In the beginning God created man in His image and in His likeness. God's first words to man were that he be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the other creatures. He created them, male and female (Gen. 1:27-28). However, the fall of man brought changes to the state of mankind. What was created (i.e. man's spirit) and what was made (i.e. man's body) all came under a new dispensation. The scriptures say that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory God bestowed upon man (Romans 3:23). Sin worked itself into the nature of man and over time built strongholds into the soul (i.e. the mind, will and emotions). Subsequently, man's body became enslaved to the sin nature in the soul. "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5 Amp.). The spiritual state eventually became an experiential reality for the human race. This downward spiral went on with little help to curtail the excesses of the nature of fallen man. Bible records of the human race show the effects of God's intervention, the choices made by individuals and the outworking of God's plans and purposes in the light of all the factors involved. God's answer to man's state was the coming of Jesus and the sacrifice of His body through His death, burial and resurrection. Repentance, together with believing and receiving Jesus translates us into a new spiritual state, though our souls still need saving according to James 1:21. God wants to see man restored to the place of being in His image and likeness. This restoration seems to be the unspoken purpose revealed in all the drama we see in the Bible. Christ, as revealed in the Bible, is the embodiment of all that pleases God. All the characters in the Bible, whose lives were pleasing to God, manifested some aspects of the character we see fully expressed in Christ. Romans 8:29 says we are destined to be moulded into the image of His Son and share His inward likeness. Christ-likeness is the goal of our Christian faith. Being conformed to the image and likeness of God is the real reason for the process we go through on earth.

To fully understand Christ-likeness, we need to appreciate the place of character and the power we have in Christ. God was pleased with Jesus at the baptism of John albeit He had performed no miracle. Strength of character, such as His submission to Joseph and Mary, was the reason for God's utterance, not the performance of power-shows! He developed character for 30 years and displayed the power of God for 3 and a half years. Today e tend to put the power before the character. God's purposes include the unveiling of the character and power of His Son in us as an experiential reality, thus revealing the many sided wisdom of God on this side of eternity. Process is that which we go through, that helps us confront the effects of the old nature in us, in order to rid ourselves of it. In the course of time, the character of Christ is allowed to dominate our souls as we heed the Word of God. Through obedience of faith, walking in wisdom and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, we yield to the dealings of God and He brings us to full conformity to the image of His Son. We hear from the Father "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased". In the realm of power, we need power to be healed and see the sick healed supernaturally. We also need power to obtain wealth just as God gave power to the children of Israel to obtain wealth. Without intimacy with God and conformity to His character we cannot bring pleasure to the heart of God. Process is God's way of taking us to the finish line. It is the outworking of His will in our lives. Every stage of our maturity in the purposes of God will be measured by how much of Christ is being reflected in us. When we arrive at full conformity, the will of God will be done on earth. Only the Son can completely please the Father and only He can carry out His will in the purity of His purposes. The Son wants to give these expressions in and through us. Character formation demands supernatural power from God to make us into who He wants us to be. We grow into the fullness of Christ as we allow the operation of His Word and Spirit to build into us all that please the Father. He brings relationships into our lives to enhance His purposes. One such relationship is a fathering influence to generate a healthy ‘climate' for the fulfilment of His purposes at every stage of our lives.

WE NEED THE FATHERING SPIRIT IN OUR GROWTH PROCESS
The fathering spirit is needed when one is expected by God to create a relational environment that is conducive for the healthy growth of another. In spiritual terms it is called spiritual fathering. Such an environment needs to be devoid of manipulation or permissiveness, as truth will be spoken in love. Manipulation happens when the motives for fathering are selfish. Permissiveness or flattery takes place when there is a fear of rejection in the one who is supposed to be fathering another. Due to immaturity and a lack of the formation of Christ-likeness, many leaders use manipulation, whilst others operate with flattery. A balanced middle-of-the-road situation will be to speak the truth in love, even if it hurts. This is the fathering spirit. This is why becoming a spiritual father has much to do with process, wherein your own fears and insecurities are dealt with by the help of the Holy Spirit of God. Without personal process, there will be no knowledge of how to deal with the process others go through. Accurate navigation is necessary as we go through process, without which some become bitter instead of better.

Joseph's life typifies God's process of making His own type of leader. God starts His making process with a vision. The vision must be believed and embraced. Most of the time, how the implementation will come about is completely unknown to the receiver of the vision. The vision is usually a picture of the future. Moses was born to be a deliverer of his people. David was anointed king at a young age. Peter, received revealed knowledge that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. The process of God in these lives began to unfold more practically after their glimpse of what the future held for them. (By faith we embrace the end result and this enables us to go through process to bring about the manifestation of what we have seen.) It has been said that the order of the breaking of bread in the days of Jesus on earth is similar to the order of process that we go through in God. First He took the bread, He blessed it and then He broke it, before He gave it to His disciples. In the same way, we are taken, blessed and broken before we are given to our generation for His purposes to be fulfilled. The breaking process takes place after the blessing so we do not think He does not love us when we feel the pain of the breaking. A major part of our maturing process is in understanding the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as a pattern of what we go through as we come into spiritual maturity. Joseph's vision was partly what attracted envy from his brothers, which consequently led him to being sold as a slave and eventually becoming a slave to Potiphar in Egypt. Having started as the favoured son, he became subjected to many seemingly harsh dealings which eventually brought him into leadership development through service. We see him acquire maturity, learn forgiveness and trust his future into the hands of his creator, God. When Joseph demonstrated his understanding of boundaries in his dealings with Potiphar's wife, we see a man who had been trained in the fear of God, who understood godly boundaries and had learnt to flee fornication. Process is not just about what we are subjected to but also about what lessons we learn and what we become as a result of what we go through. Fathering is nurturing another through the process they go through. The fathering spirit is the conducive atmosphere for correct lessons to be derived from real life experiences. In such an atmosphere, God's perspective can also be seen in these real life experiences.

To be continued…

The Lord Bless and keep you!

God's Servant

Rev. Kola Ewuosho

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