-
When we're talking about
one God and Father of all
-
who is in all,
-
this is not a universal statement
-
about all of creation,
-
nor is it some sort of universal
fatherhood of God among all men.
-
This is a statement - remember -
-
that unifies the people of God.
-
This is like remember
back to those words -
-
Jesus said to Mary,
-
"Go tell My brothers
-
I'm going to My God, My Father -
-
your God, your Father."
-
"Go tell My brothers."
-
"Your Father."
-
That's the idea here.
-
That's the idea behind "all" -
-
a uniquely Christian expression.
-
The thing is, I can find
in the Old Testament
-
where God is called "Father" -
-
the book of Malachi,
-
but the Jews did not call God "Father."
-
Catholics - yeah, they may once in awhile
-
throw that term around,
-
but they focus on the mother.
-
Muslims do not call Allah "Father"
-
because he's not a father.
-
He's not a father figure.
-
We have one God and Father of all.
-
This is Christian expression to say:
-
you have received the Spirit of adoption
-
by whom you cry, "Abba, Father."
-
Notice: it says "Father of all."
-
Don't you like that?
-
"Father of all."
-
God is not like a father.
-
He is a Father.
-
He is a Father to every
one of His children.
-
To all - that's so unifying.
-
Christian, Christian, are you single?
-
He's your Father.
-
Are your children lost?
-
He's your Father.
-
Christian, do you feel empty? Forgotten?
-
Lonely? Despised? Suffering?
-
Cold? Distant?
-
You have to hear it:
-
He's Father of all.
-
Sometimes we look at it and we say:
-
Oh, but my brother or sister -
-
they had this certain experience.
-
He's a Father to all.
-
He's a Father to all that come to Him
-
by Christ Jesus.
-
Through Christ we have access
-
in one Spirit to the Father.
-
If your trust is in Christ,
you have access.
-
It doesn't matter if somebody
-
has experienced something else
-
or if they're on the
mountaintop right now,
-
or if God has seemingly given them
blessings that you don't have,
-
He's a Father to all.
-
And I'll tell you this,
-
you're in the palm of His hand
-
and nobody plucks you out.
-
He guards you. He protects you.
-
He knows you.
-
What did Jesus say?
-
There in Matthew 6?
-
He said when it comes to clothes,
-
when it comes to food,
-
He said your Father knows
what you have need of.
-
He's mindful.
-
He knows what you need.
-
So often we feel like
-
He's not giving us what
we think He should give us
-
so we feel like we're somehow a stepchild.
-
No.
-
There is one God and Father of all.
-
And I've heard certain Christians -
-
I've heard some Christians just recently
-
tell me that at certain points
-
in their Christian life,
-
they were confronted by certain trials
-
or certain situations where they felt like
-
they might even fall away.
-
You know what?
-
Jesus is talking to His
disciples one day -
-
you know the day - His last day.
-
His last day before the cross.
-
His last day before the grave.
-
And you know what He said to them?
-
He said guys, I'm telling
you what I'm telling you
-
so that you won't fall away.
-
And do you know one of the things
-
that He told them so
that they not fall away?
-
He says in that day,
-
you're going to ask in My name.
-
And He said this:
-
"I do not say to you that I will
ask the Father on your behalf."
-
Have you ever read that?
-
If you just stopped right
there, it's like, "what?"
-
(incomplete thought)
-
"That's going to cause
me to not fall away, Lord?"
-
"That You're not going
to intercede for me?"
-
Which isn't what He's saying.
-
That's not the emphasis there.
-
But He says to them:
-
"I am not saying to you that I'm going to
-
ask the Father on your behalf."
-
What? Why?
-
And He comes back with this:
-
"Because the Father Himself loves you."
-
Now, of course, that came
just as fast as the rest,
-
so they didn't have really time to stop
-
like I did there.
-
But you just think about that.
-
What Jesus is saying is this:
-
Just look, guys.
-
You know that I've loved you.
-
He showed that to them.
-
He expressed His love to them.
-
He convinced them of His love.
-
But what He was saying
as He's getting ready
-
to go away so that they not fall away:
-
My Father's love for you is sufficient
-
for God to act on your behalf
-
whether I'm there or not.
-
Oh, He'd be there.
He wasn't going to leave us.
-
He'd still intercede for us.
-
But the Father Himself loves you.
-
Now here's the thing:
-
We're talking about unity.
-
What unifies us more than that?
-
The Father loves you.
-
This clip was from the full sermon:
-
One God and Father