Untitled Sermon (2)

I always seem to struggle with what to speak about, it is my desire to speak about things that will be honoring to God, that He would want me speak about and that I hope will be fruitful for you.

As soon as I found out I was going to be speaking today I started praying asking for a topic. A natural topic for this week would be fatherhood. I started looking at different fathers in the Bible. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, David, Solomon and others. Each of them had good and bad characteristics that we can learn from. The more I looked at these men, less I was inclined to speak about them this week. I expect at a different time they will be a good topic.

Last time I spoke it was on God’s instruction manual, the Bible and I spoke from . This time I locked into the Topic of Gods Characteristics as our father. It seems to me that a good topic for us to study and learn about is God.

Let’s look at the ultimate Father and some of his characteristics.

For comparison, bad fathers have all sorts of character defects.

The biggest one is that they love themselves more than they love their children.

They abandon their children; financially, physically, emotionally or a combo of all three. They make promises they don't keep.

They can be abusive.

They may refuse to work, or they work too much.

They don't attend their children’s school, sports or music events.

They tell their child that they wish they had never been born.

They physically abuse the child.

They emotionally abuse the child. They abuse drugs and/or alcohol.

Bad fathers come in many forms, but they all put their own needs and desires first.

This message is for Christians but I hope that through it, others will see the Love of our God the Father and will desire to become part of his family.

Characteristics of God the father.

We become God’s children through faith, then using our “Instruction Manual” (Gods Word the Bible) We are taught to imitate our heavenly Father in our daily living.

Let’s start at the beginning.

God the Creator

God created us.

,

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

God is a Provider

He provides for us.

And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.

20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.

22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

God is a disciplinarian

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:

“Because you have done this,

You are cursed more than all cattle,

And more than every beast of the field;

On your belly you shall go,

And you shall eat dust

All the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her Seed;

He shall bruise your head,

And you shall bruise His heel.”

16 To the woman He said:

“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;

In pain you shall bring forth children;

Your desire shall be for your husband,

And he shall rule over you.”

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

“Cursed is the ground for your sake;

In toil you shall eat of it

All the days of your life.

18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,

And you shall eat the herb of the field.

19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread

Till you return to the ground,

For out of it you were taken;

For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

We can also see in

(NKJV) — 5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.

In Proverbs, we are reminded that Gods disciplines us because he loves us.

(NKJV) — 11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; 12 For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

He disciplines because we are his chldren

(NKJV) — 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

God does not abandon his children

(NKJV) — 6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

(NKJV) — 5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Like all fathers God expects us to behave

He wants us to imitate Him.

Many a father starts to glow when his children are successful and they excel, they also are disappointed when their child does something that they do not approve of. Either way, a father still loves his child, which is what God does.

In Ephesians we are instructed.

(NKJV) — 1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

(NKJV) — 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

(NKJV) — 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

God’s wants us to live by His standards

(NKJV) — 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

(NKJV) — 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.

(NKJV) — 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

(NKJV) — 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

(NKJV) — 17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

(NKJV) — 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

(NKJV) — 10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

God’s Provides security for his children

(NKJV) — 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.

(NKJV) — 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

(NKJV) — 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

God provides for his children’s needs. (Not wants, Needs)

(NKJV) — 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being 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!

(NKJV) — 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

God’s children have a sure inheritance

(NKJV) — 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

(NKJV) — 19 “But I said: ‘How can I put you among the children And give you a pleasant land, A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’ “And I said: ‘You shall call Me, “My Father,” And not turn away from Me.’

(NKJV) — 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

(NKJV) — 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

(NKJV) — 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Why does God do all of this? Because…

God loves his children

(NKJV) — 1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

(NKJV) — 13 As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him.

So you say. These verses are directed to the Children of God.

BUT God is a loving God and he does not want anyone to parish.

As a result, He Sent his one and only Son to make a way for all people to become his children.

God sent his Son to be the savior of the World.

Listen… If you are not a Child of God. These are Jesus words telling you how to be come a child of God.

and 17.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Jesus Christ is God’s Son

(NKJV) — 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

(NKJV) — 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

(NKJV) — 33 God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’

Becoming God’s children by new birth Listen again.. This is how you can become a Child of God.

(NKJV) — 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

(NKJV) — 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

(NKJV) — 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

(NKJV) — 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

(NKJV) — 1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.

Becoming God’s children by adoption

(NKJV) — 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

(NKJV) — 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

(NKJV) — 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

(NKJV) — 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”