God the Father

Good morning, welcome, Happy Fathers Day, please open your Bibles to John 3.

Read John 3:16–17- “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Pray.

1. A distinction between Father and Son.

Perhaps one of the most difficult doctrines to understand is that of the triune God- One God in three person- God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit.

Made clear here in John 3- God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.

The mention of the Son of God reveals God as a Father.

Why does it matter that God is a Father?

I believe in God versus I believe in THIS God.

Do we believe in the biblical God, even as we lack complete understanding as to the nature and character of God?

Throughout Scripture, we find one person of the godhead described in this way- As a Father.

What is meant when the Bible uses this language? Why is God called Father?

God as Creator of all.

1 Corinthians 8:6- “…yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

God as the Father of Israel.

Deuteronomy 32:6- “Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?”

God as the Father of the Church.

John 1:12–13- “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Perhaps most pertinent to our purposes this morning, and also to our text, God is the Father of Jesus Christ, the Son.

Notice the language that is used of the Father’s relationship with the Son.

John 3:35- “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.”

John 5:20- “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.”

God the Father has made known to the Son all that He is doing, and gives to the Son incredible works that reveal the identity OF the Son.

Here is where things get interesting. If the Father is eternal and unchanging, and if the Son is eternal and unchanging, then the love between Father and Son is eternal and unchanging.

Rory Shiner- “God was not always creator, but he was always Father. He always had a Son. And this Father and this Son loved each other before the creation of anything at all, bound together by the presence of the Spirit. Love, in other words, is older than creation.”

Robert Letham calls this relationship between Father, Son and Spirit an “indivisible union of love.”

All of creation was founded on this principle- The Father loves and gives as a result of His love. Leading us to our next point.

2. The Father loves and gives.

If we believe that God is Father, then such belief begs the question- What kind of Father is God?

God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Let’s notice a few important words:

Loved.

Important to define this word.

agapao- to love dearly, to be fond of someone, to treasure.

This is the basic framework through which God sees all of His creation, from a place of

Gave.

This is the nature of the Father’s love- He gives.

This means that the Father has something to give and He doesn’t keep it for Himself, but instead is willing to part with it for the benefit of others.

God is not withholding, but instead is beneficent and generous toward others.

Perhaps one of the most difficult truths to get into our brains and our hearts. God is giving of what is truly needed.

We trust ourselves more.

So- houtos- thusly, in this manner.

Always thought this was a word that showed the volume of God’s love.

Instead, it means that the Father’s love is shown and known. We don’t have to question whether or not the Father loves us.

One translation- God loved the world in this way, that He gave His only-begotten Son…

Only Son.

Here is the word that shows volume, or weight, or immensity of the Father’s love.

Jesus is not only given, but v. 17 makes clear that Jesus is sent.

New word used- apostello- to send, to order one to go to an appointed place. Jesus is sent on mission.

The Father makes the greatest of sacrifices- The Son who the Father loves with all of His love with no imperfection at all.

What is something that would be difficult for us to give up?

Our love is imperfect, it possesses flaws, and yet we are still unwilling to give up that which we treasure.

The Father give us, with a purpose, that which is of highest value to Him.

In the event that what we have said is true, that God loves His creation deeply, and from a place of love gives what is of extreme value to Him, we must ask why He would do such a thing.

What is the outcome here?

V. 17- In order that the world might be saved through Him.

sozo- To save, to heal, to make complete.

Here is the reason that Jesus the Son is sent into the world, in order that the broken world, filled with broken people, might be restored and saved.

This is the picture throughout the OT from the very beginning of the brokenness in Genesis 3, God makes promises to rebuild what has been broken.

Story of the calling of Israel, the giving of the Law, the rebuking of the prophets- all with the aim to restore.

Here is the aim of God’s love- to save that and those that need saving.

4. What difference does this make?

Knowledge is meant to lead to transformation.

The doctrine of the trinity reminds us of our limitations as finite humanity.

So much of what we learn simply doesn’t compute. So we come up with as many answers as we can, but we always recognize the limitations of our understanding and find ourselves frustrated.

But that’s a good thing.

Rory Shiner- “If we are talking about the God who is there, there’s every reason to expect that He’ll be beyond our grasp and above our understanding. The doctrine of the Trinity is our guardrail against idolatry. It directs us to worship and adore the God who is there, not the god we imagined was there.”

In these difficult doctrines of the nature of God, we are reminded that we are NOT God. But that we depend entirely on that which is greater than we are in every way.

God as Father moves God to the center.

Copernicus.

The sun at the center of our solar system.

Everything in our own senses tells us that the earth is the center around which everything else rotates.

How was this discovered? If the earth is at the center, the movement of the other planets becomes sloppy. They become ordered only when the sun is understood to be at the center.

Rory Shiner- “The doctrine of the Trinity is like that. It’s not a doctrine that makes sense in itself, so much as the doctrine without which nothing else in the Christian life makes sense. It sits at the centre of our faith, like the sun at the centre of our solar system, the X that makes sense of the Y, the unique centre around which all our worship, prayers, service and life orbit. And it leads us not to perfect understanding, but to adoration.”

Sorting out worship.

Romans 1- Suppress our knowledge of the existence of God in order to worship what is created.

Give credit where credit is due.

Credits.

The Endless Summer- surf film of the 60’s.

Two surfers travelling far and wide to find the greatest possible waves to surf.

End credits- “We thank Neptune, God of the Sea, for the waves.”

They see the need to thank that which is outside of themselves.

Here is the craving and desire within each of us.

Rory Shiner- “We know we didn’t create this. We know, somewhere deep down, that life is a gift. And every so often, in moments of joy, or guilt, or sorrow, or praise, we find ourselves reaching out for someone somewhere to whom we can give our thanks and praise. Someone to whom we can say sorry, or with whom we can plead for justice, or mercy.”

When we have these cravings, we are to seek out and give thanks to a good God, a Father, who loves and gives for the purpose of salvation.