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Chapter 1: “You are Loved!”
Character of our Father
Jer 31:3 “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
Everlasting love = constant love; love that cannot change; constant; unable to change
Ps 26:3 “Your constant love is my guide; your faithfulness always leads me.” (Good News Translation)
Ps 31:14-16 “But my trust is in you, O Lord; you are my God. I am always in your care; save me from my enemies, from those who persecute me. Look on your servant with kindness; save me in your constant love.” (GNT)
Ps 36:7 “How precious, O God, is your constant love! We find protection under the shadow of your wings.” (GNT)
Ps 51:1 “Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins!” (GNT)
Lovingkindness: goodness, kindness, faithfulness
Translated mercy 149 times, kindness 40, lovingkindness 30.
Eph 2:4 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us”
Rich: wealthy, abounding with mercy
The Name
Ps 119:132 “Look upon me and be merciful to me, as Your custom is toward those who love Your name.”
Ex 6:3 “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.”
Ps 91:14-16 "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."
Is 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father , Prince of Peace.“
Is 63:16 “Doubtless You are our Father, Though Abraham was ignorant of us, And Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.”
It is just as important today as it was in Old Testament times to know “the Name of the Lord.” Our heavenly Father wants us to know Him and sent Jesus to make it possible.
Joh 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
Eternal life = knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ TODAY!
John 17:25-26 “O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
What name did Jesus declare of Jehovah? Father
As Jesus gave the infamous “Sermon on the Mount”, He was laying the foundation of the character of His Father; making known His name.
While “My Father” is mentioned 17 times in Matthew, “your Father” is mentioned 17 times as well!
Matt 5:16,45,48 Matt 13:43
Matt 6:1,4,6,8,14,15,18,26,32 Matt 18:14,35
Matt 7:11 Matt 24:36
Matt 10:20
In the gospel of John, “your Father” is only mentioned once.
Jn 20:17 “Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I
am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.' "
Jer 31:31-34 "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-- not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
John mentions “the Father” 62 times and “My Father” 28 times.
Our Position in the Family of God
• Loved by the Father – Jn 17:23
• Adopted into the family – Rom 8:15
• Made to be child of God – Rom 8:17
• Same inheritance as Jesus – Rom 8:17
• Brother/Sister to Jesus – Rom 8:29
• Know and believe the love of our Father – I Jn 4:16
• As Jesus is, so are we in this world – I Jn 4:17
• Washed in his blood – Rev 1:5
• Been made kings and priests – Rev 1:6
Parable of “the Father”
Luke 15:11-32
| Son | Father |
| Shame, guilt, unworthy | Love & Acceptance |
| Servant | Best robe – right-standing
Shoes – walk in peace
Ring – authority restored |
| Hungry, destitute | Fatted calf – prosperity
Celebration |
Luke 11:11-13 “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
The Spirit of Your Father
Matt 10:19-20 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
Gal 4:4-7
Rom 8:14-18
Eph 1:2-6
FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION:
- Do you know how much you are loved? Close your eyes and meditate on the Truth that you are in the family of the Most High. Confess thoughts of unworthiness. You are in right-standing with your Father through Jesus Christ.
- What benefits come from being in close relationship to your heavenly Father?
- Is there anything that you could ask for that your Father would not want to give you?
- We have been blessed with ALL spiritual blessings. What spiritual blessings do I need in my life?
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