Sermon # 37 - The Father's Love Series

For our meditation today let me highlight this verse from 1 John 3:1, “See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God's children—and so, in fact, we are.” (GNB)

Can you imagine the amazing love God the Father has lavished on us, that we have the wonderful status of being called the ‘children of God. Everyone who has accepted the Lord Jesus, and made Him the Lord of their lives, have the blessed privilege, and esteemed position of being called sons and daughters of God. Sometimes when parents are distressed about the behavior of their children, they would disown them, and be ashamed to call them their own. However, no matter how many our faults and failures are, God the Father is still gracious to call us His children. On the one hand we have so many benefits from being children of God, but on the other hand, we also have many responsibilities as well. Both are equally important, and sadly many want the privileges without taking on the responsibilities.

As we explore the love of God, let us understand the entitlement that is ours. The only way we can come to God the Father who is Almighty, holy, without beginning or end, is through His son Jesus Christ. Only through Jesus we have the boldness and access into the presence of a holy God.

Let me highlight to you some of the fathers who are mentioned in the bible so we can learn some lessons from their lives. Though man fell in sin, there is still a remnant of the image of God that can be seen in all men. As we study the lives of these fathers we will be able to understand as to how much greater is the love of God for us.

A father who protected his family

We read in Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, having being warned by God concerning the things not yet seen, being reverent, prepared an ark for the salvation of his household” (EMTV)

During the days of Noah the people were so wicked that God decided to destroy them. Noah had to set aside all that he was doing to construct the huge ark, and focused all of his time and energy on this project. The ark was not a small boat, but was a huge ship which was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Not sure how many years it took for Noah to complete the ark, whose height would have probably been that of a four or five storied building. This sure must have been an arduous task for Noah.

Though Noah was obeying the command of God to build the ark, he was also concerned about the safety and future of his family, and the generations to come. Here was a father who set aside his own work and personal agendas, and made a huge sacrifice to protect his children. If a human father had so much love for his children, how much greater is the love that God the Father has towards all of us His children.

There are many who wonder why a God of love should punish people who do wrong. Let us say a person has a wound in their toe, which they neglect for a while, and it gets badly infected. If they went to the doctor, and the doctor suggested that they have to amputate that toe, as that infected toe could become dangerous to their lives. Most probably, the person will be willing to accept the doctor’s advice though it may seem adverse to them. So also, if God were to allow wickedness to grow, it would cause much damage to everyone. Therefore, God has to destroy evil so that good can flourish.

The magnitude of God’s love

The extent of God’s love is explained beautifully in Romans 8:32, “For God has proved his love by giving us his greatest treasure, the gift of his Son. And since God freely offered him up as the sacrifice for us all, he certainly won’t withhold from us anything else he has to give.” (TPT)

God who created man, even when man fell into sin, sent His only begotten son into the world to redeem all of mankind. Since Jesus lived a sinless life, and took upon Himself the sins of all mankind, we have the blessed privilege of being called sons and daughters of the Most High God. The God who did not spare His own son, and gave Him as a sacrifice to us all, will He not along with Him give us all good things.

There’s story of a wealthy man who lost his wife, and had a daughter whom he loved dearly. The one thing he treasured apart from his daughter was an audio system which was highly priced. Apart from spending time with his daughter, he would find solace with his music system. When the daughter came of marriageable age, the man got her married, and his daughter moved away to her husband’s home. A month later when the daughter and son in law came home, the young man was so enamored by the audio system that he asked his father in law if he could have it. Without any hesitation, the father of the girl immediately offered the audio system to his son in law. He told his son in law, ‘I have given you my only daughter whom I love so much, and you can certainly have this audio system for it is nothing compared to her.’