The Father.

Intro

04.27.25

1. Intro

a. This morning we are beginning our series entitled “The Father”

b. In some ways this study is one of the most foundational in terms of our walk as Christians

c. It is one of the pillars of our faith because what we will see is that the way we view God affects everything

d. So much so that A.W. Tozer famously said:

e. “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” ― A.W. Tozer

f. Because in truth, it is impossible to have true relationship with a God we don’t see truly (or accurately)

g. We cannot even have an accurate view of ourselves unless we see God rightly

h. We cannot truly interact with others as we are called to unless we see Him for who He is

i. And what we find is that there are some who have little problem receiving Jesus as “The Son of God”

j. And yet when it comes to God as Father, there is a tendency to keep our distance

k. Jesus of course is looked at as pure love, redemption, forgiveness and Grace personified

l. Jesus, as we just celebrated, is the One who came to bring us hope and life

m. But God the Father is sometimes viewed through the lens of the Old Testament God

i. The one who would banish Adam and Eve from The Garden

ii. The one who would flood the earth

iii. The one who bring judgement on people and nations

iv. The one who would harden hearts

v. And allow Job to be stricken with plagues

n. And so, we do a little bit of mental gymnastics to separate these individuals

o. But the reality is that you can no more separate Jesus from God than you could make water dry, or separate heat from fire, or pull light away from the Sun

p. So if for instance we say “God is love”, and we clearly see that in the life of Jesus…to in anyway remove that virtue and identity of complete love from the Father or The Spirit would be to invalidate the foundational truth of all 3

q. And without the full understanding of God the Father, you cannot really understand Jesus the Son, nor the Spirit of God, The Holy Spirit

i. Which I have a sneaking suspicion is where we go next from here…

r. But this is one the enemy’s primary strategies to use against us as believers

s. Remember how satan temps Adam and Eve? It is by questioning the goodness and even the motives of the Father

t. God desires intimate relationship but we cannot enter into an intimate relationship with someone we feel is angry with us, disappointed in us, apathetic about us, or disgusted with who we have become

u. So, we are going to start with some very basic truths this morning

v. Some things we know, but may not fully believe

w. Some things we have accepted, but maybe not received

x. And prayerfully as the Holy Spirit speaks to us that some places where we have developed our own theology around who God is as Father…that those areas would be corrected

y. Because Jesus said: I only say what the Father says and do what I see the Father do

z. John 12:49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.

i. And He is our ultimate example

2. Prayer of Jesus

a. The method by which we are going to use on this journey to the Father is going to be as always through Jesus

b. Specifically, what we are going to do is look at the prayers of Jesus

c. And my plan is that we are going to look at 8 of them in particular throughout the gospels

d. In John 11:42, when Jesus is going to call Lazarus back to life, before He says Lazarus come forth He prays a prayer that we will look at in the weeks to come, but what He starts with is

e. So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

f. And what we see very often is that when Jesus is praying in the gospels, He is doing it far more for our benefit than His own

g. This morning we are going to begin with perhaps His most famous prayer in Luke 11

h. But before we get there, we need to lay some ground work

i. Mainly this: How can God be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

j. This is a question asked without question from the moment Jesus stated emphatically in John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”

k. For which the Jewish leaders immediately picked up stones to stone Him…

l. How could God be both Father in Heaven, Son on earth, and the Spirit promised by Jesus in John 15:26?

m. Well we call this incredible, mind confounding reality, The Trinity

n. Now we don’t have the time to go very deep on this particular study this morning but I want to encourage you to sign up for our Foundations Class taking place each Wednesday night in May

o. A small group of us have been going through the material in advance and it is very informative and gives great detail in the foundational truths we believe

p. Whether you have been a Christian for many years but especially if you are newer to the faith I really encourage you to be a part of it

q. I am going to actually steal one of the graphics that Ps Christian placed in the study to help us with a visual

r. When we speak about the trinity we are not talking about 3 different individuals but one

i. Co-equal and co-eternal

s. We are not thinking about 3 separate Gods, or even 3 forms that God takes on depending on the moment (this was a popular believe called modality)

t. Rather the trinity is 3 personas or expressions of the very same God that exist all together all at once

u. What was determined in the Nicaean council “homo-ousious”

i. Meaning they are of the same essence

ii. “the same make up”

v. In the same way that the formulaic makeup of water is H20 whether it is Liquid, ice, or steam…

w. So God is the same substance, the same essence, as the Father, The Son, or the Holy Spirit

x. And it is so important that we as believers come to an understanding that God has revealed Himself to us in these 3 different expressions for a reason!

y. Because just as we must know Jesus as our savior, and as we must rely on the Holy Spirit as our advocate and helper, we must know the Father as we are His children

z. To separate God from any of who He is or to reduce any expression of God would be to diminish our ability to receive from our perfect and eternal God

3. The Lord’s Prayer

a. As we turn to Luke 11 we are going to read what we call the Lord’s prayer

b. And while there is the more traditional version of this prayer found in Matthew 6 I want to look at the detail that Luke brings following this prayer

c. Luke 11:1-13

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

d. Now we could spend weeks on this prayer alone

e. But the first thing I love to see is THE WHY behind this prayer

f. The disciples have walked with Jesus as He healed the blind and the sick and the demon possessed…

g. And yet when given the opportunity what do the disciples ask Jesus to teach them?

h. To pray

i. The disciples understood that the very things that Jesus did, the source of His authority, and the thing that made Him different from every other religious leader (besides being God of course) was the frequency in which He separated Himself to pray

j. And it goes without saying that if Jesus needed to pray, how much more us?

k. So Jesus starts with this very simple, but incredibly profound opening in how we address God.

l. “Father” or in Matthew “Our Father”

m. Now to us this is only the most natural way to address God

n. We in every prayer address God as Father

o. Sometimes we say “father” or “Father God” in our prayer more than we say anything in the prayer

p.  But this would not have been so in the Hebrew faith

q. This was not something that they would have taught their children in Sunday school…

r. They absolutely recognized Him as Father

s. Isaiah 63:16 ESV

For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.

t. But this is not how they would have approached Him in prayer

u. As children they would have given 30-40 proper titles to address God, but Father was not one of them

v. But Jesus clearly saw Him differently

w. Luke 2:49 ESV

And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”

x. John 5:16-18 ESV

And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

y. So, when Jesus was the first and this was a primary reason the Pharisees convicted Him of blasphemy

z. But theologically it is one thing for Jesus to call God Father, but us!?

i. To call God Father is something quite different

4. Our Father

a. For Jesus the sinless one to call God Father as the one who descended from Heaven

b. Yeah that makes sense

c. But for the disciples and by extension us, to address God as Father, how can this be so?

d. And isn’t this too informal?

e. What about your majesty, or your Holiness?

f. That would make more sense

g. And yet Jesus, with the eyes of eternity on Him says, when you speak to God, call Him FATHER

h. That in and of itself is worth stopping to examine

i. How can we as those who have fallen see God as our Father?

j. Well one is because He said so

k. And two because of all that Father was meant to communicate

l. The word Jesus used was patér

m. Which simply meant Father, but in that time they would have immediately recognized that Father meant more than the male counterpart responsible for life

n. In this time the concept of "father" carried significant weight, encompassing roles of authority, provision, and leadership within the family unit. The father was seen as the head of the household, responsible for the welfare and education of his children.

o. Unfortunately, in our context Father often is simply the one who is biologically responsible for the seed being planted

p. But in the day and age where this is all a father is because they have been absent or neglectful the meaning of Father has been greatly diminished 

q. According to the US Census in 2020 15.3 million children lived in a household without a father present, that’s 21%

i. Now this isn’t in any way to shame any one for one moment

ii. Especially the children

iii. And I have also had conversations with fathers who are heartbroken about this

r. But what I am pointing out today is that so often our view of our father directly impacts our view of God as our Father

s. And when that father is absent, or angry, or abusive, or disconnected…

t. The most natural result is that we take that understanding and project it on God

u. And while there are many who have grown up without a Father, or had a poor example of a Father and have gone on to be very successful…

v. Unless there is some very specific work done in this area…there is always an impact until we come to the place in finding healing from the perfect Father.

w. And it is my prayer that in this very series that if you have a wound in this area, whether fresh or decades old, that you would receive the healing that He wants to bring.

x. And the first place to start this morning is simply this:

i. HE IS YOUR FATHER

ii. In the same way that He is the Father of your savior Jesus

iii. HE IS YOUR FATHER

y. 1 John 3:1

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are…

z. We have to be honest here this morning however that in order to see this however it must be more than just words.

5. Receive

a. As with everything in this Christian faith, head knowledge will never produce life inside of us

b. We must always understand that everything we receive in Christ is through Faith

c. It is through revelation of His goodness

d. But how?

e. Well in the same way that the view of our Father may have been shaped by the absence of an earthly Father

f. We must make room for the presence of our Heavenly Father

g. When we feel like our earthly father is angry what do we do?

h. We create distance

i. But everything Jesus came to do was to tear down any separation between us and God!

j. So much so that He introduces His Father as Our Father

k. I was so fortunate to have an amazing father who went home to be with the Lord last year

l. But one of the most touching tributes given from my friends about my dad was that he was more than my dad but he became there dad as well

m. I was able to share my dad with them and it was an honor

n. And here Jesus is saying to us, not only is He my Father but He is yours as well

o. What does Jesus say after His resurrection in John 20

p. John 20:17

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

q. What a statement and how appropriate that He makes it after He has paid the price of the finished work!?

r. Will you receive that truth this morning?

s. Ok what else does Jesus say in this prayer

i. He calls God Holy, hallowed be your name

ii. He prays for His Kingdom to come, His supremacy as father is still at the forefront

t. Then He says: “Give us each day our daily bread.”

u. Do you know that as Father God takes on the responsibility to provide for you?

v. Do you know that as a GOOD father He desires to take care of you?

w. Not out of obligation but as a result of His love for you!

x. Again: See what kind of love the Father has given to us

y. Forgive us of our sins, wow

z. Lead us not into not into temptation, I almost feel like there should be a comma here. Lead us Father.

6. Good Father

a. But then he goes into multiple examples of what it is to have God as our Father

b. Culminating in verse 11

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

c. God is not just a father, He is a really GOOD Father

d. I don’t know how you have seen Him before but Jesus says God desires to give to you

e. But not just to provide for you

f. But to give you the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

g. And what does the Holy Spirit do?

h. Leads us back to the Son

i. the trinity in perfection