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Download PDF file by clicking link above. Disc 103 - The Fatherhood of God - Rom 8:15
 
The picture of an earthly father & his children
 
was intended by God to give us a picture of how God,
as our Heavenly Father - feels about us
 
Unfortunately - many of us have had earthly Fathers
that were so consumed in sin
 
that they have been poor examples
of what God created fathers to be
 
There are some here who don’t even want to consider
comparing their earthly father to God, as their Heavenly Father
 
But I need to tell you today, you have a Heavenly Father
Who is the perfect father
 
He is - the perfect, all-loving, never-leaving father
Who loves for you enough to Save you from your Sin
& to work in ALL things for your Good
 
If you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior today
 
Then God promises you in His Word, that you have been adopted,
and that you can now call Him ABBA Father
 
Let's Pray
 
 
 
Let's start today with our Key Scripture - Rom 8:15
 
(as a side note) - I'm using primarily the NLT today,
 
Because the NLT expresses the "thought" of the original language (as a thought-for-thought translation)
 
But our primarily verse-by-verse teaching version is the ESV
because it is a word-for-word (essentially literal translation)
 
Rom 8:15 - NLT
15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”
 
IF you are saved today - you have a real, perfect Heavenly Father
whom you can call ABBA, FATHER
 
Which is the most intimate word for a Father
we could translate the Intimacy of this word as - "Daddy"
 
it's the same word Jesus used
when He cried out to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane
 
& understanding Who your Abba Father Is
& understanding His Incredible Plan for you
 
Will absolutely, radically, change your life
 
 
However . . .  
 
It's important to say right up front
 
We're talking about a Relationship with God
that can only occur by you Receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior
 
There is a general misunderstanding from the 1960's "Love Songs" - that we are all God's Children, by nature
 
But what those "Love Songs" should have correctly said was
we are all LOVED by God - IN-SPITE of our nature
 
Because if we could have
the ABBA Father relationship with God automatically,
 
Then the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ was NOT necessary
But His sacrifice WAS necessary
 
& the Bible makes it clear that Believing in & Receiving Jesus
as Your Savior - is what gives you the "Right" to call God "Father"
 
Jn 1:12 - ESV
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
 
Gal 3:26 - ESV
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
 
So - Our FIRST Foundational Truth is
 
Foundation Truth: Only those who have surrendered their lives to Christ can rightly address God as Father.
 
 
 
Now - Let's talk about WHO are Heavenly ABBA Father is
 
Because He is our Creator
& Because He is Omniscient
 
God knows us Intimately & Perfectly
& He knows us Uniquely & Individually
 
Psa 139 describes the intimate knowledge God has
of EVERY detail & EVERY day of our lives
 
Psa 139:13-18 - NLT
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!
 
How well does God know you?
Better than we can really comprehend
 
AND - He can’t stop thinking "Precious Thoughts" about you
 
He Knows every detail about you (good & bad)
& yet His thoughts toward you cannot be numbered
 
& they're not thoughts of judgment - but instead
thoughts of Good, to give you a Future & a Hope
 
Jer 29:11 - NLT
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
 
Guys - we CAN trust our lives
into the hands of our Heavenly ABBA Father (we really can)
 
 
& if we will TRUST Him in Faith, & Truly LOOK to Him as our Father We will actually be changed into His Image
 
Fathers - do you know that (to some extent),
your children will grow into your image?
 
& the more they TRUST you - & the more they LOOK to you
the more they will become LIKE you? (for better or worse)
 
& do you know that is exactly what God plans
to happen with You - as His son or daughter
 
God desires us to grow - INTO His IMAGE
& we do that by TRUSTING Him, & LOOKING TO Him
 
2Cor 3:18 - NLT
18 So all of us who have had that veil removed [our salvation] can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
 
All of God's LOVE toward us
All of His THOUGHTS toward us
All of His PLANS for us
 
ALL revolve around
TRANSFORMING US more & more into His Image
 
In the ESV - 2Cor 3:18 says
18 And we all . . . are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another . . .
 
This word "Transformed" means LIT
to change the NATURE of a thing
 
When you were saved
you were immediately adopted into God's family
JUST AS you ARE - you didn’t have to change one thing
 
But now that you are His son or daughter
God loves you enough to TRANSFORM the very nature of your life
 
It's been said - "God loves us just as we are, but He loves us enough to not leave us just as we are"
 
Isn’t this true of a good earthly father
We love our children during the Terrible TWO'S - AND
We love them enough to not LEAVE THEM in the Terrible TWO'S
 
& for some we could say - in their TEENAGE years
We love them in their Teenage years - AND
We love them enough to not leave them in their Teenage years
 
 
 
God Saved us right in the Midst of our SIN-FILLED life
& He loves us enough to not LEAVE US in that SIN-FILLED life
 
God wants to TRANSFORM us
OUT OF the Destruction of Sin
& INTO the True Abundant Life
 
In Gal Ch 5 there is a great list
of the things God wants to Transform us OUT OF
& the things God wants to Transform us INTO
 
Gal 5:19-21(A) - NLT
19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. . .
 
This is the DESTRUCTION of Sin
that God wants to Transform us OUT OF
 
& then, following this list - is a list of the FRUIT
of The Abundant Life - God wants to Transform us INTO
 
Gal 5:22-23 - NLT
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
 
This is the FRUIT - of the Abundant Life
God wants to Transform us into
 
 
But Now - as we begin to look at the PROCESS
of God Transforming our lives
 
Today - we can only focus on just ONE SPECIFIC Question regarding our Transformation
 
there are a number of AREAS, & a number of WAYS
that God Transforms us into His IMAGE
 
& we must always remember
in any discussion about our Transformation
 
The AGENT of ALL Transformation in our lives
is the person of the Holy Spirit - (who we'll look at next week)
 
& so - with all that - Today I'd like to ask just this one question
 
What are God's Primary Tools to Transform us
 
Acknowledging that God Transforms each of us
Uniquely & Individually
 
We can say - He (in general) uses
THREE Primary tools to mold & shape us
 
They are - 1) The Bible, & our Daily Devotion time
2) Our Circumstances & our Trials
3) Other People, both Positive & Negative
 
 
Again - there are plenty of other things we can talk about
in the PROCESS of our Transformation
 
But today - we want to focus on God's PRIMARY TOOLS
that He uses to Mold, & Shape, & Mature us
 
I've heard Pastor Jeff say
from the 1st day I started ministering with him
 
He has said to people . . . "that circumstance or person, is NOT what you think it is, that's God's TOOL to transform you "
 
& man, have I seen some feathers get ruffled with that truth
 
People come to us & say . . . "I need God to FIX this for me"
 
& we say "FIX THIS? Are you kidding, that very thing is what God wants to use - to FIX YOU!"
 
& believe me - He KNOWS where we need to be FIXED
& He KNOWS how to FIX US!
 
 
SO - let's look briefly at these THREE Primary Tools
 
1) The Bible & our Daily Devotional Time
 
This is hands-down God's most powerful TOOL for Transformation
AND - it is the one "Least Likely" to be used by all Christians
 
I promise you - your spiritual enemy will do everything possible,
to keep you too busy, or too pre-occupied
 
to be Transformed by spending Daily Devotional time
with your Bible & your Heavenly Father
 
Our biggest challenge as leaders is first - To do this OURSELVES
& second - To get you to do this
 
Because we know that if WE will do this
We'll be Transformed into what God has called US to be
 
& we know if YOU will do this
YOU will be Transformed into what God has called YOU to be
 
& this isn’t just rote repetition of Bible Reading
& it isn’t just acquiring Bible knowledge
 
It's developing an Intimate, Transforming,
Daily Communion with your ABBA Father
 
Devotional time involves DAILY PRAYER
where you Purposely Align your heart with God's Will
 
Devotional time involves DAILY WORSHIP
where you Consciously Focus on God instead of yourself
 
Devotional time involves DAILY WORD
where you Meditate on & Apply God's Word to your life
 
You Purposely Align your heart with God's
You Consciously Focus on God instead of yourself
You Meditate on & Apply God's Word to your life
 
THAT is Daily Devotional Time
& it is the most powerful transformation tool God uses
 
 
& we REALLY, REALLY want
to help you learn HOW to do this (really)
 
If you REALLY, REALLY want God to Transform you
thru your Daily Devotional Time
 
I want to challenge you - to call the church office
& ask us for a mentor to teach you how to do this
 
& the same goes for the Word-By-Mail family
 
If you will really make the commitment
to be Transformed thru your Daily Devotional time
 
Call us at the office (the number's on the CD)
& we'll connect you with a mentor who will teach you how to do this
 
In regard to Daily Meditating on God's Word - R.A. TORREY says;
We must study His words, fairly devour His words, let them sink into our thought and into our heart, keep them in memory, obey them constantly in our life, let them shape & mold our daily life and our every act. This is really the method of abiding in Christ. It is through his words that Jesus imparts himself to us
 
& So - Our Next Foundational truth is
 
Foundation Truth: The Bible & our Daily Devotional Time is God's #1 tool for transforming our lives, from the Destruction of Sin, to the True Abundant Life.
 
 
Now - The 2nd TOOL God uses to Transform us, is
 
 
2) Our Circumstances and our Trials
 
The best translation (in my opinion) of Rom 8:28 is in the NIV
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him . . .
 
We've got to know that God is AT WORK - For our GOOD
right in the midst of this Circumstance or Trial
 
& many of us would say "if God is at work for my good, then WHY doesn’t he FIX my circumstance"
 
& the answer is "Because that circumstance is God's TOOL to fix YOU"
 
WHY? - Because (my 2nd favorite saying) - God is not as interested in fixing your circumstances as He is in USING your circumstances to FIX YOU!
 
& we have GOT to BELIEVE that !!
 
God uses our Circumstances & our Trials
to mold & shape us - to mature & strengthen us
 
& actually - to BRING US into the TRUE Abundant Life
that we talked about last week
 
WHICH IS . . . Unbroken Fellowship with God
 
& so often - God uses our Circumstances & Trials
to bring us into THAT True Abundant Life
 
Jas 1:2-4 - NLT  
 
Jas 1:2-4 - NLT
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
 
& if you would say "Well, that's fine & good, but I want my circumstances fixed NOW"
 
& your Heavenly ABBA Father would say - "Oh, my child, you don’t understand the Big Picture, you'll have to trust me"
 
& haven't we said that same thing (re: much smaller matters)
to OUR own children?
 
Foundation Truth: if we are willing, God will use our circumstances & trials to transform us into the True Abundant Life.
 
 
Finally - we said God's THIRD Primary tool for Transforming us, is
 
3) Other People - both Positive & Negative
 
Into EVERY life comes POSITIVE people & NEGATIVE people
 
& I'm talking specifically about people who IMPACT US
either Positively or Negatively
 
 
The people who IMPACT us Positively are those who
Encourage us,
Strengthen us,
Counsel us . . . & most importantly
Point us to God
 
We need these POSITIVE People BADLY
& we NEED TO BE these Positive People BADLY
 
We see these "Encouragers" thru-out the Bible
 
Every strong Man or Woman of God we see in the Bible
has around them - those who Encourage & Strengthen them
 
& Thank God for these people in your life
& PLEASE - BE this person in someone else's life
 
These are CRICALLY NEEDED People - Especially in the Church!
 
 
But then, also, are the people that God allows in our lives
on the "Other Side"
 
These are the people who IMPACT us NEGATIVELY
 
& Just like God is AT WORK for our good, in our Circumstances,
either Positive or Negative
 
In the same way - God is AT WORK for our good
using the People in our lives - either Positive or Negative
 
The Psalms are full of King David crying out to God
to save him from the People who were his enemies
 
 
But in the end - it was those very people - who caused
King David to cling all the more to God as His SAVIOR
 
& that's exactly what they should do in our lives !
 
& possibly the best example, of seeing GOOD from BAD people
comes from the incredible story of Joseph
 
Who's enemies were initially his own brothers,
& then others who should've respected Joseph,
but instead chose to be his enemies
 
& finally, at the end of his life
when his brothers feared retaliation from Joseph
 
We read in Gen 50:19-20 - ESV
19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good . . .
 
Guys - God will allow both
Encouragers & He Enemies - into your life
 
Put Please REMEMBER
He is AT WORK thru BOTH - For your GOOD
 
He is using those people - both Positive & Negative
as TOOLS - to mold you & to shape you,
to purge the bad out of you, & to develop the good in you
 
 
 
OK - Let's Review God's Primary TOOLS of Transformation
1) The Bible, & our Daily Devotion time (remember the challenge)
2) Our Circumstances & our Trials
3) Other People, both Positive & Negative
 
But remember the MAIN POINT of The Fatherhood of God
 
"God loves you just as you are, and He loves you enough
to not leave you just as you are"
 
But in order for you to TRUST Him
You HAVE TO know Him as your Heavenly ABBA Father
 
There are so many promises in the Bible to you as His child
that there are books written just LISTING all His promises
 
Your Heavenly Father PROMISES
to CARE for you
to PROTECT you
to PROVIDE for you
 
He promises to guard your hearts & minds in Christ Jesus
He promises to never leave you, nor forsake you
He promises to make you victorious in all things that matter
 
Because of all of God's Promises to you
 
Heb 13:6 says - ESV
6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
 
 
In Fact - there are 365 commands in the Bible
for us to FEAR NOT
 
God is WITH YOU - He is your ABBA Father - TRUST HIM!
 
 
If you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior today
 
You have received the Spirit of Adoption
whereby you can cry out ABBA, Father
 
& you can TRUST your Heavenly Father
to always do, what is truly BEST for you
 
& you can always trust Him, to be at work - FOR YOUR GOOD
in Every Circumstance & Situation
 
Don’t be a Rebellious son or daughter
 
Entrust ALL of your life to your Heavenly Father
He has promised to take good care of you - & He Will
 
Let's Pray