A Father to YOU

Have you ever wondered what God, the Father, was doing in Heaven before he created the world? 

I have!

I think one of the things (and this is just my imagination) that he was thinking about was what his family would be like. He is the Eternal Father and we’re told in Ephesians 1:3-5 that, before the creation of the world, we were predestined to receive the full rights of sonship. God wants a family of sons and daughters. 

I’ve identified three things, there are doubtless many more, that mark us out. Like any parents, the Father wanted a family that would bring him pleasure. That of course is only natural, it’s the desire of parents to have children to delight in. Paul writes in Colossians 1:16 that Jesus, as the Creator, not only created all things (which includes us) but we were created for him. Even in the Old Testament this sense of being God’s family is very clear. One of the great prophetic passages speaking of our redemption is Isaiah 43, it’s a declaration of repentance and salvation yet it speaks of us in very familial terms:

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth — everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. (Isaiah 43:6-7)

There’s a beautiful verse in Revelation which shows how much we mean to the Father. 

You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11)

There are many more scriptures which show us the Father’s heart. It’s clear though, he is a Father and he wants a family that brings him pleasure. 

The second thing about the nature of this family is that we are made in the image of his son, Jesus. I imagine the Father thinking about his family and seeing Jesus, and in that moment he decided to make us like his son. We are loved in exactly the same way Jesus is loved (John 17:26); we are being transformed into his image, from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18); we are sons and daughters who are like Jesus in every way (Romans 8:28-29). It is as we walk and live like Jesus that we will bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. I know we often struggle with our weaknesses and failings but the Heavenly reality is that we are “in Christ” and seated with him in the Heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).

My third family characteristic is that we can find our home with him. There is a deep unity and intimacy that is ours to enjoy. God is not distant or angry, he is not judgemental; rather he is a loving Father who passionately pursues and desires our good. We see this clearly demonstrated in the story of the lost sons. Here is a Father who wants relationship with both of his sons, he wants them both to come home. Sadly, it is only the rebellious younger son that responds; the older one, stuck in duty and slavery, could not. Jesus sums up this desire for us to come home in John 17:24:

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

I believe these three things are part of the Father’s plan for us. In fact, I believe they are Plan A and that the Father doesn’t have a Plan B. He has done everything necessary, including sending his son to die for us, to bring his Plan A into being. 

As we read the story of the Old Testament we see a people who rebelled and chose to go their own way, the path of pride, rebellion and independence. It didn’t do them any good. They ended up being defeated, taken captive and living in exile. They rejected godly kings and prophets yet God did not give up on them. He was constantly drawing them back to himself. He never stopped being a Father because that’s who he is. 

Here are a few verses which show his eternal heart towards his people.

They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation. Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? (Deut 32:5-6)

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: "Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. (Isaiah 1:2)

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4:5-6)

For me, there is one verse in Jeremiah which particularly captures the depth of desire in the Father’s heart. 

I myself said, “‘How gladly would I treat you as sons and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me. (Jeremiah 3:19)

It’s clear what the Father wants to do but, reading this verse, one can feel the frustration as there seems to be something preventing him from doing what he really wants to do. 

In treating us as sons, the Father wants us to know and live in our true identity. We are his sons and daughters and he wants to treat us as such. He does not treat us as slaves or orphans as he longs for relationship with us. He wants us to know that we truly belong to his family. 

He wants us to know we have a “pleasant land”. To me this speaks of belonging, knowing we have a place to call home as we’ve already seen. When we don’t know that we belong we are like restless wanderers (the description used by God for Cain after he’d killed his brother, Abel). 

Thirdly, the Father wants us to receive and live in our inheritance. A father gives an inheritance to his children; a master doesn’t do that for his servants. Maybe another time I’ll look in more detail at what our inheritance is but needless to say, it’s huge!

Identity, belonging and inheritance. 

That’s the Father’s desire. In fact, it’s more than a desire, it’s his passion. 

The frustration comes in the second part of the verse “I thought you would call me Father and not turn away from following me”. All that the Father pours out for us is useless if we are unable to receive it. If our hearts are turned away from him we cannot live in our true identity, we don’t know there is a place for us to come home to and we certainly can’t receive our inheritance. The longing of the Father is frustrated because of the hardness of our heart or the inability to see with the eyes of our heart. 

The hardness of our heart or the blindness of our heart is caused by the pain or wounds we’ve suffered, often as young children. The enemy tells us lies which, as children, we so easily believe and those lies trap us in the prison of an orphan-hearted life-cycle. Consequently our hearts are turned away from the Father and we can’t receive all he longs to give us. The moment we recognise our need and turn around is the moment when we can receive all that the Father wants to pour into our heart. It is then that the transformation of our heart begins. 

The Father is always loving us, his heart towards us is always good. He longs for relationship and desires to draw us into his family. He has provided the way through Jesus and he issues an invitation. He longs that we would call him ‘Father’ for that is who he is. He does many things (heals, saves, delivers etc) but who he is, is Father. 

As we turn and call him “Father” our heart begins to be flooded with identity, belonging and inheritance. 

God is love (1 John 4:16).

That is the very substance of who he is and that therefore is the way he relates to us. Romans 5:5 tells us that God pours his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit and as he does he is pouring his very nature, character and personality into us. This is the perfect expression of love, not the tainted, distorted or broken love that we may have received from our parents. We truly are loved with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). 

For many, the word ‘love’ is associated with abuse or pain. That of course is not love but yet it has conditioned our hearts and so receiving perfect love can be hard for us. However, as we take a step and choose to trust, we discover that the love of the Father is like no other love. It is indeed the perfect and complete expression of love that our heart has longed for. 

Here is a short list of some of the practical ways God shows his love to us:
Zephaniah 3:17 - he is mighty to save, he delights in us, he rejoices over us with singing.
Isaiah 40:11 - he cares for us like a shepherd cares for his flock. 
Revelation 21:3-4 - he comes to live with us, he wipes the tears from our eyes. 
Psalm 34:18 - he is close to the broken-hearted. 
Psalm 139:13 - he created us in our mother's womb.
2 Thessalonians 2:16 - he encourages us. 
Psalm 139:17 - he thinks about us! (How precious are your thoughts to me, how vast is the sum of them)

And so we have the unchangeable and eternal desire of the Father. 

This desire is brought into being and finds a place in our heart through a promise. A very simple, yet powerful promise that we read in 2 Corinthians 6:18:

“I will be a Father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty”

Not just “I will be a Father” but “I will be a Father to you” and it is those two little words that will change your life if you let them. This promise is personal, it is active and ongoing and it is backed up by all of the authority of Heaven - “says the Lord Almighty”. 

This is what Christianity is about: Knowing that you can call God ‘Father’ and allowing him to be a Father to you. 

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