Intersection (Common ground illustration)
An economy driving tradition in our Christmas celebrations involves giving gifts. We exchange gifts most of the time because we love each other. Sometimes we give because of a sense of obligation.
Our gift giving leads to unavoidable lists – lists of gifts for coworkers, friends and family. Believe it or not, even though the songs tell us Santa Claus is checking his list twice, he did not create the first Christmas list. God did. It involves four gifts only Jesus can give to you and me. God’s Christmas list for you is found in Isaiah 9:6.
Investigation of Life and Bible text(s)
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 NLT)
This is the exceptionally awesome baby whose name was Jesus. The royal titles recorded here describe who he is and how he acts. These four titles – Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace – make up God’s Christmas gift list for you. Today we will focus on the third title.
A child is born to us…. [He will be called] Everlasting Father….
1. We look at our Everlasting Father, through the story of our relationship with our earthly fathers.
a. When we do that, we may see a father who’s never satisfied. Perhaps you seldom if ever heard the words, “I love you,” and “I am proud of you.” You tried to be perfect for dad, because you longed for his acceptance and his affirmation, but it was never there. WHEN WE SEE OUR ETERNAL FATHER AS ONE WHO’S NEVER SATISFIED, WE ACT LIKE WE NEED TO EARN HIS LOVE.
b. We may see a father who’s always angry. Maybe when dad was home, you had to walk on eggshells around your house. At any moment dad might lose it and start yelling. Maybe your dad said words to you like, “You’re never going to amount to anything. You’re a loser. We never meant to have you. You’re a mistake.” Perhaps your father abused you physically, even sexually. He hurt you deeper than words could ever tell. WHEN WE SEE OUR ETERNAL FATHER AS ONE WHO’S ALWAYS ANGRY OR HURTFUL, WE NATURALLY FEAR HIM. WE AVOID HIM OR WE TRY TO CALM DOWN HIM.
c. We might see a father who’s seldom there. Maybe you never saw him. Maybe he came home long enough to eat and change clothes before he left again. Maybe he deserted you and your mom. He may have been out working or drinking or sleeping around, but whatever the reason, he simply wasn’t there for you. WHEN WE SEE OUR ETERNAL FATHER AS ONE WHO’S NEVER AROUND, WE QUESTION HIS EXISTENCE – NOT TO MENTION HIS CARE FOR US.
2. There is a better way. We need to look at our Eternal Father through the eyes of the Bible. For the next few minutes, put your earthly father’s failures out of your mind and focus your heart on your Eternal Father’s victories.
a. When we look through the eyes of the Bible, we see an Eternal Father who is compassionate. “The LORD is merciful and gracious; he is slow to get angry and full of unfailing love.” (Psalms 103:8 NLT) I remember when it dawned on me that there is nothing that we can do to make God love us more than he already does. And we can’t make him love us less either. His love is unconditional. Many of us have worked to impress because we don’t feel accepted, and we’ve taken that same approach into your relationship with Jesus. We work at going to church. We work at reading the Bible. We work at praying, because you feel like you have to do those things to earn God’s love and acceptance. Friends, listen to Jesus’ promise to folks like you and me. “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29 NLT) Relax and rest. Stop striving to be perfect. Live a life that honors God, but stop earn the love and acceptance that’s already yours through your relationship with Jesus. OUR ETERNAL FATHER IS COMPASSIONATE AND FULL OF UNFAILING LOVE.
b. When we look at Jesus through the words of the Bible, we will see an Everlasting Father who cares for us deeply. Listen to his promise. These are God’s words to you this morning. “I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT) Our Everlasting Father will not attack or abuse you. He has wonder filled plans for your good.
Rick Warren summarized this principle in his book, The Purpose Driven Life. “You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not surprised by your birth. In fact, he expected it. Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, not coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you.”
Citation: The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren, © 2002 p. 22
OUR ETERNAL FATHER CARES FOR US AND HAS GREAT PLANS FOR US.
c. Through the words of the Bible we see an Everlasting Father who is always there for us. Allow me to share one more of God’s promises. “Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5 NIV) When you’re alone and feel deserted, he’s still there. A family friend told us about holding his son following a tonsillectomy as the little boy woke up from the anesthesia. He began to thrash around and cry out. “Daddy! Daddy! Where are you?” For quite a while the boy did not hear his father’s comforting words. “I’m right here, son. You’re OK. I have you in my arms.” Eventually, though the warmth of his father’s caring arms and his comforting words calmed him down. He relaxed in his father’s care. Many times we’re like that little boy. God is holding us and we’re crying out wondering where he is.
Citation: BUILD A BIGGER BOX, a sermon by Dr. David Thompson, Asbury Theological Seminary
OUR ETERNAL FATHER IS ALWAYS THERE FOR US – HOLDING US, WHISPERING COMFORT IN OUR EARS WHETHER WE SENSE HIS PRESENCE OR NOT.
Insight (Thesis)
Our Everlasting Father is far more than a cosmic sized version of our earthly fathers. He is everlastingly loving, ceaselessly caring and eternally there for us.
Inferences (Deductive answer to question about the Insight)
How can we know there is a truly Everlasting Father?
After World War II, one of the great preachers to emerge from the ashes of Germany was Helmut Thielicke. In his series of sermons on The Lord’s Prayer he includes this … paragraph:
“Man is walking through the dark forest of life in the gloom of night. Specters are lurking all around him and strange sounds [distress] him. The dark forest is full of dangers. Modern man calls this weird sense of threat and danger the anxiety of life, the fear of life itself. He would give a lot if there were someone to go along with him, someone who would put his hand on his shoulder and say to him, “Don’t worry, I am with you. I know the pitfalls, I know the dangerous cliffs, I know where the robbers lie in ambush, I’ll get you safely through. As long as I am with you nothing can hurt you.” He would give a lot if this were so... What if he were religious? What if he really did feel an urgent need to lift up his voice in the dark forest and cry out for his Father? But what if he were honest and sober and realistic enough to say that even so there is no Father in the dark forest of life, and therefore he must simply be brave enough to suppress this deep yearning of his heart to have a Father and to know that he was safe in his hands?”
Thielicke goes on to argue that we can only cry “Our Father” because Jesus Christ has shown us the Father…. Only in him can we ever know the secret that the Father’s voice is really and truly calling our name in the dark forest [of life], and that we can answer as beloved children: “[Daddy] Father!”
Jesus Christ … alone, in his life and his death, is the guarantor that there is a Father, that God is nevertheless at work in the cruel, hard and fatherless world, building his kingdom of mercy in the secrecy of the Cross.
Citation: What Are Fathers For? David Atkinson, Bishop of Thetford, http://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/news/2006/20060815atkinson.cfm?doc=132
IMPLEMENTATION (“How To” Tied To The Intersection)
Of all the gifts you may receive this Christmas, the ones on God’s Christmas List for You are the most vital for you.
Some of you are trying to earn God’s love and acceptance. Some of you are afraid he’s angry with us. Some of you may even wonder if he exists. But Jesus comes to each of you this Christmas assuring you of God’s unconditional love, his wonderful care and his constant presence. Do you need to relax in our Eternal Father’s love, care and everlasting arms?
Do you need Jesus to connect you to your Everlasting Father this morning? Is there a hole in your soul that only a truly good father can fill? Jesus is offering to fill that hole with the perfect Eternal Father.
Will you receive this priceless gift? If so, feel free to put my prayer into your own words.
Jesus, you have convinced me that I can have an Everlasting Father. Your birth, your life, your death on the cross and your victory over the grave proves that I have a Heavenly Father. Because of you, I know my Eternal Father loves me, cares for me and is always with me.
Father God, forgive me. For so long, I’ve lived as though you did not love me. I thought you were angry with me. I even wondered if you existed at all. Take away my fears, my guilt, my shame and replace them with Jesus’ courageous confidence, Jesus’ clear conscience, Jesus’ calm core.
Eternal Father, thank you for loving me enough to give yourself to me. Thank you for caring for me and planning for me. Thank you for being with me right now.
Heal my scared heart. Fill the void in my soul and help me to share your love with others who need to meet their Eternal Father too. AMEN.
