Who's Yo' Daddy?

GOD ASKS, ’WHOSE YO’ DADDY?’

ISAIAH 64:1-12

INTRODUCTION... What Makes a Good Effective Father?

[Ask Congregation and Reflect on their Answers]... Some suggestions just in case...

* Listens to their kids * Shows them love * Active in their life

* Spends time with kids * Provides food and shelter * ____________________

* Disciplines them when needed * Love their mother *____________________

We are going to begin to look this week at some of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope and pray that we look at this passages and doctrines with freshness and that they encourage us in our faith and walk with God.

We begin this week by looking at the Fatherhood of God. That means several things and encompasses a lot of thoughts about God. Many of our thoughts about God can be traced back to His Fatherhood. Jesus, in Matthew 6, teaches us to pray “Our Father in Heaven.” It is a title that we give God and that He accepts for Himself; and is one that gives respect to God.

READ ISAIAH 64:1-12

This passage in Isaiah is very interesting. It is divided into three parts, at least I think so. We have verses 1-7 that describe God and our relationship with Him. Then we have verse 8 that defines and describes God matter-of-factly as our Father. Verses 9-12 then complete the chapter and is sort of a prayer and conversation with God the Father.

I. THE RELATIONSHIP DESCRIBED (VERSES 1-7)

These first verses in Isaiah 64 describe for us who God is and our relationship with Him. We have as our God the Almighty Creator of the Universe. Verse 1 describes God tearing the sky open and coming down to earth. Isaiah makes sort of a wish that God would make Himself totally physically seen in this world. He asks/wishes that God would do this and step onto the earth. Isaiah is saying, “God I want all people everywhere to see You and your Mighty Power!” Isaiah imagines that the mountains would quake and the trees would ignite and the water of the earth would boil because of His powerful presence. This makes sense does it not? We find many of these things associated with the presence of God when it is described in Scripture. We find fire when God is present, such as Moses and then Burning Bush or the Pillar of Fire that led and protected the nation of Israel. We find the earth trembling when God is present, such as Elijah on the mountain facing God. It makes sense to me that we might find heat and a change in the world when God is present. God is awesome power. His very presence would change the world we live in.

Do you know what I thought of when I read verse 1? I find this to be very interesting and meaningful: when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Right? God tore open the Holy of Holies as a statement that all may access God. Isaiah 64:1 tells us that this was Isaiah’s wish. He wanted a clear relationship with God. He wanted to see God on the earth. But there was a barrier to the relationship. You and I know that the barrier in the relationship with God and man is not the sky, but sin in our lives. Isaiah longed for all the barriers to be broken down between he and God.

Verses 1-7 describe for us who this Mighty and Awesome Creator God is:

* He acts in the world and does awesome things we did not expect (64:3) = Parting of the Red Sea

* He acts on behalf of those who wait for Him and remember His ways (64:5) = Plagues in Egypt, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, 3 Men and the fiery furnace, manna in the desert, Jericho wall collapse

* He is angered with continual sin (64:5) = God cast Adam and Eve from the Garden, Flood of the Earth, handing over of Israel in Judges to foreign powers because of sin

* He is a holy God that must turn away from sin (64:7) = Jesus on the cross and the darkness

The overall picture that we get from 64:1-7 is tow-fold.

First, we get the picture that we have messed up. We do not call on His name. We don’t even try to seek God or His will. We simply waste our lives away in sin. That is what verses 6-7 tells us so completely. We are like withered leaves that blow us wherever life wants us to go. We have no root or will of our own. We yield to whatever comes our way. The picture we get is one of a broken relationship between God and man. Do you see it in these verses? We continually sin against God and we think nothing about it! The question Isaiah poses is so very appropriate: How then can we be saved? He knows that he and his people are lost... the relationship is broken.