Luke 12:13-34 “God the Father” December 9, 2007

We’re working our way through the basics of the Christian faith,

following the structure of the Heidelberg Catechism.

We will be spending the next few weeks working our way through the Apostles’ Creed.

Questions 24-58 of the Heidelberg Catechism expound the Apostles’ Creed.

And as we saw last time, the Apostles’ Creed summarizes very nicely

those things that a Christian must believe.

22. What, then, must a Christian believe?

All that is promised us in the gospel,

which the articles of our catholic and undoubted Christian faith teach us in a summary.

The Apostles’ Creed is a summary of the gospel.

The gospel – the good news –

is the message of what God has done for our salvation in Jesus Christ.

And it is that message that we confess in the Apostles’ Creed:

Question 24 of the Heidelberg Catechism asks:

24. How are these articles divided?

Into three parts: the first is about God the Father and our creation;

The second about God the Son and our redemption;

The third about God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.

The Creed follows this three-part division,

I believe in God the Father,

and in the Son,

and in the Holy Spirit.

The doctrine of the Trinity is at the very heart of the Christian faith.

And so tonight we start by looking at God the Father.

26.   Q.  What do you believe when you say: I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?
  A.  That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them, and who still upholds and governs them by His eternal counsel and providence, is, for the sake of Christ His Son, my God and my Father. In Him I trust so completely as to have no doubt that He will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul, and will also turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this life of sorrow. He is able to do so as almighty God, and willing also as a faithful Father.

I have frequently called attention to the importance of the theme of ‘sonship’ in scripture.

God created Adam as his son.

When Adam failed, God called Israel his firstborn.

When Israel failed, God took the son of David as his son.

The whole history of Israel can be seen as the history of the son of God,

as Paul suggests in Galatians 3-4.

Israel was the son of God in his minority – “a son is no better than a slave”

but in the fullness of time God sent forth his Son, born of a woman,

born under the law.

Jesus fulfills the whole history of the son of God

because he has been the Son of God for all eternity.

In this way we see that God is our Father only for the sake of Christ – the Messiah.

You see this in a most remarkable way in John’s gospel.

Jesus refers to God as “my Father” 26 times in John’s gospel

(and there are a couple dozen other instances where he refers to the “the Father”

in a way that makes it clear that he is saying “my Father.”)

NEVER in all his ministry does Jesus refer to God as “your Father.”

In fact, when the Jews claim that God is their father,

Jesus replies, “If God were your Father, you would love me…

You are of your father the devil…” (John 8:42)

ONLY after the resurrection does Jesus finally say to Mary,

“I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” (John 20:17)

It is only through the resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God,

that we become true children of God.

Our sonship depends upon his sonship.

But having firmly established that God is our Father only for the sake of Christ,

let us look at what it means to confess

“I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth”

First, we are confessing that he is “the Father Almighty.”

God is called “Almighty” six times in Genesis,

thirty-one times in the book of Job

eleven other times in the OT

and nine times in the book of Revelation (and once in 2 Corinthians).

It is a reference to his power and might.

When we confess that we believe in God the Father Almighty,

we are confessing that he alone is mighty.

He alone has the power to do whatsoever his hand desires.

In Genesis, the name “God Almighty” (El Shaddai)

is the name that God declares to Abraham,

when he makes his covenant in Genesis 17:1,

“I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.”

In other words, “I am the God who has the power to do what I say.”

God has already promised that he will fulfill the covenant in Genesis 15.

God alone walked between the pieces of the animals,

thereby showing that he alone will fulfill the covenant.

But now God says to Abraham, in effect,

because I will be faithful, therefore I call you to be faithful.

And throughout Genesis, we see God Almighty as the covenant-keeping God.

That is why God says to Moses in Exodus 6:3,

“I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty.”

God Almighty was the covenant name by which God revealed himself to the fathers.

But at Mt Sinai, God revealed himself by the name of Yahweh – the LORD –

“I am who I am.”

(or “I will be who I will be”)

The name Yahweh is not just a statement of the present, but also of the future.

The closest rendering of Yahweh in the NT is found in Revelation 4:8,

where the four living creatures around the throne of heaven

blend the covenant names of God as they continually declare,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!” (Rev. 4:8)

Now, in the new covenant we once again hear a new name for God.

Jesus commands us to baptize in the triune name of God:

“in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

We now confess God to be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“For us there is but one God, the Father,

from whom are all things and for whom we exist,

and one Lord, Jesus Christ,

through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” (1 Cor 8:6)

It is not that the name of Father had never been used before.

(It is used several times in the Old Testament).

Rather, it is only in the New Covenant that this name is fully revealed.

In Genesis we hear Abraham using the name of Yahweh.

He knew the name.

But he did not understand its full meaning and significance.

That was only revealed in the Exodus from Egypt,

where the name of Yahweh was fully revealed.

Even so,

the name of “Father” was known to the OT saints,

but its full meaning and significance is only revealed

when we confess that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

is now our God and Father as well.

It is only when you know the Son that you truly come to know the Father,

or to use Jesus’ words, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the one who raised up Jesus from the dead and seated him in glory,

this Father has now set his love upon you for the sake of his Son.

The apostle John seems to have marveled at this.

Not only does his gospel focus on this aspect of Jesus’ teaching,

but then his first epistle continues to reflect on the Fatherhood of God.

He starts by commenting on how our fellowship is with the Father

and with his Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3),

and how the blood of his Son cleanses us from all sin (1:7).

And if we do sin, Jesus is our advocate with the Father (2:1).

We see the glory of the name of God the Father revealed in the intercession of the Son.

And because we have fellowship with the Father and the Son,

therefore we are called to turn away from

“the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes

and the pride of life” (2:16).

These things are not “from the Father.”

If you belong to the Father – so that you are called children of God,

then you are to practice righteousness.

If you have been born of the Father, then you cannot hate your brother.

“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him,

and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” (3:9)

Rather, we are to keep his commandment,

“that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another.” (3:23)

So when we confess that we believe in God the Father Almighty,

we are confessing our faith in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the one who has brought us into fellowship with himself,

so that we might be conformed to the image of his Son –

so that we might look like Jesus.

But then second, we confess that God the Father Almighty

is “creator of heaven and earth.”

Now the Westminster standards carefully distinguish between “creation” and “providence.”

The Heidelberg Catechism blends these two things together.

In fact, the focus of the Heidelberg Catechism is on providence.

And that is because the Heidelberg is merely following the focus of the Apostles’ Creed.

When you say that God the Father Almighty is the “creator of heaven and earth,”

you are actually saying two things.

First, that God created heaven and earth in the past.

It is a confession of historical fact.

God created the heavens and the earth.

And in our day, given the rise of Deism (the idea that God created everything,

and then left things to work by natural laws),

we need to clearly defend the idea of Providence.

But when the Apostles’ Creed was written, it was generally understood

that a being who was powerful enough to create all things

would no doubt continue to be involved in governing his creation!

So when the Creed says “Creator of heaven and earth”

there is an understanding that the one who created

is also the one who providentially governs heaven and earth!

And that is why questions 27-28 focus on God’s providence:

27.   Q.  What do you understand by the providence of God?
  A.  God's providence is His almighty and ever present power, whereby, as with His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things, come to us not by chance but by His fatherly hand.

28.   Q.  What does it benefit us to know that God has created all things and still upholds them by His providence?
  A.  We can be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and with a view to the future we can have a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from His love; for all creatures are so completely in His hand that without His will they cannot so much as move.

This is why we read Luke 12 earlier.

While John’s gospel never records Jesus speaking of God as “our” Father,

Luke certainly does.

Jesus here reminds us not to be anxious about our life,

because God rules over all things.

What are you anxious about?

The word “anxious” may be misleading.

If you are a laid back person,

you may say, “I’m not anxious about anything!”

But the real question is “what are you most concerned about?”

What is it that functions as the default of your mind?

Where do your thoughts naturally gravitate?

Jesus says,

do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat,

nor about your body, what you will put on.

The most basic necessities of life–food and clothing–should not worry you.

You may be unemployed right now–

but do not worry about these things.

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

Jesus gives two examples:

First, Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap,

they have neither storehouse nor barn,

and yet God feeds them.

Of how much more value are you than the birds!

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that,

why are you anxious about the rest?

And second, Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,

yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today,

and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,

how much more will he clothe you,

O you of little faith!

If God provides for birds and flowers,

do you think it likely that he would ignore you?

And so Jesus concludes by stating emphatically what has been implicit all along:

And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink,

nor be worried.

For all the nations of the world seek after these things,

and your Father knows that you need them.

Instead, seek his kingdom,

and these things will be added to you.

Notice the contrast that Jesus makes between the nations of the world and you.

The word for “nations” is the same word as the word for “Gentiles.”

It is the word “ethne,”

from which we get our word “ethnicity.”

The Gentiles of the world seek after these things.

All the ethnicities of the world seek after these things.

But you are not supposed to be like the Gentiles.

You are not supposed to be like the nations.

And why are you supposed to be different?

Because your Father knows that you need them.

God is not just some distant ruler who governs all things with abstract rules.

He is your Father.

He knows what you need.

Jesus tells you to seek his kingdom,

because it is the kingdom of your Father!

Jesus has established a new kingdom – indeed, a new family –

in which we have no need to be anxious for anything.

God the Father will take care of his children.

And Jesus goes on to say that the reason why you shouldn’t be worried about these things

is because it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom!

So you are to be busy seeking first the kingdom of your Father,

and it is his good pleasure to give you that kingdom that you are seeking!

So what are you worried about?

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.

Do not be greedy and grasping for the things of this world.

They won’t last!

I had hoped that I would be able to spend Advent in the section of the Creed

about the Virgin birth (and we’ll get there!),

but perhaps a reminder of the providence of God is a good place to start!

Because we are heading into the season of the year where greed and materialism rule the hearts of many.

Children,

you must guard your hearts in the coming weeks.

You will be tempted to be greedy,

and to fix your hearts on the “loot” that will be piling up around the tree.

It is perhaps the most diabolical scheme of man to turn the celebration of the birth of Christ

into a celebration of greed and materialism.

The biggest shopping season of the year is designed to celebrate the birth of the man who said,

Sell your possessions and give to the needy.

It is ludicrous!

Absurd!

If you understand the meaning of Christmas,

then don’t just buy a meaningless gift –

give something you love.

I know two little boys who were heading off to the mission field with their parents.

They couldn’t take all their toys with them.

Their parents were a little concerned that they wouldn’t understand.

But their response was to say that if Jesus laid down his life for us,

then certainly they could give away their toys for others.

Could you give away the things that matter most to you?

If your possessions–if your stuff–

is getting in the way of your pursuit of the kingdom of your Father,

then get rid of your stuff.

And thus, provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old,

with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail,

where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Where is your treasure?

What do you value?

What does it mean to have treasure in the heavens?

It means to remember where your inheritance is coming from.

Your Father in heaven delights to give you the kingdom of his Son.

So if you believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,

then you are to be about the work of your Father’s kingdom.