Having The Fatherheart Of God – A Fathers Day Sermon

A Father’s Day Sermon

This Father’s day I want to present to you as a model, the father’s heart of God. We will take our text from

Romans 8:15  

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Abba = “father” father, customary title used of God in prayer. Whenever it occurs in the New Testament it has the Greek interpretation joined to it, that is apparently to be explained by the fact that the Chaldee “ABBA” through frequent use in prayer, gradually acquired the nature of a most sacred proper name, to which the Greek-speaking Jews added the name from their own tongue.

The use of the word “Sacred” gives the connotation of formality but it is meant to give the meaning of intimacy. It is the most heartfelt and closest term used for a father.

So when we see that God adopted us and in such a way that we cry out with the most intimate and closest term for father, it shows the type of father He really is and the type of father that we want to aspire to be.

This term is used in 3 places in the New Testament. The Romans 8 passage I shared above, and in Galatians 4:6 and Mark 14:36

The Spirit of Adoption in the Father’s Heart of God

Think about for a second how God has adopted you as His child. You are not the red-headed stepchild. You have been given the same name and the same family tree as if you were His very flesh and blood.

Hebrews 2:11 New Living Translation (NLT)

11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.

God is not distant or aloof. He is not unavailable or hard to come to. He has open arms extended to receive any of His children. This shows us that to be a good father with the father’s heart of God, we are to be open with our children and to extend our arms to them.

The confirmation of adoption as part of the Father’s heart

Galatians 4:1-6

New Living Translation (NLT)

Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. 

4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”

Our Abba Father did not sit back and just let us figure it out on our own. He made the effort to establish a relationship.

This shows that being a good father with the father’s heart of God means that you make time and seek out your children to keep the relationship alive with them. Just as God sought us out, we are to seek out our children.

The authority and responsibility of being a father.

Mark 14:36 Jesus when praying in the garden shows that His father had ultimate authority. He surrendered to His will.

This shows that a father has to do what is best for the kid even if the kid wants something different or does not always understand. Part of being a father that has the father’s heart of God is leading and directing.

Jesus Gave This Example of the Father’s Heart Towards Us.

Luke 15:11-32 New Living Translation (NLT)

Parable of the Lost Son 

11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’

20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’

22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’

28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’

31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

Your heavenly father is preparing for you a banqueting table out of His love for you. That is the father’s heart of God!