Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
Today we continue our series titled The Doctrine of God.
Today we are talking about The Fatherhood of God.
Prayer
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
Romans 8:15-17 AMP
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear [of God’s judgment], but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [the Spirit producing sonship] by which we [joyfully] cry, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit Himself testifies and confirms together with our spirit [assuring us] that we [believers] are children of God.
17 And if [we are His] children, [then we are His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His spiritual blessing and inheritance], if indeed we share in His suffering so that we may also share in His glory.
Scripture Reading
Romans 8:12-17 AMP
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but not to our flesh [our human nature, our worldliness, our sinful capacity], to live according to the [impulses of the] flesh [our nature without the Holy Spirit]—
13 for if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever.
14 For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear [of God’s judgment], but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [the Spirit producing sonship] by which we [joyfully] cry, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit Himself testifies and confirms together with our spirit [assuring us] that we [believers] are children of God.
17 And if [we are His] children, [then we are His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His spiritual blessing and inheritance], if indeed we share in His suffering so that we may also share in His glory.
Introduction
The Old Testament saints viewed God’s Fatherhood almost solely in the national sphere, have a read of Exodus 4:22 and Isaiah 1:2.
But even in the Old Testament you can see people’s thoughts, as in the Psalms, moving to something more personal. (Psalm 68:5 and Psalm 103:13.)
Jesus gave the word Father new depth and content.
He did this not so much by what He said as by the way He lived.
He alone lived the kind of life God’s Fatherhood should inspire and imply.
He said, “I one from the Father,” meaning His Father, whose nature He perfectly reflects.
Note three things about the Fatherhood of God.
- The implications of God’s Fatherhood.
God’s Fatherhood implies that God is accessible to us.
The way to God is open.
This does not mean that we can be irreverent in our approach to God or that we can take liberties with Him.
But it does mean that the barriers between us and God are down.
The veil before the Holy of Holies is torn in two from top to bottom, and the way to God lies open.
God’s Fatherhood implies that God’s authority over us is like that of a father over his children.
Many conflicting claims are made on us, but we must hold to our faith in God, the almighty Father. In all things we are responsible to Him.
In the home in which Jesus lived, the father was a symbol of authority.
By “Father” Jesus did not mean the kind of indulgent father often found in western families.
The Jewish father loved his children intensely, but he expected unquestioned obedience and honour that continued all through his life.
In Jesus’ mind the word Father carried connotations of obedience rather than mere indulgence.
God’s Fatherhood implies that the blackness of sin is revealed.
If the power behind the universe were sheer impersonal law, our sins would be sins against law.
But if, as Jesus revealed, the power behind the universe is a loving Father, our sins are sins against love.
To call God “Father” is ultimately to make sin intolerable.
It was not law we crucified on Calvary’s cross, but Gods holy love, the love of a Father God.
God’s Fatherhood implies that the that the wonder of forgiveness is clear.
Before Jesus came, people asked, “Can God forgive?”
Call God “Father” and know that He is, and the question becomes, “How could God not forgive a truly repentant heart?”
In one parable Jesus pictured God running out to meet the returning prodigal, to gather him, just as he was, into his arms.
If, because God is Father, sin stands in a new light, so does love’s victory over sin, which is forgiveness.
2. The results of God’s Fatherhood.
Since God is our Father, He concerns Himself with our concerns.
Jesus taught us that our food, clothing, and shelter are God’s concerns.
Matthew 6:32 tells us, “For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”
He then continues in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him.”
Since God is our Father, He knows and loves us as individuals.
An earthly father does not love his family in general, he loves each child in particular.
What we do poorly, God does perfectly.
He knows us.
He loves us one by one as individuals.
John 3:16 makes this clear, “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
But that’s just one side of the coin.
The other side is Luke 15:10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents [that is, changes his inner self—his old way of thinking, regrets past sins, lives his life in a way that proves repentance; and seeks God’s purpose for his life].”
He loves us as though we are the only one to love.
Since God is our Father, He disciplines us as His children.
God is a Father, not an uncle.
Uncles often let children do almost anything, sometimes that same child might get punished when he gets home because of the things the uncle let him do.
Uncles don’t have to accept full responsibility like a father should.
To love means to desire the best for another and to exercise discipline to encourage it.
God will not always hold back His anger against this who play with His love.
Hebrews 12:6 says, “For the Lord disciplines and corrects those whom He loves,
And He punishes every son whom He receives and welcomes [to His heart].”
Since God is our Father, He saves us from our sins as individuals.
As Father, He acts personally to call people to respond to His love in repentance and faith.
He is Father, and we are potentially His children.
As long as we know who He is and who we are, and act accordingly, we may have a personal relationship with Him.
Through Jesus Christ He is our Father and we are His children.
Since God is our Father, he blesses us through His Holy Spirit.
Three words in the text describe the privileges that come to the Christian through the Holy Spirit.
- Children.
How great it is to be a child of God!
2. Heirs.
We inherit what is His.
3. Joint heirs with Christ.
As God’s children we are heirs of all He is and all He has.
3. The assurances of God’s Fatherhood.
God’s Fatherhood assures us concerning suffering and pain.
People were once prone to think that pain and suffering were signs of God’s condemnation and judgement.
Sometimes people may bring their suffering on themselves, but not invariably so.
Not only has Christ cleared that awful thought away, but He has shown us that some kinds of suffering, far from being God’s condemnation, are actually God’s election to a singular honour.
This was true of Jesus.
Romans 8:32 says God “spared not His own Son”, because He had a purpose for Him, a great and glorious world redeeming purpose.
So God often deals with all His children this way.
God’s Fatherhood assures us concerning prayer.
In prayer we do not send our voices out into an empty void.
The God whom we seek in prayer we are to call “Father.”
That is the very centre of our Christian faith.
Our heavenly Father is a person we can tell anything and be assured that He will listen to us.
God’s Fatherhood assures us concerning the future.
Relief and encouragement come when owe rest our minds in the thought that God knows what lies ahead and that He is in control.
As God’s children we have to learn, but sometimes the tuition is needlessly high.
Our heavenly Father would sae us from a lot of mistakes if only we would ask Him first and then listen and do what He tells us.
He knows what the future holds.
God’s Fatherhood assures us concerning our salvation.
Salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit on the merits of the redeeming work of Christ, whereby we become children of a loving Father God.
God never disowns His children.
We may disown Him, but He never disowns us.
If we are Christians, we are His children.
Conclusion.
Remember always, you are a child of God, He is your Father.
Never forget it, you are a child of God!
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
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