1. The Growth of Dads
Mark Twain said, "When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man learned in 7 years." The same idea comes across as we look at God. The longer we are in our relationship with him, the more we recognize his wisdom and greatness.
2. Matthew 6.9a
3. As Yeshua (Jesus) teaches us to pray, we become more and more aware that God is not merely some mysterious force or power, but He is a Being of Greatness who invites us into his presence by coming to us
a. He could have used several names to address God such as:
1) Adonai (Eloheinu Melech Ha Olam)
2) Elohim
3) YHWH
b. He chose for us to use “Father”
4. Consider some implications of this word
I. There is a Matter of Identity
A. Identity of God – Our Father in Heaven
1. There is a Supernatural Element to God
2. There are scores of other places in the Bible also where God is described, and indeed describes Himself, in the terms of fatherhood.
a. Psalm 68:5 - “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God...” cf. James 1.27
b. Psalm 103:13 - “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;”
c. Isaiah 63:16 - “You, O LORD, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.”
d. Matthew 7:9-11 - Jesus said: “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
e. John 20:17 - After He rose from the dead, Jesus told Mary to go to His disciples and tell them he was alive and he said, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
3. Distinct from earthly fathers – Honor Father and Mother; Father do not provoke your children
4. “Heaven” can be a Substitution for God – Kingdom of Heaven; Here Yeshua (Jesus) does NOT substitute but speaks openly of GOD
B. Identity of Man
Maybe we are like the little boy who came running into the kitchen one day after school and asked his mom the big question, “Mom, where did I come from?” Her face flushed, she stammered, and finally after a few false starts began the dreaded “birds and bees” talk with her seven-year-old. Her son stood their wide-eyed, soaking up every word. Finally, she stopped and asked, “Now do you have any questions?” “Yes. That’s all very interesting. But there’s a new boy in my class. He said he came from Cleveland. I just wanted to know where I came from.”
1. The Lord’s Prayer deals with where did you come from? Are you a product of chance or a special creation of the living God? More than that, once having determined that you are not just a result of chance, how do you relate to your maker? Is he distant or close? Is he loving or cruel? Does he care or are you on your own? Do you want to know him or would you rather he keep his distance. To pray “Our Father which are art in heaven, hallowed be thy name” answers that question.
2. In Our Identity we Recognize that We have Responsibility to God –
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ Malachi 1.6
Do you thus requite the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? Deuteronomy 32.6
II. There is a Matter of Relationship – OUR Father
A. Our Relationship with Our God Implies A Return to the First and Second Commandments
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22.34-39
B. Our Relationship with Our God Involves:
1. Honor to Him
“‘I thought how I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beauteous of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me. Jeremiah 3.19 [Compare to “Everybody Loves Raymond”
2. Instruction from Him
a. Train Children about God as in Deuteronomy 6.5
b. 16 For thou art our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us; thou, O LORD, art our Father, our Redeemer from of old is thy name. Isaiah 63.16
C. Our Relationship with Our God Involves HIS People
1. We do not live out our faith in isolation
2. Community/body of believers
3 For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Romans 12.3-5
D. Our Relationship with Our God Involves ALL People –
10 Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? Malachi 2.10
[Marshall Keeble addressed everyone as “Brother or Sister” because if he missed them in Jesus he connected with them in Adam.
III. A Matter of Personal Touch –
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” John 20.17
A. MY Father
1. Rarely Used – implies equality to God
2. “Son” as in Psalm 2.7 – used of Messiah
3. Resurrection proves deity
B. YOUR Father
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, Romans 8.14-16
One night a father heard his young daughter talking, although she was alone in her room. The door was cracked just enough so that he could see that she was kneeling beside her bed in prayer. Interested to find out what subjects a child would bring before God, he paused outside her door and listened, and what he heard puzzled him. She was reciting the alphabet: "A, B, C, D, E, F, G …" and when she got to the end she just repeated it. After a few more minutes he decided to interrupt her. "Honey," he asked, "what are you doing?" "I’m praying, Daddy," she replied. "Well, why are you praying the alphabet?" he asked. She explained, "I started my prayers, but I wasn’t sure what to pray. I decided to just say all the letters of the alphabet and let God put them together however he thinks best."
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will." (Romans 8:26-27, NIV)
C. My + Your = OUR
We are all part of the Family of man (Luke’s genealogy)
We are in his Spiritual Family via Abraham (Romans 4) and Yeshua (Jesus) -- 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4.14-16)
Some of you remember when JFK was president of the US. Life magazine published photos of his children, John Jr. and Caroline, playing with their toys on the floor of the Oval Office. Those images captured the hearts of the American people like nothing before or since. Why? I think it’s because it bridged a gap between two thoughts: Kennedy was the President of the United States, but he was also a father. He held ultimate political power in the Free World, but playing at his feet were two little kids who called him Daddy. I don’t think your kids would have been allowed to do that. Nor mine. But his kids were. Why? He was their father. He was not only President of the United States; he was also their dad.
1. We serve an uncommon God
The Late Sam Walton was in the mid 90’s named as one of the richest men in America. You’d never know it! He drove a pickup and lived like a regular person. Asked why he didn’t drive a Rolls Royce he replied, “Where would I put my dogs?” He was successful at least in part because he connected with the common man. That’s why Jesus came as a man to earth, God with us, to connect with the common man.- He is an uncommon God.
2. Privilege in being part of his family and in prayer
