Know Your Heavenly Father

Have you ever questioned the goodness of God?

James 1:16-18
Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with who is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of the truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Do Not Err

When you really love someone, you don’t want them to fall into error. You want them to walk in the light, full of joy and peace. St. James, in this Scripture, is saying, “I love you. You are my beloved brothers and sisters, and I do not want you to fall into error or be deceived concerning the goodness of God, your Father.”

A Radical Concept

In the New Testament, Jesus introduced a radical new concept when He taught His disciples to refer to God as their “Father.” In the Old Testament, God was seldom referred to as “Father.” In fact, not more than seven times do we find the concept of God as a “Father” even suggested under the Old Covenant.

Then Jesus Christ came along, and no less than seventy times directed people’s attention to God as a loving Father.

The religious people accused Jesus of being a heretic, a false prophet, and in allegiance with Satan. One reason was probably because He taught about God being a good God, a benevolent Father. The religious hierarchy couldn’t accept the concept that God was personal and good.

The problem of not being able to accept the idea of God as a loving Father began with the first human beings.

Adam and Eve had fellowship with God. They chatted together. They had a terrific relationship. Then something happened. A great wall of separation was erected between God and His created children because they had disobeyed Him, causing them to take on a satanic-like nature, a nature of rebellion and disobedience. The man and woman then became alienated from God because they no longer had the same nature as God, one of holiness and purity. In a sense, they became enemies of the One who created them, loved them, and deeply cared for them.

When they disobeyed God, they not only lost their closeness with God, their fellowship with God, they lost their spiritual life, their powerful mental abilities, and eventually, they lost their physical lives!

Sin Robs Us of Everything Good

All this was because of sin and disobedience. Sin has a way of robbing us of everything good.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

But God, the giver of all good gifts, had a plan already formulated for bringing man back into a loving relationship with Himself. The plan included sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to come to earth, die on the cross, be raised from the dead, and become the only mediator between God and man. (Hebrews 12:24)

1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

Now, when a person accepts Jesus Christ as his only hope of ever having a right relationship with God, that person becomes “born again.” He becomes a new creature.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new.

He is born into God’s family. The Bible teaches us that when we come to Christ, asking Him to give us a new life, we are actually translated from Satan’s family into God’s family. (Colossians 1:12-14)

John 3:3
…Except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Only by becoming “born again” can we come into this loving family relationship with God as our heavenly Father. Once we’ve been born into God’s family, we can once again walk with Him in the “cool of the day,” talk with Him on a one-to-one basis, heart to heart. We can have fellowship, friendship, and a real relationship.

Unfortunately, many people, even Christians, have a distorted image of God, the Father. Satan and his demons are the great proliferators of error concerning God, the Father.

Satan’s Role

Satan and his demons have only three devices: Temptation, Deception, Accusation.

In order to accomplish all three of these malignant plans, Satan has but to distort the image of the Father in your mind. It will then be easy to tempt, deceive, and accuse you. If he can pervert the image of God, the Father, in your thinking, he can accomplish his threefold goal in your life.

Since nobody has ever seen God, the Father, it’s easy for the devil to concoct his smear tactics against Him. But even in the Old Testament, we are taught the character of God by God Himself.

Exodus 34:6-7 (NLT)
⁶The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. ⁷ I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty.

You Were Not Born into a Religion

One of the errors we make is the mistake of viewing our relationship with the Father as merely a religious experience instead of an exciting family relationship. When you were born again, you were not born into a religion; you were born into a family, the family of God! God is now your Father, and you are a son or daughter. It’s so simple. Paul said,

2 Corinthians 11:3
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the SIMPLICITY that is in Christ.

It’s so simple. It doesn’t take a great intellect or deep wisdom to be “born again” (although a person of great intellect or wisdom can be “born again”). Even a person who is mentally deficient can be “born again” because of the simplicity of the gospel.

By accepting Christ, you are translated out of Satan’s kingdom and born into God’s family. You may now look to God as your loving heavenly Father, and approach Him in a family manner, not a religious manner.

ABC’s

If you don’t remember a time in your life when you were born again, you can do it now. Each of us must respond to God’s plan in order to gain entrance into that beautiful place called “heaven.” How must you respond to Jesus?