Introduction The Father Heart of God

From AA 12 steps, we read: Step 3- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

As we mentioned last week in our introduction, Jesus in teaching us how to pray, gave us a four part introduction to the kingdom of God. Lets look again at

Matt 6:9-13

After this manner therefore pray yea: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day, our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver  us from evil;

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen.

Notice this prayer is in four main Sections, that build upon one another.

Step 1 – Our Father

We must intimately know our Heavenly Father

Step 2: Give us today our daily Bread

Know Who You Are

Step 3 Deliver us from Evil

Know Thy Enemy

Step 4 – For thine is the Kingdom

Know How to Worship

Credit: Rev Doug Jones at Rhema Bible Training Center.

Remember Step 1 of AA?

“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” No matter how good or bad your earthly father was, you have now been adopted into the kingdom of God, and God is a better father than any earthly father that exists.

As I mentioned in the introduction, we are going to look at a number of these topics in detail. Tonight, I am going to introduce you to a topic entitled: THE FATHER HEART OF GOD

Its story time:

Inside a prison in the United States, some prison volunteers decided to do something nice for the inmates. Mother’s day was approaching, and so they asked how many prisoners would like a card to send home to mom. Eighty percent said yes, and took a card. Encouraged by the success of this endeavor, they decided to repeat the process on Father’s day. Again, the men were asked who would like a card to send home to their fathers. Surprisingly, no one wanted a single card, in fact, it almost caused a prison riot.  So they decided to do a survey to try and discover if there was a relationship between fathers and criminal behavior. Well, you guessed it, there was; it seems that when interviewing these men, all of them had either and abusive or negligent dad. In many cases, these men were from single parent homes and didn’t even know their fathers

Well, the Bible commands parents to bring up children in the training and nurture and admonition of the Lord.

(Eph 6:1 NIV)  Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

v2  “Honor your father and mother”–which is the first commandment with a promise–

v3 That it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

v4  Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

(Col 3:19 NIV)  Husbands love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

v20  Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

v21   Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

(Exo 20:12 NIV)  “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Why study this topic anyway? Why should I spend my time learning about Father God? If He’s anything like most men I’ve met, or like religion says He is, spare me. I’ve got enough pain in my life already. I know Jesus, and He loves me, so why mess with His Dad. What kind of Father would let His son be beaten beyond human recognition to die on a cross?

Good question: Reminds me of another story:

That reminds me of a story.

The Switchman

There was a man who worked for the railway as a switchman. He lived at the edge of a river, alongside the tracks. The river had a swinging railway bridge that remained open most of the time to let the ships go through. When a train came, the control office would radio ahead to the switchman, who would go out to his little switching shack at the side of the tracks, to sound the horn to stop shipping, and swing the bridge into place so the passenger train could cross. This happened twice a day, and became a routine for everyone involved. Some days, the switchman would allow his three-year-old son to sit in the shack with him, gently holding him on his knee, while he operated the levers. When the afternoon passenger train arrived, together they would hold hands at the side of the tracks and wave at the passengers as the huge train thundered across the bridge. The father loved his son, and they loved to spend time together.

As time went on, the bridge began to decay, and the locking mechanism on the far side of the river began to malfunction. When this happened, the switchman could walk across the bridge, and put his shoulder into a huge lever, that manually locked the bridge in place. One day, as usual, the switchman got the radio call announcing the afternoon passenger express. In the prescribed fashion, he sounded the foghorns stopping the shipping traffic, and activated the switch to swing the huge old bridge into place. Slowly, it swung across the river, and as had happened before, it refused to lock into place. Looking around, the man saw no sign of his little boy, so he began the walk across the river to manually lock the bridge. As he proceeded across, he heard the train whistle, coming around the bend. “I’m not moving as fast as usual,” he thought, but there was still time. He began to hurry, reaching the other side, as the train came into view barreling down the tracks. Sweating, catching his breath, he sighed “Phew, made it”. As he grabbed hold of the lever, he realized the train was close now, but he still had time. As he put his shoulder behind the lever, he heard a sound that made his blood curl. “Daddy”. In horror, he looked up to see his son walking across the tracks to be with him. The train was pounding on, and suddenly, he realized there was no time to do anything. He had to make a decision. Either lock the bridge, and have the train make it across safely, or leave it unlocked, and have the train plummet into the river, in which case his son would surely die. With a cry of anguish, he flung the lever into place, and the hurtling train instantly crushed his son beneath its weight. He fell to his knees, crushed beneath the horror of what he’d done. The train conductor and the passengers stood up to wave, totally oblivious to the kneeling, weeping man at the side of the tracks. The train went on its way, and the man picked up the broken, crushed body of his son, and headed home to tell his wife. Picture if you will the anguish of that man as he carried the body of his son back across that bridge that night. That is a picture of the heart of Father God, when another Son died for you and for me, 2000 years ago on a cross. His anguish caused the earth to split, and the sky to become as black as night. How many of us, are like the passengers on that train, oblivious to the incredible price that was paid for each of our lives when Jesus died on the cross in our stead.

This is a true story, and someone did a movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q844OgsP4_4

(Rom 8:29 NIV)  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

This verse says it all, we’re supposed to be like Jesus.

Like the children’s song

I want to be, more and more like Jesus,[1]

I want to be. More and more like Him.

In my school Lord, and in my family,

With my friends Lord, that all the world might see.1

If we are supposed to be like Jesus here in the earth, what was JESUS relationship like with his Father?

Let’s look at it in Scripture:

(John 5:19 NIV)  Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

[1] Hosanna Integrity, from the Donut Man Video,  “At the Zoo”.

“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” No matter how good or bad your earthly father was, you have now been adopted into the kingdom of God, and God is a better father than any earthly father that exists.

As I mentioned in the introduction, we are going to look at a number of these topics in detail. Tonight, I am going to introduce you to a topic entitled:

For several years now, it has been in my heart to share this particular message. Its truth’s are timeless, because of Him that it describes, our precious loving heavenly Father.

See, Jesus had such an intimate relationship with His Father, that He knew what He was up to, and did only the will of the Father. You can too.

(John 5:30 NIV)  By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Notice here, Jesus only sought to please our Father. What would cause that kind of a response in Jesus. Sure He is God, but he came as a man, fully human, as weak as you and me. Why would He only seek to please him who sent him?

I’ll tell you why. He knew he was loved, and love is stronger than death. Yes, perfect love will destroy our deepest fears. Father God loves you too, in a deeper more intimate way than you now know.

So how did Jesus experience that love? Well, the prophet Isaiah had a ‘sneak-preview’ of Jesus, thousands of years before he actually walked the earth. He saw Jesus growing up in God, just like you and I have to. God spoke this through Isaiah.

(Isa 50:4 NIV)  The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.

v5  The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.

v6  I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.

v7 Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

v8  He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me!

v9  It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.

v10  Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.

v11  But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment.

God is a good God, and faith is still the currency of heaven.

We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Jesus had to grow in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. How did He do it?

He had to see Himself in the Word of God.

Notice, I made that big, because it is. Just as Jesus had to see Himself in the word of God in order to fulfill His earthly ministry, so you too, have to see yourself in the word of God. The word must become flesh in you.  In order for you to discover your destiny and to fulfill the will of the Father for your life, you too must be like Jesus and:

You must see yourself in the word of God.

We’ll get into this in great detail as we go along, but let’s look a little more into Jesus relationship with our Father, and I pray it awaken a desire in you for the same thing.

(John 4:34 NIV)  “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

Obviously, Jesus had skipped a few meals here, in order to pray, seek God, and generate spiritual power to heal the sick and work the mighty miracles that jump off the pages of Scripture at us as we read them. You too, as you get hungry for God, are going to need to skip a few big Mac’s and TV shows in order to fully obey God.

(John 6:38 NIV)  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.

There it is again, in the ministry of Jesus. The ‘not my will, but yours be done’ attitude that characterized the Master must also characterize the disciple. Sin is spelled, s-I-n. Son is spelled S-O-N. When we seek do our will, I become big, and our obedience to God becomes small. Yet, if we seek to do the will of God, the Son becomes big, and we become small. So the nature of every sin is an I/O error.

(John 6:38 NIV)  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.

You may not  have considered this before but you too came down from heaven.  Before you were in your mother’s womb, even before you were a gleam in your father’s eye, God knew you. You are a spirit, given to your father and mother, as a gift from God. As that sperm and that egg came together in your  mothers womb, God breathed out of heaven, and placed your spirit  inside your mother, with heavenly DNA encoded inside of you. You are not a mistake, you are not an accident, and you are created by design, granted to this earth by heaven. We can’t go back the way we came here. Your parents may have not done right by God or by you, but it was the devil that caused every tear, every abuse, and every pain. He’s our enemy, not our parents, not the system, the police. It’s payback time for you now, as you recognize your heavenly calling and destiny. Say it with me, decide before God right now, agree with His word,

(John 6:38 NIV)  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. Amen!

As I think about our upcoming journey together I am reminded of:

Now, over the next seven weeks we are going to look at seven attributes of Father God, He’s your Protector, your provider, your Nurturer, your Mentor (or coach). He’s a warrior who is fighting for you right now. He’s your disciplinarian, and He’s the preparer of the Bride for His Son.

 Homework: Read the book of John, and see how many places Jesus said He was doing the will of the Father. Ask Holy Spirit to help you do God’s will.

1. Did you seek first the kingdom of God, and His will for your life, today?
2. Will you do it tomorrow?

[1] As I have tried to research this story out, I discovered this to be a true story, of a testimony of a Catholic nun who requested a donation of 1000 cards for each day from Hallmark. I encourage you to get the book: Transformation of a Man’s Heart, Downers Grove, Illinois, IVP, 2006, p 56 author: Stephen W Smith

[2] Hosanna Integrity, from the Donut Man Video,  “At the Zoo”.

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