God is many things and has many names. He is Creator, King, and Deliverer. He is Holy, Just, Righteous, All-Powerful, Faithful, Unchanging, Lord of Lords, and much more. But, when we join His family, He becomes our Father.
Jesus said, "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9 ). He did not say, “Pray like this, Our Sovereign Lord” or “Our awesome King” or “Our powerful Creator,” but rather, “Our Father”. God is not some distant, unpredictable being, He is our Father. In Christ, we are His children. As the Apostle John said, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1).
Now, some of you may have had a great earthly father; therefore, the idea of God being Father is very appealing to you, but some of you may have had a very different experience. You may say, “Well, I had a bad father; therefore, I am not excited to hear that God is my Father.” Perhaps the fact that you say you had a “bad father” indicates that you are comparing him to some standard and, therefore, have an idea of what a “good father” should look like. God our Father is all that a “good father” should be and much more.
We will be digging into this on Sunday morning, and in preparation, why don’t you ponder God’s character in this passage: “The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty (he does not ignore sin). I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected— even children in the third and fourth generations.” Exodus 34:6-7 Consider this question: Is there any such thing as a good father who ignores sin and never disciplines his children?
If we want to know what the Father is like, we simply need to look at Jesus, who said, "… Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? (John 14:9)
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Pastor Gene
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