In one way or another, each of us has experienced brokenness in our Earthly Dads. Some have been Absent or Abusive; others saw love as a reward to give out based on our performance. There were passive dads and antagonistic dads. Each of these left us with flawed views of fatherhood in general and, therefore, flawed truths about what our Heavenly Father must be like.
In part two of our series, Not Forsaken, Louie Giglio walks us through three truths that God wants us to know about Himself as a father and us as His children;
1. That we are loved.
2. That we are no longer slaves.
3. That we are sons and daughters of God.
Why are these things so important? God is interested in his sons and daughters living their lives to their fullest and finding freedom as children of a perfect father.
Key Takeaway
No one has had the perfect father, but if you have a flawed view of your Heavenly Father, you will have a flawed life. God is not simply a reflection of your earthly father; He's the perfection of him.
"What comes to our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us. We tend by secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. " - A.W. Tozer
What matters most is what we think of when we think of God because we are all moving towards that image. We are created by Him and for Him, but people think all sorts of things. Some see God as an impersonal being, a light, a force. Others view Him as a sweet old grandpa type that is endearing but not really relevant to their every day. People may think He's a divine scorekeeper who is angry and waiting to strike or a Heavenly Butler who exists to do their bidding.
If you have a flawed view of God, you'll have a flawed life.
Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father's glory. If you want to see God, the Father, then look to His Son, Jesus Christ. He teaches us a lot about God; that God is Creator, Omnipotent, Sovereign, Judge, and Lord. But above all, He teaches us that God is a Father.
Matthew 6:9- When we pray, we say, "Our Father". Not Lord or Master, though He is those things. First and foremost, He's a Father.
John 14:9- Anyone who has seen the Son has seen the Father.
Matthew 5:16- Let your light shine, bring glory to your Father.
Our God is a Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Even in their relationship, you see the Father loving His Son.
Matthew 3:17- God said, "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased" before Jesus had done anything. God was giving Him the Father's Blessing we all long for. In that moment, we don't see Jesus just teaching about His Father, we see him living and breathing His Father. As He was dying, Jesus would go on to say, "Into Your hands I commit my spirit." See Luke 23:46
So Jesus is modeling how to have a relationship with justice, omnipotence, eternity, and Lordship. You have a relationship with those things when they are embraced in a person, a Father.
The problem is that the enemy is doing everything he can to destroy fatherhood. He knows if he can crack our relationship with our earthly fathers, then he can create a stumbling block so effective that some will never get over it in their relationship with Almighty God.
The 6 Fathers
- The absent father. Not present, not in the picture.
- The abusive father. Not only did he not bless you, He actually hurt you.
- The performance-based father. You had to earn the "I love you's" and "I'm proud of you's". The blessing had to be worked for.
- The passive father. He's there, but he's not stepping up or taking initiative. Avoids conflict, so there's not parameters or boundaries.
- The antagonistic father. He's always cutting and chipping at you like he's in competition with you.
- The empowering father. Not perfect, but he loved you and you knew it. He's reliable, present, and vocal. He won't let you get away with things because he's set boundaries and parameters, but out of love. He's a safety net.
A major problem today is that if you keep letting your kids be at risk all the time, they're going to start to wonder if you love them. The kids may fight you about it, but they actually want they boundary. They want to know you love them enough to protect them.
God is not simply the reflection of your earthly dad, He is the perfection of your earthly dad. He's not just a bigger version of your dad. He is the perfect version of him. He's everything you long for.
Psalm 68:4-6 tells of how our big and majestic God is a father to the fatherless.
Matthew 7:7-8 says to ask, seek, knock. God wants you to do this! You don't need to come to Him with a grand plan- just ask, just seek, and just knock.
Matthew 7:9-11—The Heavenly Father will give you what you actually need. If your sinful earthly Father can provide, how much more will the Father give you what you need? Have courage and ask God for healing.
"How we think of God is of no importance except insofar as it is related to what He thinks of us." -C.S. Lewis
The two quotes seem to contradict each other, but they actually support each other. How you think about God is the most important thing about you because you are moving toward your mental image of God. But as you move there, God help you through a revelation of the power of Christ to see that He is a perfect Heavenly Father. When you see that, then you understand how your perfect Heavenly Father sees you. How He sees you trumps how you see you and how others see you. It becomes the guiding principle in your life.
How does God see you?
1.You are loved.
- We know this, but we don't live in it. We don't feel loved. Our broken relationship with our dad was all about our dads, but we are still believing that it was about us.
- 1 John 3:1. See what great love the Father has lavished on us. How? By sending Jesus and promising never to leave us. See it!
2.You are no longer slaves to the past. We are freed by God.
- Romans 8:14-16 says our spirit calls out through the Holy Spirit, "I have a Father!" The payoff of salvation isn't Heaven; it's a Father. He is so powerful and present that you don't have to fear.
3.You are a child of God.
- We all sing the song lyric, "I'm not longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God." but then we go home and live in the darkness like we don't have a loving Father. You can rise above the past. It's not sweeping anything under the rug, you can acknowledge that it was real and it happened, but it doesn't define you.
It's not a good idea to wrap the wounds of our lives and hope they go away. For God to heal, you have to deal. You don't really have a choice. The pain and numbness is going to be there regardless. Come to the foot of the Cross and unwrap the pain. Jesus knows pain. He was forsaken for you, He died and bled for you.
The power of His pain is what brings healing to your pain. You'll always have the scar, but you'll also have the story of "Yes, I was hurt, but I am a loved child of God, and His grace has brought me through."
Discussion Questions
- What do you think about when you think about God? What does God think about you?
- What does Hebrews 1:3 say about Jesus? What does that tell us about God, the Father?
- How does Matthew 6:9, John 14:9, and Matthew 5:16 portray God?
- Read Matthew 13:17. What had Jesus done to deserve what the Father said about Him?
- What is the enemy trying to do to fatherhood? How is this playing out?
- Of the 6 types of fathers, which would best describe yours?
- What does Jesus tell us to do in Matthew 7:7-8? What is the reason He gives in Matthew 7:9-11?
- Is there anything that you need to ask for healing regarding your relationship with your father?
- What are the three ways God sees you? See 1 John 3:1 and Romans 8:14-16.
- How can the power of Jesus's pain bring healing to your pain?
Scripture References
