Worship Devotional CXXVII

Jun 18

Originally posted to the Facebook group on 6/18/2021.

One God And Father Of All

Worship Devotional for 6/19/22

~ Father's Day ~

There is one God, one Creator of all things. He is Three in One, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can only know the Father through the Son, for the Father and the Son are One, just as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, said to his disciples in John 14:6-11:

"Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.'
'Lord,' said Philip, 'show us the Father, and that's enough for us.'
Jesus said to him, 'Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"? Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own. The Father who lives in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.'"

And in Matthew 11:25-27:

"At that time Jesus said, 'I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure. All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal Him.'"

Now through the sacrifice of the Son, we have been reconciled to the Father, our Creator, the only true and living and eternal God. In Jesus, we are joined together in fellowship with God our heavenly Father. Romans 5:8-11 tells us:

"But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life! And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have now received this reconciliation through Him."

The author of Hebrews, quoting from Psalm 22 and Isaiah 8, tells us in Hebrews 2:10-13:

"For in bringing many sons to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God — all things exist for Him and through Him — should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying: 'I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing hymns in the congregation.' Again, 'I will trust in Him.' And again, 'Here I am with the children God gave Me.'"

Paul in Ephesians 4:1-6 reminds us of this reality and exhorts us to live our lives accordingly:

"Therefore I, prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit — just as you were called to one hope at your calling — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all."

And this follows the great introduction to Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 1:3-6:

"Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved."

So, solely by God's grace and through the finished work of Jesus, we have taken on a new identity. We are no longer defined by the things that once held us in slavery and condemnation. We are now called children of God! Our identity is no longer based on the evil that had previously corrupted us, but rather on God our Father, who is good and eternal and true, and who is greater than anything that could stand against us. The Creator and Judge of all things loved us with an everlasting and unfathomable love, so that now we are called children of God. Everything good and true in our lives is from the Father. He Himself is everything we need. He is able to provide for every practical need we may have in this world, and He is able to fulfill the deepest longings of our souls, which He created in us so that we would be satisfied in Him. What love! What grace! Knowing God as our Father is how we know who we are and how we find and fulfill our very purpose for living.

This week as we celebrate Father's Day and remember and honor our earthly fathers, we thank God for the good things and trust in Him for healing where there have been wounds from failures, mistakes, and sin's corruption of the world. Whatever your experience with your earthly father has been, whether good or bad, remember that your heavenly Father loves you with an everlasting love. He is able to heal your wounds and to fulfill your purpose, and we have been reconciled to Him through Jesus! Know your identity in Christ as a child of God, and stand up in faith so you can live in glorious and eternal fellowship with the One who is perfect and holy and good.

When Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13, He taught us to address God as our Father:

"Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

As we seek to live our lives on this earth for the glory of God, may we commune with the Father and know Him more and more each day, so that we may become more like Him and therefore shine with His light and glory to the world around us, which so desperately needs to know the Father's love.

1 John 3:1:

"Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God's children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn't know Him."

Ephesians 3:14-21:

"For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God's love, and to know the Messiah's love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us — to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

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