IS GOD EVERY ONES FATHER?
To day we’re going to talk for a little while to do with the fact that God is not every ones Father.
LUKE 11:1-4
1And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3Give us day by day our daily bread. 4And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
In this model prayer, Christ taught, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father’”. Can you and I truly say in our prayers, “Our Father”?
It’s true that any one can utter the words; “my heavenly Father” but is it true that every one can actually claim God as his or her Father?
Do we belong to a universal brotherhood? Is God the Father of everyone? If God is not the Father of everyone, then who is your Father?
There are some people who believe in the Universal Fatherhood of God
some people speak of the “Fatherhood” of God, suggesting that all people are the children of God.
The belief of the universal fatherhood of God is not what some particular religion might believe, but there are some so-called Christian churches as well as non-Christian religions as well.
The so called Christian churches that endorse the “universal fatherhood of God” hold to the theological position that rejects any or all of the Bible as the Word of God, denying the supernatural miracles of the Bible and the miraculous character of the Person and work of Christ, while they magnify the universal brotherhood of man, with an emphasis on the social gospel as opposed to the New Testament need for evangelism.
~You know; every body love every body, shake every bodies hand, be kind to one and all and everything’s going to be alright~
Listen dear heart, if God is not truly our heavenly Father, everything is not going to be all right. And the only way possible for that to take place is receiving His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we can have religion here in this life and play the religious roll, but when its time for us to leave this old world we had better be born again children of God, because there will be no backing out are trying to change any thing then, it’ll be to late.
There are many religions but only One Salvation.
The social gospel redefines Bible terms in a way that exchanges the message of the gospel with social reform, not spiritual transformation.
God’s Relationship to all Mankind Affirmed in Acts 17, as mankind’s Creator.
Acts 17:24-29 24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
[Offspring of God - = The reference is to the creation-work of God in which He made man in his own likeness as recorded in Genesis. Paul is rebuking the thought that "the Godhead is like unto gold,"]
29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. 30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
vs. 26 tells us that God is our Creator – , “He hath made from [one blood] Adam and Eve~ all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth”
God created mankind in Adam and Eve, but because of the fall of mankind, in the Garden of Eden by the parents of us all, Adam and Eve, as were dissidences from them, mankind is lost, and must be born again, born again of the Holy Spirit of God.
Rom. 8:8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
We didn’t just happen by chance. We are part of the creation of God, as He said to Israel;
Isaiah 44:2 2Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb,
~~ILLUS~~ A little girl crawled up into her great grandmother’s lap one day. And looking up into her great grandmother’s face she saw all those crevices, lines, and wrinkles. Then she felt her own smooth baby-like skin. She said to her great grandmother, "Did God make you?" Her great grandmother said, "Yes, God made me." Then the little girl said, "Well did God make me?" Her great grandmother said, "Oh yes, God made you too."
And then the little girl said, "Well great grandmother, don’t you think God’s doing a lot better job these days?" ~~ THE FALL OF MAN IS BRINGING US DOWN.
Genesis 1:27 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
We are the work of His hands – Job 34:19 --for they all are the work of his hands.
ACTS 17: 28, TELLS US THAT God is our Sustainer,” for in Him we live and move and have our being”
He is the original fountain of life, and he upholds us each passing moment.
Romans 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.
Colossians 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
While God is independent of our existence, if God should cease to exist, so would everything else.
All life would cease. There would be nothing. All that exists only does so because God wills it to exist.
Should God stop willing the existence of anything or everything, then that existence would instantly end.
Acts 17:30-31 tells us that God has appointed Jesus Christ to be the Judge of all mankind.
30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; ---
If man is the product of an evolutionary process then man is not morally accountable to God; if however, God directly created man, then man is accountable to God and was also created that he might walk in holiness for fellowship with God."
So, acts 17: does not affirm God as Father of all mankind.
The word "Father" is not used in Acts 17:29. it says 29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God,
And so the passage does not affirm anything concerning a relationship of God as Father or us as sons.
The Bible teaches that God is NOT everyone’s Father
Listen to the Words of Christ.
John 8:41-44 41Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
42Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
43Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Jesus made it clear that not everyone was a child of God. He taught that natural man is the child of Satan.
Listen to the Words of John
1 John 3:10 10In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, --
1 John 5:1-5 1Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
John makes a clear distinction between the children of God and the children of the devil. He declares that the difference lies in the relationship that each of us has with Jesus Christ. Those with Christ as Lord and Savior have God as Father.
Paul said in Romans 8:14-16 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Paul states that when any one accepts Christ into his heart and life through the operation of the Holy Spirit, he or she is adopted into the family of God and can then call God, “Abba Father” and thereby pray “Our Father, who art in heaven”.
~~ILLUS~~ There was excitement all through the orphanage, for a lady had come to take little Jane home with her. The girl was sort of nervous about the thought of becoming the kind ladies child,
"Do you want to go with me and be my child?" the lady asked her in a gentle tone.
The little girl said,” I don’t know,"
Then the kind lady said, "But I’m going to give you beautiful clothes and a lot of things, a room of your own with a beautiful bed and table and chairs."
After a moment’s silence, the little girl said anxiously: "But what am I to do for all this?" The lady burst into tears and said, "Only to love me, and be my child," ~~
God adopts us, protects us, and give us an inheritance in glory. All He asks in return is that we should love Him, and be His children.
