In Matthew 7, the Lord Jesus finishes His famous sermon on the mount continuing with hard teachings on the life of discipleship. It closes with a powerful presentation of two camps, one with Jesus, and one without. The ESV Study Bible points this out nicely.[1] There’s a narrow gate and a wide gate (7:13-14). There are true prophets and false prophets, pictured as good and bad trees (7:15-20). There are true converts, and there are therefore also false converts (7:21-23). Lastly, there are two foundations to build on (7:24-27). You can build your life on the teachings of Jesus as His follower, or you can build your life on the teachings of man.
Christ had authority when He taught (7:29) because as the Son of God, the Word of God made flesh, He didn’t get His information second-handed! The choice comes, will you follow Christ into His school of discipleship? Will you be one of His? Will you receive Christ, or will you reject Him? Even to this day there aren’t other options! People are either with Christ and for Christ or against Him. There aren’t gray areas. This passage ought to challenge every reader to ask themselves, “Am I truly a follower of Christ who has come through the narrow gate, that is Christ, into the Kingdom, into eternal life?”
For those who have, there is a wonderful assurance that comes in this passage also. Those who are true disciples of the Lord Jesus, those who have been not only converted (naturally) but are regenerated (spiritually), those who have been taken out of the domain of darkness and transferred to the Kingdom of God’s Beloved Son, those who have been born-again now have God as their Father!
The Apostle John once wrote, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1, ESV). What an awesome, incomprehensible, altogether astounding truth that we are the children of God! What kind of love He must have for us! It’s confounding!
There’s an unfortunate belief system that many have that believes that all people are children of God. The Scripture doesn’t present this as truth, though. Those outside of Christ are, “by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3). This is who the believer in Christ used to be! The Lord Jesus once in speaking to a group of Jews said, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me” (John 8:42) and because they didn’t believe He concluded powerfully, “You are of your father the devil” (John 8:44). Those who reject Christ aren’t children of God. You can’t have God without having His Son too, it’s a package deal.
Not all humankind are children of God, but those who are born-again disciples of Christ are. As such, we have this wonderful promise in the sermon on the mount:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:7-11, ESV
God, as our Heavenly Father, loves us better than we love our own children. As a father of two wonderful little girls that mean the world to me, I genuinely want what is best for them. I love them more than I could’ve ever imagined loving someone. Yet, I am a fallen human, who is far from perfect. Compared to a holy God, I am evil. Yet, I, an imperfect, sinful, fallen father, so badly want good things for my kiddos. So, how much more does my perfect, sinless, and holy, Heavenly Father care for me and want good things for me! Truly every good and perfect gift comes from Him! (Jas. 1:17).
This doesn’t always mean that life will be easy. This isn’t some prosperity gospel of health and wealth. This isn’t name it-claim it Christianity. Yet, for those who walk on the road of discipleship, who are born-again believers, we have the assurance along the way that God is our Father. We have the assurance that He responds when we ask, He responds when we seek, He responds when we knock, and He will give good things to those who ask Him in accordance with His sovereign will.
[1] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1834.
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