What Is It About Our Father...

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, October 16, 2011

            1 Peter 1:13-2:12, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”  And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.   Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because

      “ All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.  The grass withers,
      and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever.”
 

Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.  Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.  Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,

      “ Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious,

               and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,

      “ The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,”

  and

      “ A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.  Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

I appreciate your attentive response to the reading of that rather lengthy portion of Scripture.  It’s a passage that I would like to peruse with you this morning as we learn more about what it means to bring joy to our Father in Heaven.  Occasionally I will tell my children that I am most joyful as their father when they seek to align themselves with what I desire for them.  That relationship – I with them, and they with me – has its own dynamic, of course.  It includes, among other things, my preferences, what I like and dislike, and, certainly, it includes their will, or we might say, willingness, to do, to choose to do what Daddy wants.  Our relationships with one another, as father and children also includes our imperfections and glaring deficiencies, our sinful and oft-times, stubborn selfishness.  But, listen: as we seek to grapple with this concept of being ‘Abigails’, being children of our HEAVENLY Father, whose first and foremost desire and life direction is to bring Him joy and pleasure, listen, God our Father in Heaven ISN’T sinful, stubborn or selfish.  There are no imperfections or glaring deficiencies in Him!  In fact, everything about Him – everything – when we rightly and fully understand it, ought, rather, to draw us toward Him, and toward pursuing His joy and good pleasure! 

Perhaps one of the unanswered questions up to this point in our study, lingering in the back of your mind, has been: ‘What’s so great, so special, about God that I would even WANT to please Him and bring Him joy?’  ‘I mean, the only Father I know, really is mean and stubborn and selfish, what makes Him any better?

Great question, wouldn’t you say?  I mean, what is it, really, about this One we call ‘God’, our Father in Heaven, that would invite us, even incite and entice us, to bring Him pleasure?  What is it about Him that would make us want to be His ‘Abigails’?

Walk down through this text with me, will you, and let’s see if we can discover answer to these questions. 

Verse 17 - How many of you know what it means to have a favorite, what it means to say about someone, ‘He is my favorite’, ‘She is my favorite’?  All the parenting experts tell us that parents, when they play favorites with their children, can do some real damage to their children, both to the ones who are favored, and to the ones who are not favored.  Some of you, when I mention this subject, could tell us graphic stories of how favoritism on the part of your parents has affected you.  But, listen: if that is what is holding you back from seeking to bring joy to your HEAVENLY Father, take a look – verse 17 – what does it tell us about the nature of our God?  He is a “Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work…”  He doesn’t play favorites.  He doesn’t judge by outward appearances.  Rather, as 1 Samuel 16 indicates, He examines men’s hearts.

What a blessing, wouldn’t you say?  To be able to call upon a Father who doesn’t use superficial standards to make decisions about people.  But, listen, not only is that a blessing, especially if you’ve been one of the many who have not been ‘Daddy’s Girl’ or “Momma’s Boy’; it also is a fearful thing, a sobering thing, to realize that my Father in heaven knows me from the inside out, and, it is based on what He sees in here that determines His evaluation of me!

Why would I want to bring joy to my Father in Heaven?  Why would I desire to please Him?  1 Peter 1:17 – Because unlike so many earthly parents, He doesn’t play favorites!  Thankfully, and yes, SOBERINGLY, He judges me based on what He sees in my heart of hearts! 

There is a second reason, a second aspect to the nature of God, that ought to propel us to pursue His pleasure, and that is that He is a God we can trust, that He is a faithful Father! 

Take a look with me at verses 20 – 25.  Peter writes:

1 Peter 1:20-25, “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.  Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because

      “ All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
      The grass withers, and its flower falls away,
       But the word of the LORD endures forever.”
  

               Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

How many times has this father said something to his children, and then didn’t follow through with it?  I don’t know, but maybe kids have been keeping track…  How many times has this father, with all of his imperfections and glaring deficiencies failed to follow through on something he promised?  Speaking of sobering truths, Daddys, look at what verses 23 and 24 have to say about us, and about what issues forth from us: we are like grass, our seed is corruptible, perishable, our glory doesn’t last!  Who would want to put his hope or trust in us?! 

But, not our Heavenly Father!  He is a Faithful Father, utterly faithful!  His seed, His life-giving Word, is incorruptible!  It endures forever!  By the way, what does that tell us about the new birth salvation gift He gives by way of that imperishable seed?  He is a faithful Father!  What if He hadn’t been, on Easter Sunday morning, what if He hadn’t kept His promise to raise His Son from the dead?  Where would you be, if your God wasn’t – isn’t – a faithful Father? 

Why would anyone want to bring God joy?  What is it about Him, not about us, that invites, and I say, even incites us to bring Him pleasure?  He keeps His promises!  He is an always, eternally faithful Father!  Amen?  Amen! 

Impartial fathers, a father who doesn’t play favorites, that’s what our Father in Heaven is…  Faithful fathers, a Father who always keeps His promises, that’s what our Father in Heaven is… 

But, then, look with me at chapter two, verse three.  What else does the Scripture teach us about our Father in Heaven?

1 Peter 2:1-3, “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

I’m a father, six times over.  And if there is one thing that I’ve learned about little children is, that little kids make messes.  So do big ones, but in different ways.  But, listen: here’s the embarrassing thing to admit to you this morning.  More often than I’d rather admit, their messes have brought out the grouch in me!  ‘Why weren’t you watching what you were doing?’  ‘Why did you have to go and do that?’  ‘Didn’t I tell you that if you did that, you could expect this to happen?’  Too often, way too often, these children have had ‘Oscar’ for a father.  And what child would want to please an ‘Oscar’? 

But listen: 1 Peter 2:1-3 indicate to us that God’s attitude, our Father in Heaven’s attitude toward new born babes - messes and all – is not grouch but grace!  Peter, when he wrote these words, likely had in mind the words of the psalmist David, found in Psalm 34.  Listen to what David writes about his Heavenly Father, and about himself as God’s child…  “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!  Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!  There is no lack to those who fear Him!  The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing!”  (Psalm 34:8-10)

Why do children, God’s children, want to please Him?  What is it about this Father that spurs His children in the direction of bringing Him joy and pleasure?  Ask Peter; the cock-a-doodle-do man.  Talk about messes!  This foolish, prideful child practically SWORE that He would always be faithful to Jesus!  “Even if everyone else is made to stumble, yet I will not be…  [Jesus], if I have to die with You, I will not deny you…”  (See Mark 14:27-31)  Cock-a-doodle-do!  Three times, when faced with the wide-open door to declare his allegiance to Jesus, what did Peter do?  Like babies often do, he spilled the milk.  Like little children often do, he knocked over the lamp.  But what did Jesus do?  What did this One who is perfectly and eternally like His Father do, as He dealt with Peter’s childish messes? 

I don’t think Peter was merely writing good theology when he described the Father in heaven as gracious.  I think he was giving a personal testimony!  With tears welling up in his eyes, and a heart overflowing with praise to his Heavenly Father, Peter was describing himself when he wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His abundant mercy has begotten ME again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”  (1 Peter 1:3)

This man who spilled the milk and knocked over the lamp many more times than three, his heart’s desire, his fervent longing was to bring joy to the GRACIOUS, merciful Father who had gathered him up into His loving arms after each one of those messes!

Why would we want to bring joy to our Heavenly Father’s heart?  Because He is gracious, infinitely gracious, to mess-makers like we are!  Praise Him!

But, back to the first few verses of our Scripture text, 1 Peter 1:13-15, notice one more characteristic about our Father in Heaven, that ought to drive us to please Him and bring joy to His heart…

1 Peter 1:13-15, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”

Impartial Father, faithful Father, gracious Father.  That’s there, then number four, notice that Peter teaches us that it’s also God’s Holy Nature that evokes or ought to evoke in us the desire to bring Him pleasure.

What does the Word of God have in mind when it describes our God as holy?  At the heart of the Biblical concept of holiness is the idea of separation.  If you think about it, all that we have learn so far this morning about our Father in Heaven, about His impartiality, about His faithfulness, about His grace and gracious way of dealing with mess-makers, all of these tell us something about His holiness, but also all of these qualities, displayed perfectly and infinitely in Him, separate Him, set Him apart, from every other father, and from all other so-called ‘gods’!  Every other father, or so-called ‘god’ is, himself, a mess-maker, full of deficiencies, marked by imperfections, stained and thoroughly marred by sin. But not Him!  He, alone, is holy, holy, holy!  And that utter holiness separates us from Him!  “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts,” is the way Isaiah put it in Isaiah 6:5.  “Depart from me – leave me – for I am a sinful man, O Lord,’ is the way Peter put it in Luke 5:8.  But, listen: both of those men, both of those sinful, selfish men, guess what?  Drawn to the holy, holy, holy Father in heaven, were ultimately set-apart, separated not from Him, but BY Him, to bring joy to Him, to carry out His good, pleasing and perfect will.  How about you?

To be an Abigail.  To bring joy and pleasure to a Father, who unlike every other Father, doesn’t play favorites, doesn’t fail on His promises, and doesn’t treat mess-makers like Oscar.  Who wouldn’t want to live to please and honor Him?  Who?  Who?