‘FOR THE FATHER HIMSELF LOVES YOU’

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on June 16, 2024 under 2024 |

Bethany Bible Church Father’s Day Sermon Message, June 16, 2024 from John 16:25-28

Theme: Jesus’ sacrifice has brought about new realities in our relationship with the heavenly Father.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Father’s Day is a good day to turn our attention to the greatest Father of all—our heavenly Father. And there’s no better authority from whom to learn about Him than His only begotten Son—Jesus Christ.

Just before our Savior went to the cross, He had a final meal with His apostles. During that meal, Jesus told them many things. And in John 16:25-28, it’s written that He told them this:

“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father” (John 16:25-28).

In these words, Jesus told His followers some precious truths about some of the changes that His sacrifice on the cross would bring about in their relationship to the heavenly Father. Before that time, they would have understood God as their Father in an ‘Old Testament sense’; that is, that He was the ‘Father’ of the Jewish nation. And certainly, they’d understand Him to be their Father in the sense of being the Creator of all that exists and the Provider of all they need. But because of what Jesus was about to do, they would soon enter into a much deeper and more personal relationship with the Father. He would truly become their Father in the fullest sense—in what we might call a filial sense. They would become His adopted children, and they would enjoy the fullest possible depths of His love and affection.

God would, of course, always remain to them the awesome, glorious, almighty ruler of all—unspeakably great in majesty and power and holiness. But now—because of the sacrifice of His Son—He would truly be an affectionate and beloved ‘Abba Father’ to them.

And along with those apostles, through faith in Jesus, God is now our ‘Abba Father’ too.

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we need such a father as God the Father. It’s a need that’s reflected in the fact that we all need the loving, nurturing relationship of an earthly father. It’s in honor of that need that we set aside a day to celebrate and appreciate fatherhood.

Obviously, all of us here today have had fathers—or we wouldn’t be here at all. But not all of us have had good fathers, and not all of us who are fathers have been good fathers. Even for those of us who—like myself—had a very good father, we certainly didn’t have a perfect father. But we all have a deep-seated need for what a father is meant to be. We all need the protection and nurture and care and instruction and affirmation that only a father can give. Just as a craving for ‘food’ is proof that we actually need food, so our craving for the blessings of fatherhood is proof that we actually need a father. I believe God has made every human being—no matter who they are—with a built-in need for a father’s love, because He has created every human being with a built-in need for Himself. It’s a secondary yearning that is meant to ultimately point us to Him.

Now; no one has had a more perfect father than our Lord Jesus. He deeply loved His Father, and His Father deeply loved Him. All that Jesus had, He had as a gift from His Father. All that Jesus did, He did in order to the glory of His Father. And in one of those remarkable moments in history when God the Father actually spoke audibly from heaven, He drew attention to His Son Jesus and said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

And dear brothers and sisters; do you know what this same Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross? He made it possible for you and I to now have the same relationship of love with His heavenly Father that He had. When He rose from the dead, He told Mary of Magdala;

“Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’” (John 20:17).

He referred to His apostles as His ‘brethren’; and wanted them to know that His Father was now their Father, and that His God was now their God. And that’s why I ask that we draw our attention to the words that the Lord Jesus spoke to these very same disciples in John 16:25-28—just before He went to the cross for us.

In these words, we see that Jesus’ sacrifice has brought about new realities in our relationship with the heavenly Father.

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Now; the story of that final evening that the Lord had with His disciples is important to remember. It’s a story—told from John 13 all the way to John 16—that teaches us about the things that Jesus was about to accomplish for us on the cross. And in this passage, we find many of the glorious changes that our Lord would bring about as a result of His sacrifice.

For example, He taught His disciples that—by His death, resurrection, and ascension to the Father, Jesus would bring about a change in the place we will eventually live. His death has given us a new home in His Father’s house. In John 14:1-3, He told them;

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

His sacrifice has also made a new power available to us. He made us the recipients of His own power to the glory of His Father. In John 14:12-14, He told His apostles;

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:12-14).

Now how could such a thing be? How could it be that we, as His followers, would do the same kind of works—and even greater works—than He did? It would be because His sacrifice for us has also resulted in our having a new Helper from the Father. His sacrifice for us made it possible for the Father to send the Holy Spirit to indwell us and live the life of Jesus in and through us. As Jesus said in verses 15-18;

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:15-18).

The Lord’s sacrifice for us—because He died for us and rose again for us—has also given us a new prospect. In verse 19, He told His apostles;

“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19).

And the Lord has even brought about a new unity for us—a new intimacy in the relationship He has eternally enjoyed with the Father. In verses 20-21, He told them;

At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:20-21);

and in verse 23, He said,

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (v. 23).

These are just some of the many changes that the Lord Jesus has brought about for us through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. He has truly brought about a new reality for us in every way. And among the new realities He has brought about for us are the changes He has made for us in our relationship with His Father. He wanted us to know that His Father is now our Father by adoption. We need to fully embrace the glorious truth that—by grace through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for us—God is now as much a Father to us as He is to His unique and only begotten Son Jesus.

That’s the wonderful truth that Jesus Himself explained to us in John 16:25-28.

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Now; in this passage—in celebration of Father’s Day—I’d like to point out to you three new realities that Jesus has brought about for us. The first is that He has brought about …

1. A NEW CLARITY IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE FATHER.

In verse 25, our Lord told His apostles, “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language …” And what are “these things”? They are all the wonderful truths He told them concerning what His sacrifice on the cross would do for us. I hope that—if you’ve never done so before—you’ll take the time to read slowly and prayerfully through Chapters 13-16 of John’s Gospel. Those chapters are filled with glorious promises from our Lord Jesus—all of which have been fulfilled for us by Him. And I hope you’ll also read Chapter 17; which contains His prayer for us before He died for us.

But you’ll notice that He said that He spoke these things to His disciples in ‘figurative language’. The single Greek word that is translated as ‘figurative language’ is one that means “by the path”; and it speaks of what we might call ‘an obscure saying’ or a ‘proverb’. It would describe a word or a saying that made you a little perplexed, and that would cause you to wonder what it meant. It’s a word that was translated as ‘illustration’ and was used in John 10:6. After Jesus spoke to the scribes and Pharisees, it says;

Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them (John 10:6).

And in all the things that Jesus said to His apostles in John 13-16, that’s how they received them; that is, as if in ‘figurative language’ or as ‘obscure illustrations’. They couldn’t quite understand them. They even said, in verse 18, “We do not know what He is saying.” And the reason was because the Father had not yet sent the Holy Spirit to them. Back in John 16:12-15, Jesus told them;

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:12-15).

So; He told them, “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language …” But look at what He went on to tell them in verse 25; “… but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.” There would come a time when there wouldn’t be any more obscurity about it.

And this, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, is the new reality in which we live. We live with a new clarity of understanding in our relationship with the Father. As Paul said in Romans 8:11;

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11) …

and as he went on to tell us in verses 15-17;

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (vv. 15-17).

Dear brothers and sisters; just think of how much the Father loves us! He sent His own Son to die on the cross to wash us clean of our sins; so that the Holy Spirit can take up permanent residence in us—continually speaking to our hearts and telling us that God is our Father and that we are His beloved children—constantly affirming us in His love—guiding us and teaching us about Him. By means of the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit—through the instruction of the Scriptures—the Lord Jesus speaks to us ‘plainly’ of the Father.

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Another thing that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for us has given us is …

2. A NEW LIBERTY IN OUR PRAYERS TO THE FATHER.

In John 16:26-27, Jesus told His apostles, “In that day …” that is, the time that would come about because of His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave, “you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.” A change would be brought about in how they could pray and make their appeals to the Father.

Now; the Old Testament is filled with the stories of the prayers of the saints in that older era. Obviously, they prayed much to God. But when they came to God in prayer, it was not as we do today—that is, as children would come to their Father. Back then, it was only as sinners would, in a sense, approach Someone for mercy who dwelt in inapproachable holiness. Access to God was only made possible through sacrifices and offerings and shedding of blood, and was only mediated through the ministry of the priesthood. And in the tabernacle that represented that older era, a thick veil separated the people from the most holy place of God’s presence. It felt like ‘distance’.

But when Jesus completed His work for us on the cross, that physical veil in the temple was literally torn from top to bottom. It was a picture of how full access to the Father was now made available to us through Jesus. The barrier of our sin has been taken away; and we can now come freely—as it were—into the most holy place of the temple of God, approach Him as His beloved children, and ask Him for whatever we need. As it says in Hebrews 10:19-22;

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22).

This doesn’t mean that we approach our heavenly Father in an irreverent or improper way. We still should only approach Him with respect, and worship Him and reverence His holiness. In a way, it’s like how a princely son or daughter would approach his or her kingly father as he sat upon the throne. But the point is that we don’t come with fear and with trembling. Rather, we come as children that our heavenly Father fully loves and gladly welcomes. Jesus said that the Father Himself loves us, because we have loved Jesus and believed that the Father sent Him.

And look at how Jesus tells us that we may do this. In this new situation that He has brought about for us, we ask “in His name”. That is, we ask the Father for whatever we desire in the authority of Jesus His Son, and by faith in Him, and in a way that’s in accord with what Jesus Himself would ask. As it says in 1 John 5:14-15;

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15).

That’s why we have the tradition—a very good one, I believe—of closing our prayers to the Father with the words, “in Jesus’ name”. But the Lord Jesus Himself wanted us to understand that our prayers wouldn’t then be answered only because He Himself brought our prayers to the Father on our behalf—as though we ourselves were not permitted to approach the Father’s throne. Instead, He said, “and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you …”

Dear brothers and sisters; think of what a rich blessing this is! We have a mighty heavenly Father who is rich and powerful beyond description! Nothing is too hard for Him! And because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross, we can now come to our Father in Jesus’ own authority—as much the Father’s own beloved children as Jesus Himself is the Father’s own Son—and ask for whatever we need. Jesus Himself died on the cross to make this a reality for us; and the Father Himself sent His Son to die for us so that we could approach Him with such freedom and confidence! What a Father we have!

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But let’s always remember that Jesus has not left us alone to approach the Father. He is still very much involved. As we see in verse 28, Jesus told His apostles, “ I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

And this teaches us one more change that Jesus has brought about for us; and that is …

3. A NEW ADVOCACY ON OUR BEHALF BEFORE THE FATHER.

When Jesus said that He ‘came forth’ from the Father and came ‘into the world’, He was speaking of His incarnation. Even though He existed in eternal glory as the Son of the Father, He willingly left the glory of heaven for a time in obedience to the Father, set aside His rights and privileges as the Son of God, became conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit, and was born among us as a full-fledged member of the human family. That was how it was that He could die on the cross for our sins and be raised from the dead in victory for our justification.

And at the time that He was speaking those words to His apostles, He was just about to accomplish that death on the cross for us. But notice that He went on to say that, afterward, He would once again ‘leave the world and go to the Father’. Having accomplished His sacrifice for us, He ascended again to the Father and sat down at the Father’s right hand in glorious victory. As it tells us in Hebrews 1:1-3;

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high … (Hebrews 1:1-3).

That place at the Father’s right hand is the place of highest authority and power. But do you know, dear brothers and sisters, what our Redeemer does at the Father’s right hand? He prays for us and intercedes on our behalf. He “always lives to make intercession” for us (Hebrews 7:25). He gave His all so that you and I could have an eternal relationship of love with His Father; and He continually advocates for that relationship before the Father—at the Father’s right hand.

You and I are far from the children of the Father that we should be. Jesus has brought us into a relationship with the Father that is as close and intimate as His own relationship with the Father; but we sadly fail to act like what we are. We stumble and fall and fail so easily … and so often! But as the apostle John wrote in 1 John 2:1-2;

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation [that is, the satisfaction] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1 John 2:1-2).

Think of it, dear brothers and sisters! The Father Himself loves us and accepts us through faith in His Son Jesus. But Jesus Himself also sits at the right hand of the Father to advocate for us, and uphold us when we fall, and to be an eternal declaration to the Father that our sins have been washed away by His own blood.

With the Son Himself for us at the Father’s right hand for us, just think of what a wonderful Father He now is to us!

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So; Father’s Day is a good day to remember our heavenly Father. And it’s a good day to remember what Jesus has done for us to bring us into that relationship with the Father. Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension have brought about great changes for us—giving us a new clarity in our understanding of the Father, a new liberty in our prayers to the Father, and a new advocacy on our behalf before the Father.

But let’s also remember that all of these things are only for those who have placed their trust in what the Father has sent His own Son to do for us. None of these things can be true for us in any other way than through faith in Jesus. So Father’s Day is also a good day to make certain that you have a relationship with the Father by faith in His Son.

Make absolutely sure that you have prayed to the Father and said,

“Heavenly Father, I trust in what Jesus did on the cross for me. And by faith in Him alone, I say with Him that His Father is now my Father, and His God is now my God.”

AE