Who Is Your Father?

(To download an mp3 file of this message, click on the title above. To listen now, click on the play button of the audio player shown.)

This is a message that was preached for Father's Day 2015 and it explores the need to model our lives after our heavenly Father.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

How many of us have ever heard these words: “You act just like your dad!” or “You sure got that from your father!”

Most of you know that we have two sons. One of them, Andy, looks more like me, and in some ways acts more like me, than our other son Wesley.

Now, there have been times when that has made me very proud, but there have also been times when it hasn’t!

Today I want to talk a little while about this common characteristic we all have that makes us look and act like our parents, and I want to apply it to our spiritual identity.

A little earlier we heard the Scripture reading from 1 John. I want to add another reading, which is found in…

John 8:37-47

Imagine the courage exhibited here for Jesus to look these Jewish religious leaders in the eye and tell them, “You are of your father the devil…”!

In direct contrast to this passage is the Scripture that was read earlier in the service…

1 John 3:1-3

Transition: For the next several minutes I want to identify some of the traits of these two “fathers” we’ve already read about (God and the Devil) and use them to help us identify which we most resemble.

I.   Some of the traits of the Devil (There’s many we do not have time to describe today.)

A.  He is a liar

John 8:44 … When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

This passage does not mean that the devil never tells the truth. Sometimes he does tell the truth. However, it is teaching us that the basic character motivation of Satan is to deceive and mislead. If Satan ever does tell the truth it is because for the moment, the truth serves his overall motive of deception.

For Satan, telling the truth is merely utilitarian; that is, only used if it “works” for his ultimate devious purposes.

I imagine I speak for most of us when I say that I have met people that exhibit this same character trait. There are people who rarely tell the truth for the truth’s sake. We’ve learned by experience through hard lessons, that every statement out of their mouths is suspect and we know we can never rely on their words unless we verify them from some other more reliable source.

However, I know other folks who would not fit this description completely, but they will “bend the truth” and “fib a little” when it is deemed necessary to “save their hide.”

I am one who happens to believe that God is the father of truth and the devil is the father of lies, and our own practices in truth or deception will determine which one we more closely resemble.

I want to especially challenge all of the men and fathers here today. Let us all live in such a way that those who know us will absolutely know that we are men of the truth. This is especially necessary for our children and families. May every one of us be known of men of truth and men of integrity!

B.   He is a lawless rebel

1 John 3:4, 8 (KJV) ⁴ Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. ⁸ He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

In this passage, the Apostle John defines the word “sin” as anything (action or spirit) that opposes the law of God. If it is an action, it is a deed that violates God’s moral code of goodness and righteousness.

If it is an attitude or spirit, it is an attitude of self-rule, self-will, and direct opposition to the divine authority of God and His will.

The Bible tells us that Satan was originally lifted up with pride, which led him to oppose the authority of God and engage in direct opposition through rebellion.

What about you and me? Are we truly submitted to the will of God and His standards of righteousness and goodness, or do we demand and insist on having our own way?

The Bible says we are all born with a sin nature that naturally, left to itself, will lead us against God in rebellion to His authority. But, thank God, through the cleansing of the blood of Jesus, we can become completely yielded and submitted to Him.

Let us seek the transforming grace of God until we have been changed from lawless rebels into submissive servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

C.  He is a thief and a murderer

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning,

This verse and others describe Satan as one who loves to steal and destroy anything and anyone he possibly can.

When any person refuses to let Jesus Christ come into their life and heart and transform them into His own image, then they leave themselves open for Satan to mold them more and more into his likeness.

Hatred (which Jesus said is the same as murder), gossip and evil speaking (assassinating someone’s reputation), and a host of other sinful behaviors fit right into these descriptions of Satan. When anyone yields to these impulses and gives themselves over to practicing them, they may not realize it or like to admit it, but they are identifying with the Devil as their father.

The Jews certainly didn’t like it when Jesus accused them of having the devil for a father (first phrase in verse 44), but Jesus was telling them like it was.

Who is your father?

II.   Some of the traits of God

I suppose we could make it real simple by saying, “God is the opposite of everything we’ve said about the Devil.”

But, let’s be a little more specific.

Love, Purity and Truth

These three traits are only “scratching the surface” of what all could be said to describe our heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

These three characteristics are clearly taught in the two passages we have been referring to all along this morning, so we’ll mention them and acknowledge that the Bible presents many, many more traits about God that we don’t have time to mention now.

A.  Love:

In direct contrast to the Devil who hurts and destroys, God is filled with love and compassion.

1 John 3 – God has lavished His great love upon us by making it possible for us to become His children, and by making us (loving) like Him.

There is no way to humanly and adequately describe the love of God. His love was demonstrated at the cross in the sacrificial death of His Son for the sins of the whole world. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”

His love was demonstrated in the self-sacrificing and humble service Jesus portrayed to the weak, hurting and sorrowing people He met during His earthly ministry.

Dear friends, when we allow God’s love to flow through us to a hurting, dying world around us, we are identifying with our Father in heaven.

When we demonstrate that same kind of sacrificial love to our families and love ones, we show them how to imitate the model Father in heaven.

B.  Purity

1 John 3:3 … everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

While Satan is filled with evil and darkness, God is even more the fulfillment of all that is light and goodness and moral excellence. God is holy. God is righteous. God cannot tolerate even the slightest deviation from absolute purity and holiness.

God’s holiness is the standard and grounds for the requirement for His children to be holy as well. “Be ye holy, for I am holy.”

Let us not forget that the more we seek after holiness and purity, the more we resemble our Father in heaven. The more we turn away from righteousness and holiness, the more we make it appear as though God isn’t truly our Father.

C.   Truth

John 8 – In this same passage where Jesus declares that the Devil is a liar and the father of lies, He clearly sets Himself distinctly apart from the Devil and claims to be a conveyor of truth.

Later in John’s Gospel Jesus makes a direct claim to be the embodiment of truth (14:6).

Truth, integrity, honesty, genuineness and authenticity are all words that describe the character and qualities of God Himself. Those words also describe the character of the child of God. It ought to be just as unthinkable for a Christian to be a conveyor of deception as it is for us to think that God could lie. (Tit. 1:2 …God, that cannot lie…; Heb. 6:18 …impossible for God to lie…)

Conclusion:

There’s so much more that could be said about the nature of God and how we as His children should emulate Him and model our lives and our behavior after Him.

We all have a background of living or being like the Devil. We were born with the nature of sin, and if we haven’t been to the cross for the remedy, then we certainly have continued to follow his example.

But, if we have been to Calvary, then the blood of Jesus cleanses from sin and transforms us into the likeness of God’s Son.

Who is your father today?

If you’ve been reminded today that your life and testimony does not reflect the image of God, but you’re more like the those whom Jesus said were children of the Devil, I’m glad I can tell you today that it is always appropriate to “change families!”

We’ve heard in the news at times about young people who wish to “divorce their parents.” Well, spiritually speaking, you can “divorce” your father the Devil, if you’ve discovered that you belong to him, and God is always ready to adopt a new son/daughter into His great family! Praise God!