Welcome to the new edition of the Weekend Sermon. I thank you all for joining me again this week. I hope everyone is having a really good day.
There has been a lot of bad weather in my part of the country this week. It has been cold, snowy and there has been a lot of freezing drizzle. Thankfully, the road crews have kept the highways in good condition.
I haven't been feeling very well this week. Would you please pray for my health? Also, since around Thanksgiving, I've been feeling somewhat depressed. Please pray that I will start to feel better in this way as well.
In prayer this week, let us focus our prayers on the bad storm that is set to hit the eastern part of the United States. Some places are predicted to receive two feet of snow. Please pray that everyone will be safe. Let us also pray for those suffering from disease and hardship around the world. Pray for peace in the war torn areas of this planet.
We have been praying each week for those countries where the number of Christians is small. Let us pray that the message of Jesus will reach Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Japan.
Last week, we began our new series of messages about the Apostles' Creed. We examined the statement "I believe in God." We just barely scratched the surface of who God is and what it means to believe in Him.
Today, we will continue examining what the Creed has to say about the first person of the Trinity by looking at the phrase that says God is "the Father."
One of the main ways that God reveals Himself in the Bible is as our Father. This is found in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, we see that God refers to Himself as a Father to His people, and He refers to His people as His children. Isaiah 64:8 states, "But now, O Lord, Thou are our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our potter: and we are the work of Thy hand. I Chronicles 29:10 and Jeremiah 3:19 are just two to the many Old Testament verses that express the fact that God is our Father.
The New Testament gives even fuller expression to the fact that God is Father. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus says that we are to address our prayers to "Our Father which art in Heaven."
Let me just stop here for a moment and speak about the two ways in which God is Father. First of all, God is Father because He is the one who created, and He is the one who sustains the universe. In this sense, God is Father of the universe. He is the one who oversees all that is. He makes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Nothing in the universe would exist without the preserving power of God.
There is another way in which God is Father, and that is much more personal. God is the Father of those who believe in His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ. When we come to faith in Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit. The Bible says it this way in Romans 8;15, "The Spirit that you received brought about your adoption to sonship, and by him we cry, Abba, Father." Galatians 4:6 says it like this, "Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father."
Because Jesus lives in our heart, His Father becomes our Father because we are adopted into the family of God. I think that Hebrews 2:11 in the New Living Translation makes it very clear, "So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters." Those who have a personal relationship with Jesus have God as Father in a personal way.
So, what does it mean that God is our Father. It means several things. To begin with, it means that we are part of the family of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Those who have a father receive an inheritance from the father. There are benefits from being part of a family.
Since God is our Father, we our identified as belonging to Him. We have received an inheritance which is eternal life and an intimate relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Also, one of the aspects of being a good father is to provide for one's family. God our Father has provided everything that pertains to life and Godliness. Jesus said that our Father knows all that we need. God our Father provides for us those things that are best for us. Ultimately, the Father sent His Son into the world to provide salvation for all who would believe.
Another responsibility of a Father is to keep His children safe. The Father keeps us secure. The Bible gives a great picture of how secure we are in John 10:28-29 where Jesus says, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand." In other words, we are very secure for all eternity. We are safe in the hands of Jesus, and the Father has His hands wrapped around Jesus' hands. On top of all that, we are sealed by the Spirit unto the day of redemption. When we realize this, we need not fear what any person can do to us.
Father's love their children, and we are greatly loved by our Heavenly Father. He has given us His Son, and He has given us the indwelling power of the Spirit. He has made us part of His family.
Father's also provide discipline and instruction. This should not be seen in a negative way as if God is out to punish us for all that we do wrong. God leads us along showing us by His tender mercies the way that we should follow.
Once again, I have just been able to scratch the surface of who God is and what He has done and is doing. I urge you to really study the doctrine of God.
You can know God as your Heavenly Father. The Father sent His Son the Lord Jesus into this world to die on the cross for our sins. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus provides a way to the Father. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. All that come to the Father must come through Jesus. Ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life today, and you will know what it truly is to say that God is your Father.
Next week, we will finish the first section of the creed by reflecting on the fact that God the Father is creator of Heaven and Earth. On Monday, we will have more verses to memorize. I will have a review of a good book that I am currently reading on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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