THE PATHWAY TO THE FATHER
Part 2
You have to go through the Son if you want to get to the Father. There is no other way. The only way to know the Father is for the Son to reveal Him. You cannot love the Father and not love the Son. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Jesus said that no one knows the Son but the Father. Furthermore, no man knows the Father except the Son, and those to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him (Matthew 11:25-27).
Our world is suffering an identity crisis. People do not know who they are. People do not know what they are. The fact is we have strayed away from our Father. God called Adam His son. But Adam rebelled and his children were born alienated from the Father.
Men are born slaves. They have lost their identity. They spend their life under a cruel and evil tyrant. But God wants to adopt them, redeem them, and rescue them. Without belonging to the heavenly Father we are people without a home. We are people without a father. We have no identity. We have no one to love us. We feel abandoned and unwanted. We have no place we can call home, where we are welcomed. We are living under the curse of an unblessed life. We are craving acceptance but only experience one betrayal after another.
The good news is that there is a heavenly Father who wants to be your source, your guardian, your headship, your provider, your protector, your leader, your teacher, your helper, your encourager, and your friend. He left the door open for you. His Spirit cries for you to come! You can be redeemed!
WHO ARE YOU?
When you are adopted into this family you receive a new identity. In this family you are unconditionally loved! In Psalms 139, David said the Lord is familiar and intimate with every detail of his life, and God still loves him. David cannot think of any situation that would cause God to forsake him.
The Bible teaches that God formed and fashioned you. You are not an accident. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. God knew you before you were even born. He has planned your life, every detail. You are precious in His sight. The good thoughts that God thinks towards you are too many to count. They are more than the sand on the shores of the earth.
When David began Psalms 139, he acknowledged how thoroughly God knew him: his sin, thoughts, and motives. Nothing was hidden from God. Knowing God had such wonderful thoughts about him, that He redeems his heart, and has wonderfully created him,
David, therefore, throws himself upon God for examination and help. You search me and lead me!
You must experience the love of God like this. You are desperate for this confidence in God’s love for you. God’s love is the platform of all hope and faith! The love of God is fundamental in keeping us, delivering us, and carrying us through. The love of God dispels our fears, assures us of an unfailing commitment, and secures us everlasting victory.
That is why I get up in the morning. I want to be with my Father. I want to spend the day with Him.
THE SHAME OF THOSE WHO DO NOT LOVE THE FATHER
My dad worked so hard. He was smart and sacrificed so much to give me all he could.
I remember waiting for him to come home. I never sat there and raised my hand to wave or just say hello. I ran to him. I greeted him. Till the day he died, I kissed him. I was not an orphan. I had a father. I had a home. My father gave me foundation and purpose. I never lived wondering where I belonged, who I belonged to, or who I was. I had a place. I was free. I belonged. I was my father’s son. I had a key to the house. I had access to my father that only a son could enjoy. He was mine.
Today, I watch people come into the church. It is easy to see those who enter into praise as those who belong in the family. When my dad came home, my friends would greet him. Sometimes they would even stand in respect to greet him. But they didn’t have the intimacy and entry into his life that I had. It’s like that in God’s House. For so many who go to church, He is God, but not Father. Many respect Him. Many lift their hands to wave hello. Sometimes they may even rise in respect to honor Him. But they do not know Him as Father. They are not comfortable in the Father’s house. They have no intimacy with Him.
You can spot the children. They sing, they dance, they shout, and they rejoice. They run to the Father in the altars and kiss Him. They know who they are. They know that God loves them, and they love God. They are home.
I never got too old to love my dad. I never took him for granted. He was my friend. He was my best man in my wedding. Why? Because he was the best man! Till I left the house, I would run to greet my father. I hug and greet people today because of my father. I love to show affection for people; my father gave me that. Like those who visit the altar, many grow out of it, but don’t live in it. They got too old to run to the Father.
HOW LONG WILL YOU BREAK THE FATHER’S HEART?
It breaks a father’s heart to have children willfully distant. A father’s heart wants to be intimate. A father’s heart wants to protect and provide. A father’s heart seeks to nurture his children. How sad to have children so self-absorbed that they would spurn the father’s heart. How wicked is the hardened heart that rejects the father’s desires for love and belonging? It must break a father’s heart. To have sons that he cannot bless is a pain no father should experience.
My daughter Jordan loves me, and I love her. I give her identity and belonging. Therefore, I bless her. But what if Jordan jumped up in the morning only to say hello and run out of the house being consumed with fear of what will I wear? Where will I sleep? What will I eat? It would break my heart to find her sleeping in my driveway because she didn’t know me well enough to know I had a bed prepared for her. I had a meal fixed for her, and I had rest and peace to give her. She instead slept out in the night, fighting June bugs, mosquitoes, and ants.
It is the Father’s love that gives us freedom. It is the Father’s love that gives us faith to believe He is good, and He accepts me. I am to keep myself in His love. By His love, I am delivered from fear. By His love, I am more than a conqueror. Because the Lord loved Israel, He delivered them. Because the Lord loved me, He delivered me.
If you do not know God loves you, how can you believe He will help you? Because God loves me, He is in my midst – Mighty! Because God loves me, He will save me. Because God loves me, He will rejoice over me with joy and singing. Because God loves me, I shall not be ashamed. Without love you cannot be rewarded. You cannot have hope. You cannot believe. You cannot succeed. You cannot be saved!
Without love, a girl will lay down her life to any lesser love that any man would offer. Without love, a son will bow to drugs, crime, and rebellion in a feverish attempt to be recognized. Take two small children: show more love to one over the other and watch how that neglected child behaves. We all have an insatiable need to be loved by the heavenly Father. And the heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son into the world to prove He loves us.
If you are looking for a home, weary from wandering, discouraged by not having a place to belong, then the Son is waiting to bring you to the Father. Jesus will clothe you with the family robe. He will give you the family ring. You will possess the family name. All that He has can be yours. But best of all, you will have unending access to the Father. Why? Because He will be yours – your Father!
You will not be a servant but adopted, one of His very own children. You will have His love. To have His love is to have assurance, peace, and rest. To have His love is to have power, protection, and confidence. To have His love is to have His heart. You will be more than a conqueror through Him that loved you. Nothing will be able to separate you from His love which is in Jesus Christ.