Episode 70 - God The Father
Practical Theology
1 John 3:1-3; 4:7-12; 5:1-3
Today, we launch a new series on the study of God – Theology – Our goal is a practical study of God – A study that helps us love God supremely and live for him in real and tangible ways in this world.
Over the next 3 months, with a few appropriate interruptions along the way, we will consider 8 important truths in our study of practical theology – I am borrowing the topics from Ed Stetzer and Eric Geiger’s Deep Dive series – Theology & The Mission of God. My content will be different, but I really like their titles:
We love God the Father; We love God the Son; We love God the Holy Spirit; We love God’s Word; We love God’s People; We love God’s World; We love God’s Gospel; We love God’s Mission
Today, we proclaim and celebrate that We Love God the Father.
The Articles of our Faith, known as The Baptist Faith and Message (2000) describe what we believe about God in this way –
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
A. God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men. There are many attribute of God that we could celebrate with this study; but we will hold those for January and a study of the names of God. Today we will focus in on one key attribute of our Holy, Eternal, Righteous, Almighty, Creator God – He is the God who loves us. He cares! Our Creator cares!
In Exodus 34:5-8 He reveals Himself on Mount Sinai to Moses in this way…
Hesed – God’s steadfast love! This concept permeates the Old Testament – referenced over 200 times. Combine this with the New Testament concept that Jesus taught us –
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount references God as our Father, or His Father – more than a dozen times.
This is a practical way to think about God – He is our Heavenly Father and He loves us –therefore, we should love him, too.
Today, let’s key in on truths taught by the Apostle of Love in 1 John:
1. Love’s Adoption – 1 J 3:1
2. Love’s Anticipation – 1 J 3:2
3. Love’s Answer – v3; 4:7-10
i. Obedience demonstrates our Love – 4:11-12, 19; 5:1-3
ii. Overcoming Faith lifts us above the World’s circumstances to
enable our Love to flow to one another; and to the Lost World. 5:4-5
iii. Agape Leadership – p9-10 – The Local Church – a display window of love; and, a spiritual workshop and laboratory to grow this deep, abiding Love for one another, as an outgrowth of our love for God.
This will lead us into our topic for next Sunday – our love for God, the Son!
Other podcasts from Woodpile Ministries:
Rings To Tags - w/ Isaac & Amanda Wood - Marriage. Family. Home. God's Way.
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rings-to-tags/id1634856692
