5--God the Father
Notes
Transcript
THINK LIKE JESUS—Part 5 God the Father
Ø If you have a Bible, and I hope you do, open it to Matthew 6
Ø In this next part of our series of Think Like Jesus, we’re going to look at God the Father
o We need to be reminded frequently that every one of us as Christ-followers belong to a heavenly Father & we are His children
o We overlook this much of the time
o We take it for granted
o Someone wrote, “If you want to know how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that” [drives] “his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.”
o Understanding God as our Father should determine…
§ Every thought we think
§ Every decision we make
§ Every action of our daily life
o And that brings the question, “Are you a son, daughter? Do you—right where you’re sitting—do you know God as Father?”
§ I’m not asking if you go to church
§ I’m not going to ask if you read the Bible, if you do this or that, if you’ve been on mission trips
§ I’m asking, “Do you know God as Father?”
§ Most of this message will focus those of you who would say, “Yes, I’m a child of God. I know God as Father”
§ Hopefully you will be deeply encouraged deep down inside your heart what it means to be His child and God to be your Father
§ If you would have to answer “No, God is not my Father” or “I’m really not sure”, we’ll talk about that in a few minutes
o Instead of camping out just in one passage of Scripture, we’re going to look all over the Bible and particularly all over the New Testament
§ I want us to see what the Bible has to say about the God as our Father
§ I want us to see the overall picture in the New Testament of God as Father and for us to realize what that means for all of us
o And so we’re going to start with Matthew 6:9, a very familiar verse, and let that verse launch us into looking at two main truths today
Ø So Matthew 6:9—remember this is the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7
o Jesus is speaking to His disciples
o Read Matthew 6:9
o (Side note: Jesus told us to pray to Our Father in heaven; He never told us to pray to Him)
Now, we hear that verse—partly because the Lord’s Prayer is so common to us, partly because we’ve read this passage of Scripture before—we’re not shocked/surprised when we see these words from Jesus himself
o What Jesus is saying here is revolutionary & I want to show you why
§ In all the Old Testament God is referred to as Father only 15 times
§ And none of those 15 times are the people of God ever told to pray to God as Father
§ But when you turn the page from the Old Testament into the New Testament, you get to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the four gospels
§ In the four gospels alone, God is referred to as Father 165 different times
§ Every time but one when God is mentioned as Father, it is in the context of Jesus talking specifically to His disciples
· (One time, Jesus is talking to His disciples & a crowd)
§ Now why that’s significant is because when Jesus comes on the scene, this picture, this title of God as a Father just explodes on the scene with Him
§ Then we see it throughout the rest of the New Testament as well
§ But the point is you can only know God as Father through Jesus
· Jesus is the one who makes that possible
· This is only applicable to those who have trusted in Jesus
Ø Two truths I want you to get today
o Truth number one: God is our Father
§ That’s the incredible truth that comes on the scene in the New Testament
§ If you look in Matthew 5, 6 and 7, you see “Father” 15 times
§ We’re 7 chapters into the New Testament and we’ve already seen God referred to as Father as many times as in all the Old Testament combined!
§ When we pray, we don’t pray, “Oh Impersonal being who may have created all things” or “Oh, Mother Earth”
§ When we pray, you’re praying to “Our Father”
o Jesus contrasts God the Father with earthly fathers, and then He shows us how the heavenly Father cares for us
o So I want to show you the contrast
§ Turn over one page to Matthew 7:7-11
§ Jesus is again talking about prayer
§ He gives us examples of how we love our own children, and then how much more God loves His children
· He says if your son asks you for bread, you don’t give him a stone
· If he asks you for fish, you don’t give him a snake
· You give him what is good
· It’s what dads do
· Jesus says, “…how much more?” because God is so much better than me
· I want to be a good dad, but the reality is, even the best dad in this room still has a sinful heart that turns away from God toward sin
· And in the contrast Jesus sets up, He says we are evil & God is good
· Everything about Him is good
· There is no hint of sin in Him at all
· Every dad still struggles with sin
· As a result, every dad in this room is not right 100% of the time
· But your heavenly Father is
o Your heavenly Father is completely good, and He always, always, always gives what is best
§ Now we struggle with that, don’t we?
· Especially in prayer
· Jesus says, “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds…” We think, “Well that’s everyone but me”
· Have you ever prayed for something for years and not received it?
· But then God begins to answer in ways you haven’t asked for?
· So you’re receiving what you didn’t ask for and you’re not receiving what you did ask for and you start to think, “I don’t understand how prayer works”
· When God answers a prayer He never says, “Well, if I’d have known this was going to happen, I’d have done this differently. I’d have given you something different here.”
· He always knows
· When He answers prayer, He knows the effect of that ten years from now, 100 years from now, 100 billion years from now for that matter
· He has infinite wisdom and He always gives what is best
· Here’s the beauty of it—God is a loving Father, far beyond the most loving father in this world—He’s perfect
· In all facets of His being He is perfect, including His love
· This means, by the very nature of God, He can do nothing less than give the most and the best to His children because everything He does in our lives flows from His perfect love for you and me
· He provides for His children, and this is all over the New Testament, Matthew 6 included
o As our Father, He loves us
o Hold your finger in Matthew 6 & turn to 1 John 3:1
o See that? “the love He’s lavished on us”
· God has called you His child
o Not just the person beside you, in front of you, behind you or just all of us together
o When you surrendered your life to Christ, you became a child of God—this is personal!
§ In those days, Pharisees would give to be recognized by men, pray to be seen by men, fast to be honored by men
· Back to Matthew 6:1-4
§ Same thing down in v. 6
§ You get to fasting in vs. 17-18
§ Jesus says, “Give in secret, pray in secret, fast in secret”
· Why? It’s in what happens between you and the Father alone where reward is found
· Our hearts were made to find joy, not in receiving honor from men, but in experiencing God in doing these things in secret for God, not man
§ There is nothing, nothing in your life—no relationship, no job, no obligation, your work, your family duties, your bills, the things that you do—there is nothing in your life more important than a close personal relationship with God the Father
§ Don’t let even the best things of this world get in your way of spending time with the One who loves you—people, stuff, job, not even your spouse
§ When I officiate a wedding, there are 2 things I always say
· To the bride/groom, “There is no better place for you to be in his/her life than 2nd, as long as God is first”
§ Back to prayer…
§ Read Matthew 6:7-8
§ Wait…I thought the purpose of prayer was to inform God what I need and what I want
§ God is not up in Heaven with a notebook and a pen telling you to slow down so He makes sure to get all your requests
· He knows them before you even ask them
· The point of prayer is not to inform God but to experience a closeness with the God who knows you and me better than we know ourselves
· This goes so much deeper than a list of requests before God
§ No one understands you—even the people that are closest to you do not completely understand you
§ But God understands you better than you understand yourself
§ Nothing is hidden from Him—which is pretty scary!
§ To know that the God of the universe, God your Father, knows every sinful thought from your mind
§ The thoughts that nobody else—even those who are closest to you—know
§ The motives behind those thoughts
§ Every deed, action, every thought, He knows all, which would be a totally frightening reality for all of us…if God was not our Father
§ And for Him to be Father means not only does He understand us, but—catch this—He forgives us
§ Matthew 6:14
§ Now the picture here is about one who comes to God who is already in relationship with Him as Father, as a son or daughter confessing sin
· It’s not so they can remain in the family
· When you have a child who does something wrong & they say they’re sorry—do they say that so they can stay in the family? No!
· They are confessing that—not so they can stay my sons—they’re confessing that so they can restore intimacy with their father
· And this is why, as Christians, we need to walk in continual confession
· The closer we get to God, the more we see our need for His grace
· That’s why it’s so important to confess our sins—to restore that close relationship with our Father
§ Some of you in this room are trying to hide your sin from God or living like God doesn’t know what’s going on
· You are a fool—He knows
· And not only are you a fool to think you can hide it from Him, but you would be foolish not to confess it before Him
· He is a Father who delights—He delights! —in forgiving you
· What mercy, what grace from the Father’s hand!
§ God also provides for us
· Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:25-33
· God provides for every single one of them & they’re not His children!
· You’re His children
o He provides for you
o He knows all that you need
· Mark this down: Worry is a sure sign that you have forgotten you’re a child of God
· Because a child of God the Father never, ever, ever has a reason to worry—never!
· Never has a reason
· Do not be anxious about anything
o He will provide for you
o You can trust God the Father
§ He also disciplines us
· Turn with me over to Hebrews 12:5-6
· Now who among us really enjoys discipline? None of us
· Read the verses
· God is treating you as sons & daughters
· If you never feel God is disciplining you, you are not a child of God
· Don’t resist the Father’s discipline in your life
· God disciplines us for our own good
§ And He leads us
· Romans 8:14, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God”
· To be a son, to be a child of God, is to have His Spirit
o Hallmark Christmas movie—kid loses his dad
§ Someone finds his pocket watch & it eventually gets back to the kid’s mom
§ She gives it to her son for a present
§ Says it’s like having part of his dad right there with him
o Now why is it so important to have the Spirit of God with us?
o You ask for wisdom in a difficult decision you’re walking through right now
o God doesn’t just give you wisdom
o He puts His Spirit—the Spirit of Wisdom—inside of you to lead and guide you through this whole decision-making process
o He doesn’t just tell you what to do—He lives inside of you
o Makes it a reality from the inside out
o You ask for joy or you ask for peace—He doesn’t just give joy or peace
o He puts His Spirit as the fountain of joy, the fountain of peace inside of you
o You ask for gifts and instead He gives you the Giver
§ How much better is that!
o The Father in Heaven so desires to lead you that He has put His very Spirit inside of you so that you are never alone
o The Father is always with you
o Whatever problems you have, God your Father is with you
§ The God who moves mountains
§ He has put His Spirit in you to lead you and guide you
§ And He loves you and He understands you and He forgives you
o Don’t be hampered by past failure
§ He forgives you and He walks with you
§ He disciplines, yes, but He leads us for our good
§ This is what it means for Him to be our Father
Ø Truth Number Two: We are His Children
o 3 parts to this--What We Have, What we do and What we anticipate
o First, what we have
§ As His children, we have a new name
· John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”
· We have a new name; we bear His name as His children
§ We have a new spirit
· Romans 8:16, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”
§ New name, new spirit, new brothers and sisters
· All throughout the New Testament we’re called brothers and sisters
· We share that with believers not just in our church but in every church
· Christian friends from my trip to India
§ We have access to the Father’s presence
· Exodus 19
o God revealing Himself as a consuming fire on the mountain
o They were commanded to stay away from the mountain…stay away from the holy presence of God
o And then Jesus shows up & everything changed
o The Temple veil—6” thick, torn from top to bottom
· Turn to Hebrews 4:14-16
o We have confidence to enter the throne of God
o Confidence to come before God
o We are not afraid of God in some unhealthy way
§ We are now friends of God
· Romans 8:15 says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”
§ And we have an inheritance in the Father’s kingdom
· “The Spirit Himself bears witness,” Romans 8:16-17, “that we are children of God, and if children [check this out], then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
§ What does this mean?
· You’ve probably seen the Facebook & YouTube videos of children having a cookie or some candy placed in front of them & they are told that if they hold off eating that now, they will get much more later
· What a struggle!
· What happens? Most cannot wait & they eat up the cookie/candy
§ That is without a doubt, just like you and me!
· As children of God, don’t go after the pleasures and possessions and applause in this world
· You have a Father in Heaven who gives you a kingdom forever
· It makes no sense to spend our lives running after the nicer car, bigger house, better stuff, better position here when we have billions of years of a kingdom waiting for us from our Father in Heaven
· We have an inheritance in the Father’s kingdom
· What We Have…and 2nd
o What We Do
§ As children of God, what do we do? We worship Him
§ That’s the whole point of Matthew 6:9, “…Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”
· Make God’s name known
· His name is holy
· Hallowed in all the earth—make it holy
· We worship Him
· We glorify Him
· Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”
· That’s when you wake up tomorrow morning say, “What I want to do today is live my life before my family, before friends, before coworkers, in a way that they see my life and glorify my Father”
· Glorify Him
§ We imitate Him
· Ephesians 5:1 says, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children”
§ We obey Him
· 1 John 3:10 says, “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother”
· You want to tell who the children of God are?
o Look at their lives—look at your life!
o God’s true children obey Him, not just give lip service
§ We reflect Him
· We want people to know God as Father
· “You look just like your mother/father”
· Have you ever caught yourself acting like your parents?
o Many times, we reflect them—not always in good ways
· But God is different
o We should want to be like Him—that’s our purpose
· And this is what should drive us as men and women, husbands and wives, parents and grandparents, to pass the gospel on to the next generation because we want them to be counted among the sons and daughters of God
· More than anything, we want people to experience the joy of being children of the heavenly Father
· What we have, what we do, and…
o #3 What We Anticipate
§ We don’t have time to turn to Revelation 21:1-7, but you probably remember what it says
§ There is coming a day when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” –that’s verse 4
§ Then listen to verse seven, “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son”
§ That’s the picture of Heaven!
§ A heritage where He will be our God and we will be His son, His children
§ And I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to an eternity where we will enjoy His presence
§ He will be our God & we will be His sons, daughters forever and ever and ever and ever
Ø There are incredible benefits for having God as your Father
o Not only in the afterlife, but in your day-to-day living
§ You are never alone
§ You never have to go through anything by yourself
§ You always have God to help you
Ø But there is another side to this
o Not everyone is able to say that God is their Father
§ Maybe that’s you
§ Or maybe you’re just not sure
o Today is the day to fix that