We Believe: The Father

Choices

How do people make choices?

Based on desire.

Based on obligation.

Based on necessity.

Based on reputation.

Based on resignation.

At our core we are designed and required to make choices each and every day. It is an inescapable part of our existence. Even to not make a choice is by it’s nature a choice. If this is a fundamental reality of our existence, we really ought to know why we do what we do.

This morning we are going to look at the first member of the triune God: the Father. How we think about, how we respond to, how we understand the Father brings us back to this core issue of why we do what we do. Why we are the way that we are. As the prophet Micah wrote:

Micah 6:8 ESV

8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

it is our goal to live the way God designed us to live.

Our statement about The Father

We believe the Father is the highest Authority

There is nothing hidden from Him and all things are determined by His will.

He is intentional in all that he does and reveals himself through his works.

In love, he sent the Son to the world.

Authority

We believe the Father is the highest authority.

The first place we should look is to Jesus. He knows the father as deeply as he knows himself and reveals the Father to us. So, what did Jesus say about the Father’s authority?

Jesus teaches us to pray:

Matthew 6:9–10 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus prays:

Matthew 26:39 ESV

39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Jesus submits:

John 5:17–30 ESV

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. 19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 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. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

The ultimate authority is put on display for all to see in the life of Jesus. And it’s display reveals the love between the Father and Son.

Within the

So, God the Father is the highest authority.

Plan and Purpose

There is nothing hidden from Him and all things are determined by His will.

He is intentional in all that he does and reveals himself through his works.

No one can stop him and no one can question him.

Daniel 4:35 ESV

35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

His way stands forever.

Psalm 33:6–11 ESV

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. 10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. 11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

Empowerment

In love, he sent the Son to the world.

Why did he send the son?

Genesis 6:5 ESV

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Proverbs 14:12 ESV

12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:1–8 ESV

1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

God sent Jesus so we could have a chance to live the way we were designed to.

God the Father and My Choices

Who is the authority?

Whose plan and purpose do I follow?

Who empowers me to live this way?

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.