When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

John 17:1-5

Anyone who has fasted understands the lethargy and fatigue that the body feels. So too, with your spirit. If you fast from the bread of God, your spirit will become lethargic and sleepy.

Peter K. Louis

Social Schema: A mental framework that helps organize and interpret information. People use social schemas to interpret others based on past experiences and expectations.

A bio is basically answering the question, “Who is _______?”

FACES OF GOD

“We must not think of God as like ourselves. We are creatures; He is Creator.”

Athanasius of Alexandria

“Your thoughts of God are too human.”

Martin Luther

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

J.I. Packer

WHAT IS GOD LIKE?

What do you get from a God who is a CREATOR first?

If God’s very identity is to be The Creator, The Ruler, then he needs a creation to rule in order to be who he is.

Michael Reeves

What do you get from a God who is a JUDGE first?

What do you get from a God who is a FRIEND first?

What do you get from a God who is a KING first?

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Colossians 1:15

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. 

Hebrews 1:3

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

John 1:18

25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

John 17:25-26

“He became what we are so that He might make us what He is.”

Athanasius of Alexandria

Father: ~165+

My Father: ~40+

The Father: ~60+

Your Father (to disciples): ~20+

Abba, Father: 1

God: ~15-20

Lord of Heaven and Earth: 1

Holy Father: 1

Righteous Father: 1

Bar Graph Picture***

“If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child and having God as his Father.”

J.I. Packer

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:9-11

“God is not only a father but the best and kindest of all fathers.”

John Calvin

What do you get from a God who is first a FATHER? 

1. DNA

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons[f] of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 

Romans 8:14-15

1. PROVISION

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:9-11

1. DIRECTION AND CORRECTION

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 

Hebrews 12:7-8

1. FAMILY

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

1 John 3:1

1. THE FATHER’S LOVE 

“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.”

Augustine of Hippo

“The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to Him, is not to believe that He loves you.”

John Owen

25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

John 17:25-26