The Father Heart of God

JESUS REVEALED THE FATHER

Jesus came to reveal the Father to the human race and to offer relationship with Him.

7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

9 Jesus said “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (Jn. 14:7-9)

Jesus reveals many facets of God’s name and personality. Yet, God’s Fatherhood comes to the forefront and dominates Jesus’ revelation of what God is like.

26 I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it… (Jn. 17:26)

From the beginning God had a Father’s heart. Jesus revealed the nature of God as a Father who longs for intimacy with His family. There was a yearning in the Father to have a family who voluntarily loves Him and His Son. God is a great king but above all He is a Father.

6 His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father… (Isa. 9:6)

In the beginning, the Father planned to have a family.

7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things…and he shall be My son. (Rev. 21:7)

18 I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters… (2 Cor. 6:18)

The revelation of God’s Fatherhood is so precious that He wanted it declared first by His Son. Thus, Scripture says, “in the beginning God” instead of, “In the beginning the Father.”

Around the Throne of God the angels worship God with names of respect and adoration, for example, “To Him who sits upon the Throne, who lives forever and ever”. Jesus made a startling declaration, when you pray say, “Our Father”. We are not to stand at a distance from Him.

9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. (Mt. 6:9)

The Father blesses us with His favor, approval and provision that we may walk in our destiny.

31 When the Son of Man comes…He will sit on the Throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered…34 The King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Mt. 25:31-34)

For eternity, we are the blessed of the Father. The devil says we are cursed and accused by the Father. We inherit the Kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world. They Father was thinking of you when He prepared the foundations of the world.

One reason that earthly fatherhood exists in God’s plan is because God is the Eternal Father. In His wisdom, the Father established the concept of humans being fathers.

In Gethsemane, while sweating drops of blood, Jesus cried out to His Father using an intimate term calling Him, “Abba” or “Papa”. It is a term of endearment that is respectful yet intimate. This term was commonly used in the streets of Israel. Children sitting on their daddy’s lap used this word. It includes the assurance of receiving God’s kindness and affection.

36 Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me. (Mk. 14:36)

Jesus said “Abba” and fell into the Father’s arms with vulnerability. Jesus found strength and endurance in Abba’s embrace.

The Son was the only One with the right to call God “Abba”. The Spirit reveals the Father in us so that with confidence we cry, “Abba Father”. We are created to relate to God like Jesus does. The Father was moved when Jesus spoke to Him this way. One of the Holy Spirit’s roles is to convince us of what God the Father is like. He gives us confidence as He imparts the “Abba cry” in us. The good news is that we can relate to God like Jesus did.

15 You received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Rom. 8:15)

The Abba revelation touches the deepest need in the human spirit. It answers why God created us. We are invited to walk in intimacy with God as we receive the Father’s embrace. It empowers us to endure difficulty and casts out Satan’s accusations against the Father.

Our lives are broken and unsettled until we know the embrace of the Father. Human intimacy will not answer the deepest cry of our spirit. God put a bias in our spirit to long for the touch of a father. A primary emotional need that we all have is the assurance that we are enjoyed by God in our weakness. This comes first by the revelation that the Father longs for us and enjoys us.

The parable of the prodigal son is not primarily about a son who lost his inheritance but about a father who lost his son and how the father gets his son back.

11 He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 The younger…said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood…13 The younger son…wasted his possessions with prodigal living….17 When he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough…I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,

19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”‘ 20 He arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. (Lk. 15:11-24)

The younger son asks for his inheritance which was a great insult to a father. The father gave his son the money because he knew the heart of that son. He knew that his son would never come into intimacy with him until he was broken by the discovery of his sin and emptiness.

UNDERSTANDING THE FATHER’S HEART

The Father embraces us in affection. One of our greatest needs is to have the assurance that He enjoys us even in our weakness. The Father pursues us to share His heart with us. He wants to break the spirit of shame and despair in us. The Father is our greatest cheerleader.

1. The Father knows our weakness.

14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. (Ps. 103:14)

2. The Father is patient with us.

4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Rom. 2:4)

3. The Father plans and provides for our good.

6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives…10 He (disciplines us) for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. (Heb. 12:6-10)

14 Children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. (2 Cor 12:14)

32 For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (Mt. 6:32)

4. The Father wants partnership with His children.

The Father calls us forth because He alone knows our potential and His plans for us.

17 I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it. (Rev. 2:17)

5. The Father trains us without shaming us.

11 We exhorted, comforted, and charged every one…as a father does his children (1 Thes 2:11)

14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as…beloved children I warn you. (1 Cor. 4:14)

21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. (Col. 3:21)

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. (Eph. 6:4)

6. The Father shall reveal His heart to His children.

4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. (Rev. 22:4)

1 Having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. (Rev. 14:1)

The vast majority of the human family has had deeply negative experiences with their earthly father. Most have not experienced the tender touch of a loving father. The void is a great source of pain that compels us to seek the revelation of God the Father. The Devil seeks to use the pain of unfulfilled longing to confuse and deceive us so we seek to answer it in wrong ways.