Everlasting Father

Introduction

Recap Series

Immanuel - God with us

Wonderful Counselor - Man at the pool or Bethesda

Week 3 of Advent - Everlasting Father

Isaiah 9:6 CSB

6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

this verse is not talking about, our father in heaven

remember what the verse is actually about

a child will be born, a son will be given - the virgin birth

the government will be on his shoulders - he will rule

he will be called… everlasting father

Isaiah is telling us what the messiah will be like

he is not talking about the trinitarian God, but the characteristics of the messiah… Jesus

Anytime that we talk about fathers there are a couple of things that happen

moms throughout the room start elbowing their husbands making sure that they are still awake and listening

though not all, there are a lot who want to immediately tune out because the relationship with their earthly father was so poor

there are some great fathers out there, but we must admit and understand that there are some terrible ones as well

those with terrible fathers cannot imagine that anyone would compare the love of God to that of a father

J.D. Greear “Instead of looking at our heavenly father through the lens of our earthly fathers, lets look at our earthly fathers through the lens of our heavenly father.”

Luke 15:11–24 CSB

11 He also said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living. 14 After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing. 15 Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to eat his fill from the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one would give him anything. 17 When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. 19 I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired workers.” ’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father told his servants, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast, 24 because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

PRAY!

The Merciful Father

Define Mercy - not getting what you deserve

Illustrate getting what I deserved - Lying in 5th grade

Luke 15:11–12 CSB

11 He also said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them.

The father was merciful from the beginning

what did the son deserve - nothing

everything that the son had belonged to the father

everything that the son had was due to the father’s mercy

what did the son receive

grace

freedom to live and do what he wanted with the blessings that the father had given him

to often believers look at the gifts of God as if they are owed them

as if doing some “christian” things earns us a blessing

we even try to make deals to that effect

I will pray more, read my bible more… do this for me

as if those things are for God, and not us in the first place

The father had all the power

The son had neither the position or the power to make any of this happen

The father could have forced the son to stay and work

he would not be working out of love

the son would have despised his dad

do you see how making making us work for love is not the love we have in our heavenly father

He could have said no and been done with the son

could have disowned the son, cast him out or sold him

could have left every thing the way that is was

God’s mercy with you began way before and extends long after the circumstances that you find yourself in

Lamentations 3:19–23 CSB

19 Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison. 20 I continually remember them and have become depressed. 21 Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!

This is the merciful messiah that came to this earth, dwelled with his people and offered his life for us

to give his people a chance to be called the children of God

something that we do not deserve

something that we cannot earn

The Waiting Father

We hate waiting

Amazon Prime - now prime shipping is like standard shipping and standard shipping is like getting something from china

why is this so frustrating

we know that other people get it faster, we know that we got it faster pre-covid

we do not like that the rest of the world does not operate or center on us

This might be hard to understand for so many who have had absent fathers

absentee fatherhood is a pandemic all on its own in our world

there are so many statistics out there about the negative things that happen when kids are without a dad

kids waiting on love from a father

even some that have a dad in the house but is simply not involved or act like they care at all about their kids

I cannot imagine what that feels like

I cannot imagine how many times they might blame themselves and do who knows what trying to get somebody to love them

I believe that the church needs to step up and be a father to those without a father in their life

I cannot count how many times that I have asked the Lord, “How long?!

like everything else, really what I am doing is waiting on the Lord to come around to my way of thinking

If that is you, there are two options

continue to wait

move to his way of thinking

I am sure this what it was like for the son

how many times that he thought, “How long,”

How long is the famine going to last, how long do I have to feed pigs? How long!

the amazing thing is that no matter how long it took him, the father was just waiting for him to return

Luke 15:17 CSB

17 When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger!

Did this mean that the son was perfect? No, of course not

Did this mean that his problems are gone? NO

we have to stop this thinking that if God loves me, I will never have another problem

or that if I am perfect and not sin, that I will never experience another problem

there will always be problems in this world, because there will be sin in this world

the son still tries to do things his way

but now he was willing to submit to the father

Where was the father through all of this mess… waiting like a sprinter in the starting blocks, just waiting to run to his son at the first glimpse

the father had not abandoned him even after his rebellion

the father was not waiting for him to crawl back and beg, or to earn, or to prove he had changed

the father ran! the father wrapped his arms around him and kissed him!

the father proclaimed to everyone, “MY SON IS HOME!”

If you have sin, if you are walking away from God right now, he is just anxiously waiting for you to come to him

The Loving Father

Unfortunately, the idea of a loving father is foreign to so many

I try to be at everything for my kids, so much so that I wonder sometimes if there like… just stay home dad, it really is ok.

Unfortunately, there are so many who live in fear of abuse from their earthly fathers

physical

mental - I think that mental is worse

we have seen both of them in churches and denominations throughout history

children abused, sexual assaults of employees

we have seen pastors or church leaders mentally bully and abuse church members

to mentally convince somebody that they are not lovable, by God or anyone else is pure evil

we do this when we judge the sins of somebody else as unforgivable

Satan does this constantly when he brings up our sins continually

The reaction of the father

gives the son the bast of what they have

a ring, new robe, new shoes clean him up and give him the best that we have

throws a feast!

he does not relive bad decisions, past sins

This is the love of Jesus

Ephesians 1:7–8 CSB

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Jesus redeems all - redeem - free from bondage, pays a ransom

Jesus forgives all - forgiveness - an obligation removed or ignored in a given relationship

Jesus knows all - wisdom and understanding - there is nothing that Jesus did not know when he paid the price for our sins

we do not have to be shy about confessing our sins

we do not have to wonder what he will say when we turn to him

he will lavish us with love

he will celebrate our return

This is the love that we celebrate, that we remember when we gather for Christmas

this is the love of Jesus the messiah!