"Everlasting Father" Series

When Jesus came to earth, He did so for the purpose of redeeming a lost world so that He might ultimately restore it to its former state of sinlessness and blessedness. In the process, as God come in human flesh, He also revealed the Father to us. John said of Jesus, "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known," (John 1:18).

The fact that the Father was made known through the life of Jesus was declared by our Lord in a response He made to a request from one of His disciples, Phillip: "Philip said, ’Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered: ’Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father?" Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.’ " ~ John 14:8-11

Jesus made it clear that through His life we could learn about the Father. Jesus revealed the Father through:

A. His Works.

B. His Words.

Last time, we thought together about how Jesus, the mighty God of creation, revealed Himself through His works, that is, through His miracles.

Today, I want us to consider how Jesus made Himself known through His words. In doing so, Jesus spoke about Himself, that is, about God, as the everlasting Father.

Perhaps the best example found in the New Testament of Jesus’ revealing the Father through His words is found in Luke 15:1-31. We read in this chapter the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.

Let’s take a look at what these teachings of Jesus reveal about our Lord - the everlasting Father. (Read Text)

Through the .words of Jesus, we learn about:

1. That which fills the Father’s heart - vs. 4; 8; 20

That which fills the Father’s heart is a burden to see the lost be found. In each of these parables, we see portrayed an intense desire on the part of God for men, women, boys, and girls to be saved.

(2 Peter 3:9b)

Yes, that which fills the Father’s heart is a burden to see each individual who is lost be found.

God’s love is extended to the whole world (John 3:16). Beyond that, His love is extended to whosoever (Romans 10:13). Beyond that, His love extends to you & your loved ones (Acts 16:30-31).

"The love of God is like the Amazon river flowing down to water one daisy."

May the burden that fills the Father’s heart be our burden as well! May we be burdened for the salvation of lost individuals!

About everyone here has probably seen the film Titanic. More than 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers died when it sank on April 15,1912. Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that many of those people didn’t have to die. A lot of people climbed into the twenty lifeboats, but many were only half full.

Hundreds of people were in the cold water with life preservers. Most of them did not die from drowning; they froze to death. The people in the lifeboats heard the cries of those dying people, but they chose not to go back for fear of capsizing. Only one lifeboat returned - after it was too late. Of the hundreds who were in the water, only six people were rescued. Those who were already saved didn’t go after those who were dying. When we pray for God to extend our territory we must ask God to break our hearts so that those of us who are already saved will go after those who are dying.

2. That which makes the Father happy - vs. 5-7; 9-10; 22-24

That which makes the Father happy is seeing an individual repent and be saved.

How we need to recapture that joy which heaven has over one sinner who repents!

(Philemon 6)

May that which fills makes our Father happy fill our heart with joy as well!

3. That which brings the Father hurt - vs. 25-32

That which brings the Father hurt, as exemplified by the elder brother, is when His children become so self-centered, that they lose their burden for those who are lost and their joy at seeing people saved.

There was a large church in the downtown of a large city, a beautiful structure, it had 4 stories. It had a very dignified, educated pastor and a wonderful choir of professional quality. The church practiced what one pastor described as a sort of "osmosis evangelism." They expected Christ to sort of ooze out of their fellowship into the world outside.