spirit know her as the Mother.

Those who experience the Trinity in their hearts know that a family must be complete. We must have a Father, Mother, and Husband.

As the ptophet Isaiah put it in ISA 66:13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

So, the Lord said the night before His death, in effect, If I should say to my disciples that I am going away, then I must give them some comfort.

I must say to them that they will receive someone who will comfort them over My departure.

It will not be strange to them, for they have already read it in the Bible where it reads, they shall have a Mother: I will leave you my Spirit.

ISA 49:15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.

Now, some believers have rejected this linking of many verses concerning the motherhood of God but I want you to consider some of the important analogies.

1. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter and who more than nyone else is known to comfort the believer than God the Holy Spirit.
2. The word Mother does not introduce a distinction of genders into the deity, but deals only with the activity of God in the world.

The Mother is not a goddess.

Rather, the Holy Spirit acts in the role of a mother to the church.

If we proclaim God the Holy Spirit as a mother in the doctrine of the Trinity, we are talking about the function of the Holy Spirit as a member of the Trinity.

3, Proclaiming the motherhood of God as it relates to the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, we need to note that it was the Spirit, not Mary, who was the true mother of Jesus.

Remember LUK 1:35  And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.

4. Since the Holy Spirit prepared the Lord in the womb and then finally brought Him into the light. the motherhood of God gave Him [Jesus] into the arms of His mother, and with invisible hands carried Him more than his mother did.
5. The Spirit is the mother of all living things because she has a special role in the on-going creation of the world, when the man was made from a clump of earth the Holy Spirit was very close through the breathing of the breath of God into the man.

Thus, the Holy Spirit is the mother of all living souls in a general way.

The Holy Spirit is also the Mother in another sense. This is why we are told in GAL 4:26, But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. This understanding of the Spirit giving birth to converted souls in large part on Jesus conversation with Nicodemus in John 3. Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again, not from his mothers womb, but from God. Nicodemus knew that we are born from a mother, not a father, but he did not know who his true mother was.

The point being is that there is another Mother, not the one who physically gave you birth, that one doesnt matter: you must have another Mother who will give you a spiritual birth.

6. Because of the spiritual principle of true biblical motherhood, Sataan has counterfeited this motherhood through the deception of elevating the mother of Jesus to a position of deity. Ultimately, then, the Holy Spirit is the Mother of the Christian in the sense that she is the active agent in conversion.
7. The first duty of the Spirit is to preach Christ, but the motherhood of God as it relates to the ministry of God the Holy Spirit or the motherly work of TLJC does not end there.
8. The Motherhood of God also cares for the her spiritual children just as a human mother cares for her physical children. She protects, guides, admonishes, and comforts the child of God throughout the changing years of earthly life.The Motherhood of God in effect says, I will comfort you; I will remind you; I will motivate you; I will define you; I will wean you from all rudeness and uncivil things. I will make a well-bred child out of you, better than any mother does in all the world.

The Heavenly Mother works individually since she knows the thoughts and weaknesses of her children and guides them in the path that is best for them. All Christians are in the family of God, therefore nothing is better than to live in the family of our Husband, his Father, and our dear Mother.

Because the Holy Spirit is our teacher all Christian mothers must never underestimate their calling. It is an extremely difficult, challenging, and tiring calling, but its rewards are far greater than one can imagine. God has given principles in His Word to guide mothers as they navigate through the challenges of raising children.

1. Godly mothers cherish their young children and tenderly nurture them.

As 1TH 2:7, But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.

There is great comfort, rest, and security in a mothers embrace. Men can be compassionate and nurturing, but there is just something unique about the tender embraces of a mother to her child. Children can sense the difference, and they crave a mothers gentle touch and love. Women should not run from bearing and nurturing children, thinking that there is something supposedly more important or significant for them to do.

God honors mothers who invest in their children, and mothers should adore and treasure the moments that they have with young ones.

As LUK 2:19 says, But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. Children are only young for a short time, and the mother should be there to enjoy her God-given children.

2. Godly mothers recognize that children are a great gift and reward and thus view and treat them as such. Eve said in GEN 4:1, I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD. It is imperative that mothers recognize the value of children and that they are indeed a gift from God.

PSA 127:3, Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.

Godly mothers value their children as rewards from God and are thus motivated to do all that they can to nurture, care, and train their children rightly.

3. Godly mothers instruct their children in Gods truths.

PRO 1:8, Hear, my son, your fathers instruction and do not forsake your mothers teaching.

PRO 6:20, My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

King Lemuel in Proverbs 31:1 said that it was his mother who taught him about how to recognize a godly woman who would be a godly mother for his children. Timothys godly heritage was a result of his mother and her mother before her (2TI 1:5). Mothers must never underestimate the role that they play in teaching their children about God, about His Word, and about salvation.

From as early on as possible, God is to be central in a mothers instruction. Even in the case of an unsaved or absentee father, mothers can still reach their children by faith (1CO 7:14). Teaching children the Bible is a huge calling with eternal ramifications, and godly mothers are honored to take up the challenge.

4. Godly mothers are willing and faithful to discipline their children.

PRO 29:15, The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.

Mothers who enjoy or tolerate their children disrespecting and disobeying them are not operating as God would have them. They must become willing and faithful to discipline.

5. Godly mothers do not pick favorites among their own children.

PRO 28:21, To show partiality is not good, because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.

Not only is picking favorites not Christ-like behavior (JAM 2:1), but it can lead to children sinning as they grow jealous, establish rivalries, and become deceptive and manipulative.

This is why JAM 2:1 says My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.

Unconditional love for children and fairness in discipline is essential to being a godly mother.

Regardless of a mothers marriage or work situation, God is faithful to honor the faith and obedience of mothers who do whatever they can by faith to follow His principles in raising godly children.

Some mothers will have all day with their children, while other mothers will need to work for various reasons.

In either case, mothers can follow Biblical principles and be godly mothers.

Motherhood is certainly wearying, but mothers must stand fast in their calling. As they are faithful in their work at home (TIT 2:4-5), God will be honored, and He promises to honor those who honor Him (1SA 2:30, PRO 31:28).

Tt 2:3-5, Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored.