KNOWING GOD AS FATHER
THE FATHER HEART OF GOD
We discover our true identity as we discover God’s true character.
GOD IS FATHER
JESUS AND THE FATHER
WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?
1. Fathers are approachable & personal
WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?
WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?
What do fathers do in the lives of their children?
What are their main roles and functions?
HOW DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FATHER?
“God’s not a reflection of dad, but the perfection of dad!”
LOUIE GIGLIO
PSALM 68:5
“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling”
DEUTERONOMY 31:18
“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
ROMANS 8:15
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, `Abba, Father.’”
The Orphan Spirit
vs.
The Spirit of Sonship
The orphan spirit causes us to live life as if we do not have a safe and secure place in the Father’s heart. We feel we have no place of affirmation, protection, comfort, belonging, or affection. Self-oriented, lonely, and inwardly isolated, we have no one from whom to draw Godly inheritance. Therefore, we have to strive, achieve, compete, and earn everything we get in life. It easily leads to a life of anxiety, pain, fear, and frustration.
The spirit of sonship is all about having a heart attitude of submission – being subject to another’s mission. Sonship produces security, significance, identity, patience, basic trust, faithfulness, loyalty, humility, and being others-oriented, because we know our security in the Father, and we have an inheritance that lies ahead.
THE HEART OF AN ORPHAN | THE HEART OF A SON |
IMAGE OF GOD: Sees God as Master | Sees God as a loving Father |
DEPENDENCY: Independent / Self-reliant | Interdependent / Acknowledges need |
SECURITY: Insecure / Lacks peace | Rest and Peace |
NEED FOR APPROVAL: Strives for the praise, approval, and acceptance of man | Totally accepted in God’s love and justified by grace |
MOTIVE FOR SERVICE: A need for personal achievement which seeks to impress God and others, or no motivation to serve at all | Service that is motivated by a deep gratitude for being unconditionally loved and accepted by God |
THE HEART OF AN ORPHAN | THE HEART OF A SON |
MOTIVE BEHIND CHRISTIAN DISCIPLINES: Duty and earning God’s favour or no motivation at all | Pleasure and delight |
MOTIVE FOR PURITY: “Must” be holy to have God’s favour, thus increasing a sense of shame and guilt | “Want to” be holy; does not want anything to hinder intimate relationship with God |
SELF-IMAGE: Self-rejection and shame from comparing itself with others | Positive and affirmed because you know you have such value to God |
THE HEART OF AN ORPHAN | THE HEART OF A SON |
SOURCE OF COMFORT: Seeks comfort in counterfeit affections: addictions, compulsions, escapism, busyness, hyper-religious activity | Seeks times of quietness and solitude to rest in the Father’s presence and love |
PEER RELATIONSHIPS: Competition, rivalry, and jealousy toward others’ success and position | Humility and unity that values others and is able to rejoice in their blessings and success |
HANDLING OTHERS’ FAULTS: Accusation and exposure in order to make itself look good by making others look bad | Love covers as you seek to restore others in a spirit of love and gentleness |
THE HEART OF AN ORPHAN | THE HEART OF A SON |
VIEW OF AUTHORITY: Sees authority as a source of pain; distrustful towards leaders and lacks a heart attitude of submission | Respectful, honouring; sees authorities as ministers of God for good in life |
VIEW OF ADMONITION: Difficulty receiving admonition; must be right so easily gets feelings hurt and closes it’s spirit to discipline | Sees the receiving of admonition as a blessing and need in life so that faults and weaknesses are exposed and put to death |
EXPRESSION OF LOVE: Guarded and conditional; based upon others’ performance as it seeks to get its own needs met | Open, patient, and affectionate as you lay your life and agendas down in order to meet the needs of others |
THE HEART OF AN ORPHAN | THE HEART OF A SON |
SENSE OF GOD’S PRESENCE: Conditional and Distant | Close and Intimate |
POSITION: Feels like a Servant/Slave | Feels like a Son/Daughter |
VISION: Spiritual ambition; the desire for some spiritual achievement and distinction and the willingness to strive for it; a desire to be seen and counted among the mature; a need to prove yourself | To daily experience the Father’s unconditional love and acceptance and then be sent as a representative of His love to family and others |
FUTURE: Fight for what you can get! | Sonship releases your inheritance! |
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A SON?
God is the ultimate empowering father.
MARK 1:11
“And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’”
MATTHEW 17:5
“While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’”
RECEIVING THE FATHER’S BLESSING
If you know your Daddy loves you, you can do anything!
1 JOHN 3:1
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
MARK 1:11
“And a voice came from heaven:
‘You are my Son,
whom I love;
with you I am well pleased.’”