God the Father - Sermons on The Baptist Faith and Message

Written by Lucien Coleman

Sermon 2 of 19 Sermons on The Baptist Faith and Message.

The Baptist Faith and Message sets forth "certain definite doctrines that Baptists believe, cherish, and with which they have been and are now closely identified." You may read The Baptist Faith and Message on SBC.net. This sermon series by Lucien Coleman originally appeared in Proclaim! magazine.

Introduction: On December 7, 1995, after a six year voyage of 387 million miles, the spacecraft Galileo arrived at the planet Jupiter. A spacecraft would have to travel almost 10 times this distance to reach the planet Pluto, on the outside perimeter of the solar system. Yet, our solar system is only a tiny part of our galaxy, the Milky Way, which contains about 100 billion stars.

We Believe: Living in the Light of God's Truth - Member Book

The noted astronomer Edwin Hubble calculated that there are almost as many galaxies outside the Milky Way as there are stars in it. In light of the mind-boggling immensity of “the heavens and the earth,” you can appreciate the difficulty of trying to describe God, the Creator of it all (Gen. 1:1) in a 30- minute sermon. Yet, the Bible repeatedly uses a single word that sums up one of the most important things we can know about God—the word Father.

1. The Father Is One God (1 Cor. 8:6)

A missionary who served in West Africa said, “It isn’t difficult to persuade people in an animistic culture to accept the God of the Bible. They have hordes of gods, and there’s always room for one more. They spend their lives trying to appease all of them, ever fearful of omitting some jealous, vengeful deity. What a wonderful discovery it is when they embrace the biblical truth, ‘Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we for Him’” (1 Cor. 8:6).

2. The Father Is Merciful (2 Cor. 1:3)

As three-year-old Kim lay pale and feverish on her hospital bed through the long hours of the night, Jan, her mother, had a moving encounter with God. The next morning, as she shared with her Sunday School teacher the good news that Kim was on her way to recovery, she said: “When we studied the lesson about the nature of God a few Sundays ago, I was skeptical. As a child, I learned to think of God as a divine policeman, always ready to punish me if I wasn’t good. I have never been able to think of Him as a loving Heavenly Father. But last night, unable to sleep, I spent the whole night praying. And I knew the Father was in this room, comforting me, loving me.” Jan had discovered that wonderful truth expressed by Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:3. Even when the Father acts in judgment, He never ceases to love His children.

3. The Father Is Accessible (Gal. 4:6)

A good father is available to his children. Paul’s words to the Galatians remind us that the Heavenly Father is always within reach of His children. Abba was not a technical, theological term; it was the intimate, affectionate term used by children when addressing their daddies. When President Jimmy Carter was in office, Amy Carter became well known to the American public as the nine-year-old who could dash into the Oval Office to see her daddy, though many an important dignitary failed to win an audience with the President. God the Father is just that accessible to His children.

4. The Father Wants Children Who Take After Him (Matt. 5:44–45, 48)

In Matthew 5:48 Jesus is talking about that divine quality that many of us learned about in childhood: “God is love.” He does not ask us to simulate the Father’s power, sovereignty, moral perfection, or perfect wisdom. Rather, He asks us to relate to others in love, just as the Father loves the world (John 3:16). Love your enemies. Why? Because the Father, in His loving-kindness, sends sunshine and rain to bless even those who are hostile toward Him; and He wants his children to be like their Father.

Conclusion: “Honor your father and your mother” (Ex. 20:12) relates to children and their earthly parents. But perhaps that also would be an appropriate guide to our daily conduct as children of the Heavenly Father.

About Professor Coleman

Professor Lucien Coleman retired in 1993 after twenty-seven years of teaching Religious Eductation at Southern Seminary and Adult Education at Southwestern Seminary. Before teaching served as a pastor in Kentucky. He holds degrees from Southern Seminary and the University of Kentucky. He and his wife, Bobbie, live in Parker County, Texas. They have three children, fifteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

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