A FATHER WHO LOVES US

A FATHER WHO LOVES US !

[An Introduction to the love of God our Father]

Brian J Hayes

The Word of God is full of amazing truths. This should not surprise us as the bible is the revelation of Almighty God Himself and his relationship with each one of us. We constantly hear and read about these truths, and are told how very important each one us is to us personally.

One of these incredible truths, is a truth which God is restoring in these days by revelation - the truth about God our Father’s great love for us which comes from His outrageous grace. This in fact is not just `another truth` -- but the heart of WHO God is and therefore the heart of the gospel.

We all know that God is love (1 John 4:8) and therefore God loves us, but the simple and yet profound truth I want us to look at is that:

• God My Father - loves ME and approves of ME !

• He accepts me just as I am while loving me too much to leave me as I am !!

• I am My Father’s child, and a son or daughter whom He loves and delights in so He wants me to live as His son or daughter not as a slave.

• He wants me to be motivated by His love not driven by fear or performance or a need for acceptance

• Above all He wants me to experience these truths not just know about them

which is why as you read this study I want to engage your heart !

God is love [1 John 4:8]. LOVE is the essential nature of God.

He doesn’t have love (like a commodity) - He IS love ! This means that love is foundational to everything that God does. Which is why we read in 1 Cor 13: 13 : And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

In 1 John 3:1 God’s love is expressed as being lavished upon us - How great is the love the Father has lavished on us and in Romans 5:5 we are told that it is Holy Spirit Who brings God's love to us for God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Now God loves us in a certain way – as a FATHER

Sin has distorted fatherhood and motherhood so it is difficult for us to visualise a perfect Father but our Heavenly Father is the perfect Father. He is the Father who really loves us !

We live in a fatherless generation which needs the Father’s love.

Whenever we are disconnected from a loving father, either an earthly father or Father-God we become ‘fatherless’. This is a huge subject which we cannot develop just now but in a later study we will look at the Fatherhood of God and the prominence of the Father in the Gospels and in the life of Jesus as well as seeing how our earthly father can become a barrier to understanding the true nature of God’s Fatherhood.

Jesus knew that His Father loved Him, approved of Him, and was delighted in Him

Before doing any ministry Jesus heard his father say: You are my Son whom I love and in whom, I delight. (Matt 3:17) and from that place of security, acceptance and assurance Jesus ministered on this earth by serving the purpose of His Father which was simply living & acting out of His Father’s heart. We all know the Scripture: ... 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. [John 5: 19]

Jesus’ rhythm of life was connected to the heart beat of His Father

It was the outcome of a love relationship. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does

[verse 20]. To walk in God’s ways, to express His heart, to do His work, we need a love relationship with our Father in heaven.

It is important for us to see that Jesus` security was in His Father’s acceptance of Him as a Son, NOT because of His ministry. His Father’s love & approval was not based on what Jesus DID, but on WHO HE WAS (& still is) – and it is the same for each one of us !!

God our Father’s love, approval & acceptance of us is based on WHO WE ARE - His children, His son or daughter, those who are `in Christ` – it is not based on WHAT WE DO, on our activities, on how hard we work for Him

In this context the well known phrase ‘in Christ’ is extremely important:

It is because we are ‘in Christ’ that our Father God loves us as much as He loves His Son.

Scripture is clear about this:

The Father loves the Son. (John 3: 35 & 5:19) and as a ‘son/daughter’ He loves you !!

Jesus says to each one of us [in the words of John 16:27]..... because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God ...the Father HIMSELF loves you. Here Jesus is saying that our relation of trust in Him means His Father, our Father, loves us in the same way. Our trust and belief in Jesus releases the love of Father God to us.

We never doubt God’s love for Jesus, but that fact that Father God loves us as much as He loves His Son, throws our minds into a spin so we can easily brush this truth aside - believing that this cannot be possible.

In our mind we are shouting ‘You cannot be serious’ !! But God has never been more serious - He loves us.

Being united ‘in Christ’ locks us into being recipients of Father’s love.

Jesus says that very clearly when speaking to His Father about His disciples

I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me [Jesus] MAY BE IN THEM – in you - John, Mary, Tom.... (John 17:26)

The mission of Jesus is to bring us to His Father - to bring us into the Father`s house

Most christians see the mission of Jesus as dying on the cross to rescue us; to bring us redemption; to purchase our salvation - and all this is true. The CROSS is extremely important ! None of the benefits and blessings of salvation could have happened without the cross, so it is central to what God has done for us.

But this is not the complete story ! Having saved us the mission of Jesus is to bring us to the FATHER and the cross is the gateway onto the path that leads us to the Father. Jesus said : I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

John chapter 14 is about coming to His House - not in eternity (heaven) -- but now as a daily experience of a loving Heavenly Father

for Jesus is:

• the WAY to the Father

• shows us the TRUTH about the Father

• and demonstrated the LIFE of the Father

The home (of John 14) is the bosom of the Father which is the King James version of John 1:18

Some translations, such as the NIV, weaken the text by using the phrase `by the Father’s side`, but this is an inadequate translation of the Greek word `kolpos`. Today’s NIV puts it this way:

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. Young’s literal translation reads: God no one hath ever seen; the only begotten Son, who is on the bosom of the Father – he did declare.

If you feel I’m labouring the meaning of this word, yes I am, because when Jesus came into our world He came from the bosom of the Father, from the very heart of the Father, so when He returned `home` - it was to the bosom of the Father, to the very heart of God.

The word `bosom` speaks of intimacy. The phrase `a bosom friend` describes a very intimate

relationship. George Elliot used the phrase `Deep in the bosom of the hills` to describe being

surround by the hills, to be in the heart of the hills

The ministry of Jesus is to bring us to the Father; into that place of intimacy - ‘the home of His heart’ as George MacDonald describes it. The place where we belong is at ‘home’ with the Father; in our Father’s house; in His embrace [which is another way of describing “abiding”] and this place of intimacy is a place – the only place – of acceptance, security and protection, peace, and rest.

Many christians have not completed the journey. They know Jesus but have yet to allowed Jesus to bring us to His Father. So the challenging question is: How many of us when we came to Jesus allowed him also to bring us to the Father for the mission of Jesus - the work of the gospel - is not fully accomplished IN US until we are brought into the arms of our loving Heavenly Father because God desires that each one of us has the SAME kind of relationship as He has with His Son Jesus - our elder brother

Okay, I know that theologically we were reconciled to God, but I`m talking about experientially

Do we know the warmth, the intimacy, the security of His bosom, His embrace, of closeness to His heart ? When I came to Christ (over 50 years ago !!) in a large evangelistic crusade in London

I was introduced to Jesus and I had a real and life changing experience which truly was a ‘conversion’ but God the Father was a complete stranger to me. It was years later, through a revelation of the Spirit, that I experienced the Father’s embrace

Now some folk are afraid that by focussing on the Father we will diminish Jesus.

We will deal with this in detail in a later study, but the ‘bottom line’ is that there is no conflict because by focussing on Jesus we are shown the Father. As we focus on Jesus He shows us the Father and leads us to the Father. Jesus said: All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. (Matt 11:27)

It’s only because of the life and death of Jesus that we can even approach the Father !!

We say we want to be like Jesus - but may be we should be saying we want to be like the Father -- because Jesus was like His Father !! Jesus modelled and lived out these truths we are talking about !! [We’ll look at that another time]

I believe that over the past centuries and over recent decades God has been restoring truth to His church - truth which we would neither know or understand if there had been no revelation.

I’m thinking of the 19^th century, the 1800s, when the centrality of Christ was restored to the church and the Evangelical Movement was born with it’s emphasis on Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Then there was the 20^th century, the 1900s, when an understanding of the work, ministry and gifts of the Holy Spirit was restored to the church starting with the Pentecostal Movement flowing on into the time when the Spirit was poured out in the more traditional denominations, right up to the various outbreaks of the Spirit’s activity in the last two decades.

Now in this 21^st century there is a restoring of the Fatherhood of God bringing christians into the same kind of relationship as Jesus had. Through this revelation many lives are being radically changed.

Now I know that God doesn’t work in neat little boxes of exact centuries - I use this as an illustration. The important thing is to understand the importance of REVELATION.

Today many christians are experiencing what I am talking about. Many are coming into a new understanding of what it means to be loved by a Father who accepts us totally. Although we may have known the truth that God is love, the Holy Spirit is bringing a revelation that previously we did not have.

Remember, God is revealed not discovered. Intellectually we can try and discover God but we only ‘know’ Him, we only really experience that love relationship with Him when the Holy Spirit chooses to reveal Our Father to us.

“Revelation” is a ‘knowing’ which comes from an inner reality put into our spirit by His Spirit – the Spirit of Christ / the Holy Spirit

Paul speaks of this revelation when he writes: I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. Notice that the context of this verse is `the glorious Father` (or the Father of glory); and the purpose of the Spirit of wisdom and revelation is so that we can know Him (the glorious Father) better !

The Greek word for ‘revelation is ‘apokolupto’ and conveys the idea of ‘drawing back a curtain’, of revealing something which was previously hidden.

The Greek word which in this verse is translated `know` is the word `epignosis` which conveys the idea of a complete and full knowledge, that is knowing Him better, and that only comes through an ongoing revelation.

I can think of so many examples of people having ‘the lights of their heart’turned on.

Of them seeing in a way they have never seen before that God is their Father and that He loves them just as they are.

I am thinking of a lady who came into a three day ‘Fatherheart’ Conference that I was conducting in Moscow. She only came for a couple of hours one morning so she didn’t hear all the truth which was shared over those three days, yet in those two hours the Holy Spirit revealed so much of God, her Heavenly Father’s heart, that her life was transformed.

I remember praying with someone at the end of a Leaders Seminar in Kiev. My prayer was short and simple and as I prayed I gave them a brief hug, asking the Holy Spirit to make my arms which were around them just like the Father’s great arms of love. The next morning this same person testified to an encounter with their Heavenly Father’s great love.

The examples are endless and it can be the same for you !

This revelation which brings us into this relationship of intimacy with the Father needs to extend to us seeing ourselves as God sees us.

THE WAY WE VIEW OURSELVES - OUR WORTH, OUR VALUE needs to be the same as God`s perspective of us for OUR IDENTITY must come from the way GOD our Father sees us - not from the way we view ourselves or others view us

It is so easy to be overwhelmed by our own unworthiness and so we feel it is inappropriate to come near to such a loving Father yet alone into that place of intimacy, His bosom.

It is so easy to live with condemnation because of our failures, our feelings of inadequacy, so we constantly battle with inferiority & failure. Remember that it is always the devil who condemns for God our loving Heavenly Father always commends for there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)

But our sense of value, of self-worth must come from the way the Father sees us.

There can only be one person who defines who we are and who imparts to each and everyone of us our significance and that is our Heavenly Father who knows us, accepts us, and loves us

Words are so powerful, whether they are spoken or written. Prov 18:21 says: The tongue has the power of life and death

We can so easily undermine GOD`S TRUTH concerning us by what we continually say about ourselves. I am sure you can identify with that statement because you & I know that we so often condemn ourselves by our words, by saying things like: I’ll never be able to do this or that.......I’m not so intelligent as so and so......I’m a complete failure...............I’m stupid................Nobody loves me.........

Have you ever said (or thought) some of these and similar things ?

Now we will become everything we constantly declare about ourselves – that’s the power of words !! which is why we need to have GOD`S positive PERSPECTIVE of us and is why we need to vocalise GODLY BELIEFS. Remember that Romans 10: 9-10 says: that if you CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with YOU R MOUTH THAT YOU CONFESS and are saved.

The devil will always pull us into negative thinking and ONCE we speak it we start to believe it !

Instead we need a biblical vision of who we are “in Christ” and confess that truth every day

because there is a battle going on for our mind – which is where most spiritual warfare takes place !

So His definition of us is the only one that is REAL and the only one that really matters

Every definition that we put on ourselves is inadequate. Every definition that is placed upon us by other people in our various relationships is untrue unless it agrees with the Father’s opinion.

We get so caught up with the approval of others, or more often the lack of approval from others but what we really need is a deeper revelation of the Father’s very positive perspective of us which is why the Father’s Love Letter and similar writings are so important. [If you do not know what I am talking about then please go to www.TheFathersLoveLetter.com. You’ll be blessed]

I want to use an illustration from Brennan Manning’s book ‘Abba`s Child’

Imagine taking a bank note, say a British five pound note, or an American ten dollar note, or whatever currency is appropriate to your country. If I was to offer this note to you I’m sure you would take it. But what if I screwed it up ? Would you still take it. What if I dropped it on the floor and then trod on it. Would you still want it ? Of course you would because no matter what I do to that note it’s value has not decreased !!

Many times in life through circumstances or through the decisions which we make we are crumpled - dropped - made dirty - badly treated and as a consequence we feel of little value - worthless

But as those who are “in Christ” we never lose our value because God’s love for us and his choice of us makes us worthy. Because of His GRACE He has accepted us and adopted us. I can contribute nothing that will make me worthy. It is as if I am naked before God yet He tells me: You are my son, my beloved one -- ‘Abba’s child’ - that’s outrageous grace !!!

We are special to God !

Can we accept that -- and then let it become an integral part of us ?

You are precious and special in my sight and I love you... (Isa 43:4)

He settled on us as the focus of His love (Eph 1:4 Message)

So how we view ourselves at any given moment may have very little to do with who we really are ! It is how God sees us that is the reality because His Grace supercedes our feelings !!.

Because of all the things we have done or not done, our failures, we often feel like -- I am no longer worthy to be called your son – and then the devil fills us with GUILT and keeps pronouncing us guilty and a failure. GUILT demands , abuses, criticises, rejects, accuses, blames, condemns, reproaches and scolds, so we feel pummelled into the ground !! But God’s GRACE & MERCY confronts human guilt and declares: There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

God as our Heavenly Father, loves us ! We are fully accepted in the beloved, so being `Christ` we are recipients of the Father’s love in the same way as Jesus our elder brother.

CONCLUSION:

In trying to give an introduction to the love of God our Heavenly Father there are so many aspects that it would be good to talk about which have to be left to another occasion.

My prayer for you is that as you have read this study, the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of your heart to see yourself as God your Father sees you, and to see Jesus’ Father as your Father.