| OUR HEAVENLY FATHER |
John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and
said, "Father..."
And we too can lift up our eyes to heaven and say, "Father", for the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is our God and our Father. Christ’s own
blessed work on the cross has made the way into the Holiest and there we
find the Father and the Father's welcome.
Before the Lord Jesus uttered that word, "Father," in His great prayer, He
had spoken this word many times to His disciples. How little they took it in
then, and how little they understood of it, for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of
sonship was not yet given.
Christ speaks in the preceding chapters of the "Father’s house" with its
"many mansions.� That is the place where the family of God will
ultimately gather-- the place to which He brings His many sons. The Lord
Jesus tells us, “That no man cometh to the Father but by me.� He
assures us that He is in the Father and the Father in Him, and that whosoever
seeth Him, "seeth the Father."
He gives the blessed promise that whatsoever we ask in His Name that He will
do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Jesus prayed to the Father for
the gift of the other Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be given to Believers. Then
He descries in a parable the Father as the Husbandman; He Himself is the Vine
and we are the branches. And what an assurance it is coming from His lips,
"As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved You; continue in my
love!" Then the Lord calls us friends, for all things that He heard of His
Father He has made them known unto us. And once more "Whatsoever ye
shall ask of the Father in My name He may give it you."
Furthermore He said, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode
with him." Blessed promise!
"For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have
believed that I came out from God."
What gracious statements these are! They all belong to us in Christ Jesus, Who
made the love of God as Father known to us. May we walk in the enjoyment
of it all.
Written by A.C. Gaebelein, taken from Our Hope Magazine, Volume, 28, and modified by Cobblestone Road
Ministries.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CRM Additional Note:
1John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not.
Many Christians, especially if they came from a Catholic background, before
they got saved, sometimes have trouble, viewing God the Father as a Loving
God. I know because I came from a Catholic background that told me that
God the Father was an "angry God".
When I heard the TRUE Gospel and received Christ Jesus as my personal
Savior, I first attended a Pentecostal church, which constantly preached,
"The wrath of God" to the Saints. It wasn't until I started hearing good
Baptist teaching that I came to realize that I was not under the wrath of God
because I had received His Son-- Jesus paid the price for me upon the cross.
The wrath of God fell upon Him that day on Calvary-- He took my sin
penalty. When I received Jesus, I received new life. He arose from the dead
and I have new life because of Him alone. I shall live forever because of what
He did for me. I am not under wrath but under grace because I have
received Christ. For those of us who have Christ Jesus as our Savior, we
have access to our Heavenly Father and we can cry, "Abba Father". It is not
because of what we have done but because of WHOM we have received.
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ.
For many Saints, the term "Father" may be associated with bad memories
with an earthly father, who was not loving or kind but remember that God the
Father is not a man. He is God-- He does not think as man; nor does He act
as man. He is Holy and He is kind and He always does WHAT IS RIGHT.
God is love and His love is given freely to us through the finished work of
His Dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Col 1:19-20 For it pleased the Father that in him [Jesus] should all fulness
dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to
reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in
earth, or things in heaven.
1Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot:
1John 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to
be the Saviour of the world.
Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we have redemption. We have a Heavenly
Father Who loves us and Who sent His Son-- His Only Begotten Son-- to die
for our sins and to shed His precious blood on the cruel cross at Calvary. It
was for our sins that Jesus died. But for those who reject God's Only Son,
the wrath of God abides upon them:
The Lord Jesus told us in John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but
the wrath of God abideth on him.
The Bible clearly teaches that the wrath of God abides upon the sinner because
the sinner has broken His commandments. A person who dies without Christ,
dies in their sins and can NEVER go to Heaven. The Bible is very clear on
this point. Jesus is the ONLY WAY to the Heavenly Father.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
One must receive the Lord Jesus as Savior-- trusting Him completely that He
paid the price for their sin upon the cross and was victorious over death in His
resurrection.
The wrath of God does not abide on the Believer, for we have received
Jesus Christ and are under God's grace (but that does not mean we can
live a life free from His commandments. He sets us free from sin and we
then follow Him.) We are His disciples indeed if we follow His teaching.
Christ said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed."
When we received Christ, we received everything He did for us. He saved us
and keeps us saved by His power alone. We cannot maintain our salvation by
good deeds; but good deeds are a result of our conversion. A tree is known by
its fruits and faith without works is dead. So a true convert will have good
works, not to the saving of the soul but rather good works are a RESULT of
being saved by God's grace. It is God alone who saved us and keeps us saved
because we have received Christ as Savior...We received the Son, and
therefore have the Father also:
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1John 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father:
(but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
In order for one to even pray to the Heavenly Father, one must receive His
Son-- Christ Jesus the Lord. We have access to the Father through Jesus alone.
When we received Christ, we became sons of God. We call God, "Father" and
what an awesome reality it is. We are not under His wrath but we are His
children-- redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb!
1Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Eph 2:4-10 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he
loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he
might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us
through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not
of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Because we have received Christ Jesus, we can call His Father, "Our Father".
Praise the Lord for His unspeakable Gift!
1John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us,
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Copyright© 2006 Cobblestone Road Ministries
All Rights Reserved
If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, click here
and learn why Jesus died for us.
FURTHER READING:
What About Grace? A Message For Pentecostals
Poem: The Father's Love
Women's Devotional: Salvation So Precious
Law And Grace By C I Scofield
The First Step To Blessing
I Am The Vine
A Religion of Four Letters
Sermon Illustration: The Son
Eternal Security Scriptures
said, "Father..."
And we too can lift up our eyes to heaven and say, "Father", for the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is our God and our Father. Christ’s own
blessed work on the cross has made the way into the Holiest and there we
find the Father and the Father's welcome.
Before the Lord Jesus uttered that word, "Father," in His great prayer, He
had spoken this word many times to His disciples. How little they took it in
then, and how little they understood of it, for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of
sonship was not yet given.
Christ speaks in the preceding chapters of the "Father’s house" with its
"many mansions.� That is the place where the family of God will
ultimately gather-- the place to which He brings His many sons. The Lord
Jesus tells us, “That no man cometh to the Father but by me.� He
assures us that He is in the Father and the Father in Him, and that whosoever
seeth Him, "seeth the Father."
He gives the blessed promise that whatsoever we ask in His Name that He will
do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Jesus prayed to the Father for
the gift of the other Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be given to Believers. Then
He descries in a parable the Father as the Husbandman; He Himself is the Vine
and we are the branches. And what an assurance it is coming from His lips,
"As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved You; continue in my
love!" Then the Lord calls us friends, for all things that He heard of His
Father He has made them known unto us. And once more "Whatsoever ye
shall ask of the Father in My name He may give it you."
Furthermore He said, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode
with him." Blessed promise!
"For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have
believed that I came out from God."
What gracious statements these are! They all belong to us in Christ Jesus, Who
made the love of God as Father known to us. May we walk in the enjoyment
of it all.
Written by A.C. Gaebelein, taken from Our Hope Magazine, Volume, 28, and modified by Cobblestone Road
Ministries.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CRM Additional Note:
1John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not.
Many Christians, especially if they came from a Catholic background, before
they got saved, sometimes have trouble, viewing God the Father as a Loving
God. I know because I came from a Catholic background that told me that
God the Father was an "angry God".
When I heard the TRUE Gospel and received Christ Jesus as my personal
Savior, I first attended a Pentecostal church, which constantly preached,
"The wrath of God" to the Saints. It wasn't until I started hearing good
Baptist teaching that I came to realize that I was not under the wrath of God
because I had received His Son-- Jesus paid the price for me upon the cross.
The wrath of God fell upon Him that day on Calvary-- He took my sin
penalty. When I received Jesus, I received new life. He arose from the dead
and I have new life because of Him alone. I shall live forever because of what
He did for me. I am not under wrath but under grace because I have
received Christ. For those of us who have Christ Jesus as our Savior, we
have access to our Heavenly Father and we can cry, "Abba Father". It is not
because of what we have done but because of WHOM we have received.
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ.
For many Saints, the term "Father" may be associated with bad memories
with an earthly father, who was not loving or kind but remember that God the
Father is not a man. He is God-- He does not think as man; nor does He act
as man. He is Holy and He is kind and He always does WHAT IS RIGHT.
God is love and His love is given freely to us through the finished work of
His Dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Col 1:19-20 For it pleased the Father that in him [Jesus] should all fulness
dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to
reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in
earth, or things in heaven.
1Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot:
1John 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to
be the Saviour of the world.
Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we have redemption. We have a Heavenly
Father Who loves us and Who sent His Son-- His Only Begotten Son-- to die
for our sins and to shed His precious blood on the cruel cross at Calvary. It
was for our sins that Jesus died. But for those who reject God's Only Son,
the wrath of God abides upon them:
The Lord Jesus told us in John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but
the wrath of God abideth on him.
The Bible clearly teaches that the wrath of God abides upon the sinner because
the sinner has broken His commandments. A person who dies without Christ,
dies in their sins and can NEVER go to Heaven. The Bible is very clear on
this point. Jesus is the ONLY WAY to the Heavenly Father.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
One must receive the Lord Jesus as Savior-- trusting Him completely that He
paid the price for their sin upon the cross and was victorious over death in His
resurrection.
The wrath of God does not abide on the Believer, for we have received
Jesus Christ and are under God's grace (but that does not mean we can
live a life free from His commandments. He sets us free from sin and we
then follow Him.) We are His disciples indeed if we follow His teaching.
Christ said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed."
When we received Christ, we received everything He did for us. He saved us
and keeps us saved by His power alone. We cannot maintain our salvation by
good deeds; but good deeds are a result of our conversion. A tree is known by
its fruits and faith without works is dead. So a true convert will have good
works, not to the saving of the soul but rather good works are a RESULT of
being saved by God's grace. It is God alone who saved us and keeps us saved
because we have received Christ as Savior...We received the Son, and
therefore have the Father also:
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1John 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father:
(but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
In order for one to even pray to the Heavenly Father, one must receive His
Son-- Christ Jesus the Lord. We have access to the Father through Jesus alone.
When we received Christ, we became sons of God. We call God, "Father" and
what an awesome reality it is. We are not under His wrath but we are His
children-- redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb!
1Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Eph 2:4-10 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he
loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he
might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us
through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not
of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Because we have received Christ Jesus, we can call His Father, "Our Father".
Praise the Lord for His unspeakable Gift!
1John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us,
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Copyright© 2006 Cobblestone Road Ministries
All Rights Reserved
If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, click here
and learn why Jesus died for us.
FURTHER READING:
What About Grace? A Message For Pentecostals
Poem: The Father's Love
Women's Devotional: Salvation So Precious
Law And Grace By C I Scofield
The First Step To Blessing
I Am The Vine
A Religion of Four Letters
Sermon Illustration: The Son
Eternal Security Scriptures
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