What can a child-like faith do?

James, the brother of Jesus, said that faith without works is dead.¹ Who would leave their house without faith? Every one believes they will be relatively safe beyond their home. Who would sit on a chair or drive their car? It takes faith to believe all chairs will hold them and all cars will get them to their desired destination. Even when a father is encouraging his child to trust in his ability to
catch her, she usually hesitates for a few moments before jumping off from a highplace. Once her dad has caught her, she demands to do it again and again and again.

Jesus said, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”² This is comparable to a child jumping off a roof in the arms of her father. In fact, it is comparable in several ways: First, we are the human brain is hard wired to recognize the natural presence of God. The mystery of the divine presence is the awesome experience of newness. Most of us know the excitement of making a new friend or falling in love. Meeting God for the first time is like that. Once our gracious Creator has come near, we begin to recognize His still small voice. Then the call to jump comes … not merely a leap of faith but a risk of trust. The leap of trust risks failure of being wrong in hopes of being right. If God catches, the act of faith establishes a new trust—a do it again God kind of trust. The analogous catch means God also acts in a substantial way. God’s response may be healing, deliverance from an addiction, or some other miracle to a timorous situation; it could be an instantaneous experience of peace as if a heaven burden of guilt was lifted; or God’s act might simply confirm the reality of His presence some other way—maybe just by a subsequent feeling of His love and acceptance. Whatever God’s response, it is that concrete settling of trust that makes children want to repeat it over and over and over again--adults too.

Therefore, entering the kingdom of God means simply entering it at the bidding of the Lord Jesus. It is the excited, thrill seekers, heart thumping Yes to God’s invitation into the unknown. I dare even to think it might be comparable to running into a black hole and coming out on the other side realizing that you are not only still alive but aware of a whole new dimension. That dimension is called spirit, the realm of God and the core of one own being. It is at the core of you own existence that your trust relationship with God is fully experience. At the center of eternity, you meet God as the one you can trust forever.

In many ways, life as a child of God is difficult because of human nature. Living in a physical world in which social relationships are often oppositional to God’s ways makes adjustment to both worlds rather challenging. That is why Jesus came into the world to ransom us and to show us the way.³ The Jesus we encounter in the eternal spirit and in the Bible is the one who lived without moral or spiritual crime. He understands our frailties, confusions, lapses, and finiteness. He even understands the pain of sin. God accepted his death as sufficient punishment for all of our moral crimes called sin. Relying on God grace, our responsibility as children of God is to learn to live under His rule, and God made Jesus king to lead and teach us to do just that.⁴

“This is the work of God that you believe in him whom He has sent.”⁵ Jesus also said, “He who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also.” ⁶ If Jesus is king of God’s kingdom, how could we do his works without obeying his laws? Therefore, Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.”⁷ That is what the faith of God’s people does. For we live by faith and not by our senses.⁸

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¹ Jas. 2:17
² Mk. 10:15; Lk.18:17
³ Mat. 20: 28; 1 Tim. 2:6; 1 Pet. 2:21-25; Heb. 2:14-18
⁴ Ac.2:36
⁵ Jo. 6:29
⁶ Jo. 14:12
⁷ Jo. 14: 21
⁸ 2 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 1:17; Hab. 2:7