The Father

Introduction:

Many times when your speaking with people about God, the direction of the conversation changes and most people have questions about God.

?Where did God come from?

?Who created God?

Those types of questions.

they are good questions, they reveal an inquiry to truth. Real truth!

I Believe that there are 7 different questions that everyone has to answer at some point for themselves.

Those questions are foundational for their beliefs.

Daniel Henderson wrote a book specifically talking about this.

The 7 Most Important questions you’ll ever answer.

Who is God, Who am I, Why am I here, what is my purpose for existence, etc…?

The answers to the questions would be considered your “core” beliefs.

To help us build our core beliefs:

We are going to jump into the persons of the Trinity, hopefully we can gain a better understanding about each person to strengthen our faith.

I would love to be able to perfectly and eloquently explain the trinity in a way that is final and perfect, and understandable; but I can’t.

So instead we will use example like:

A Triangle.

An Egg.

Water

Our efforts to explain how 1 thing can be made up of 3 distinctly different things yet are still collectively one thing.

Transition:

Today the person of interest is God the Father.

I. He’s Eternal.

A. Before Time began, He existed.

A good passage that teaches this is:

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

God created, He created and began time. He set in motion.

As the creator He is automatically crowned King.

He is King Forever!:

Psalm 29:10 “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.”

To further point out what scripture says about God and forever:

Psalm 48:14 “that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.”

As you may notice I am using passages from God’s word for our factual truth, that’s because:

God’s word is more than just a book!

It is the recorded writings for the foundation of our faith!

We trust and believe that every word is perfect and true; complete in it’s message.

Point: The bible is what we have as our authority for revealing God to us.

There are a lot of passages, illustrations, poems, and statements from individuals, including Himself which state that He is above His creation, in control of it, and that He is eternal.

In Psalms we can hear about God’s eternality:

In Psalms God’s eternality is stated:

Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

“Everlasting to Everlasting”, sounds a lot like the “infinity times infinity”

The statement that is usually used for expressing “forever”.

No man is outside of time.

In Job 38-40:2 There is a lengthy and pointed message from God to Job.

As you read these passages you gain a healthy point of view for who God is and how He created all that exists through His eternal knowledge and wisdom.

Since He created it He is in charge of maintaining it.

Transition: Which brings us to the:

B. Present.

The Father is past, present, and future as stated in:

Revelation 1:4 “John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,”

The creator is above the creation!

This aspect can be revealed by God’s sovereignty over his creation.

Every day we can recognize that God is sovereign.

Definition: Divine sovereignty refers to God’s all-encompassing rule over the entire universe.

This isn’t a new concept, it is something mankind has pondered all through the ages.

Lexham survey of theology addresses creation and God:

“Early church fathers, such as Theophilus of Antioch, argued that if matter were uncreated, then God’s authority as the sole ground of all that exists would be diminished; God would, in other words, exist alongside, rather than above, creation. By contrast, Scripture consistently depicts God as occupying a position of utterly unique sovereignty over creation”

Point: Scripture consistently supports that God is over His creation; not equal to or existing alongside.

He doesn’t have a beginning. He doesn’t have a period of growth, old age, or an end.

Lexham survey of theology portrays God’s existence as:

“God is revealed as a being who is totally different from anything else in the universe, which is something He has created outside himself. God is not bound by the constraints of time or space but dwells beyond and apart from them.”

Point: We are able to recognize in scripture the power and supremacy of God.

- We can see it through “natural” laws in this world, which reveal that a supreme being has control.

? How can you reach those who don’t believe scripture?

Transition: When someone doesn’t value the Word of God as truth and authority we can appeal to our created world for the truth.

Examples:

- Gravity.

- Friction.

- Etc...

Transition: The recognition for God in our present world moves us to what is next:

C. The Future.

The future is often read about in:

Revelation 1:8 ““I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.””

Revelation reveals that God is in the future.

The future doesn’t change who God is!

- He will continue to be sovereign over His creation.

We will have a point when we get to see Him in His glory!

*He will always exist since He is Eternal.

Transition: His eternality brings the understood fact that He is:

II. He’s Self-Existing.

A. He Tells Us In:

Exodus 3:14 “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ””

The name or title: “I Am who I Am” isn’t just a name.

It’s aLeo a title that reveals His nature: He is existent of Himself and dependent upon no one.

Illustration:

Man must say of themselves: “By the grace of God I am what I am”.

God can say: “I am that I am”.

God gives Moses the answer for who sent him to the people of Israel and tell Pharaoh:

The self-Existing one!

Then He reveals His authority and power to the World.

Not just in the 10 Plagues; but with the Wandering in the dessert and also the battles in the promised land.

1 Chronicles reveals hoe God is perceive:

1 Chronicles 16:25 “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods.”

(Explain the context for that verse).

If that was the only statements we heard for the Fathers self-existence, it would be enough.

Just to reinforce to us this point:

Transition: Jesus makes a statement regarding God’s self-existing nature and a claim about that nature Being His too.

B. Jesus Tells Us In:

John 5:26 “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself.”

God has life!

He is alive and living.

? The question: How is God alive?

Answer: He is alive because of Himself! He exists because He exists.

Doesn’t make sense to our human minds;

But that is why we call it faith!

We believe and trust because He revealed Himself to us and we choose to believe that God is Omniscient and must be self-existent.

Illustration: This isn’t a difficult mindset, we have faith in areas that are less sure!

Examples:

Did you trust that your car would start today?

? No, you must have had faith,…in your car.

Did you trust that you could make plans yesterday for today?

You must have had faith in your control over your life.

point: We can trust that we don’t need perfect understanding about everything. We can trust that:

He exists and has revealed to us that He exists!

Since He exists and is self-existent He must be self-sufficient and as a result: All Sufficient!

(Praise Him that He is)

? Is there any part of this creation that is self-existing?

No.

Was there at any point?

No.

?Why?

In my mind: God created creation to be on-going, never ending.

-Not self-existing; but never ending.

I believe that it reveals the desire He has for us and for all of creation.

Point: Without Him it wouldn’t exist, it would cease to exist.

Everything is dependent upon Him! We need Him!

Transition: We can praise Him for His existence and the fact that:

III. He Cares.

Here is the Question:

Why would an Almighty, Self-Existing God who doesn’t need us care about us?

*I Think because He is sovereign and has control of His creation, He maintains it.

A good example of proper care and Stewardship?

We are image bearers of Him; a special hand crafted creation of His.

We severed that relationship by disobeying Him.

Transition: Yet He continues to care and:

A. He fights for us.

Deuteronomy says:

Deuteronomy 3:22 “You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’”

Israel disobeyed Him and He still fought for them.

They weren’t in the dessert for 40 years because they liked the sand.

They messed up so bad that a whole generation had to die off to before they could enter the promised land.

Transition: Moses was going to die and couldn’t enter the promised land so Deuteronomy is a book where Moses writes his closing letter, in it he is passing the torch to Joshua and relays a promise from the Father:

Deuteronomy 31:7 “Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.””

Moses expressed who it is that fights their battles.

It wasn’t for Mose it was for the people, and He wouldn’t stop at his death. He would continue as He did before: On behalf of Israel.

Transition: He reminds them:

Deuteronomy 31:8 “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.””

Hey Joshua’s God is still in charge and will keep His promises to Israel.

Transition: The passing of leadership from Moses to Joshua should re-enforce the fact that:

B. He provides.

A familiar passage reveals that we can take comfort in His guiding and providing control.

Psalm 23:1-4 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

The Father is described here as a shepherd.

Illustration: let’s think through a shepherd:

The shepherd’s sheep are his livelihood and investment.

? What would a shepherd do for his sheep?

Sometimes we have the wrong questions:

A better question is:

? What isn’t the shepherd willing to do for his sheep?

He would do anything! A shepherd is a perfect analogy for how God views us.

Transition: In every situation if we call out to Him from brokenness and repent with forgiveness, He reconciles our relationship and:

C. He Comforts

Psalm 3:3-4 “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and He answered me from His holy hill. Selah”

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Psalm 18:2 “So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.”

*God is fighting on your behalf and the shepherd will comfort you in time of need!

Transition: Having facts about our Father should build and shore up our faith, facts like:

Conclusion:

The Father is outside of time!

He is constant in His existence, He was and is and will always be!

The Father doesn’t need anyone!

He doesn’t need us; we need Him!

The Father Loves!

It is unconditional, it’s never ending, and always available.

(Present Salvation! Acknowledge those online as well!)

Dismissal: Go this week and acknowledge the Father in each day, and thank Him.