Fathers Day, The Father s Heart Old and New
Relationship Malachi 4:5-6, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. Luke 1:16-17 (NKJV), 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Genesis 8:21 (NKJV), 21 And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, I will never again curse the ground for man s sake, although the imagination of man s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
Evil? Genesis 8:21 (NKJV), And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, I will never again curse the ground for man s sake, although the imagination of man s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. Evil, 2191a ר ע (raʿ) evil, distress; also adjective, evil, bad. The masculine noun raʿ often is set in contrast with ṭôb (good) as opposite poles of the moral spectrum. The essential meaning of the root can be seen in its frequent juxtaposition with the root ṭôb. Thus Moses concluded, "See I set before you today life and what is good [ṭôb], death and what is evil/bad [raʿ]. Evil, back to the tree of knowledge (Genesis 2:9)
God Genesis 1:1 (NKJV), In the beginning God What does this tell us of God? (ʾĕlōhîm) gods, God. ʾĕlōhîm comes from ʾĕlōah as a unique א ה י ם development of the Hebrew Scriptures and represents chiefly the plurality of persons in the Trinity of the godhead (see ʾĕlōhîm). God is a relational God John 1:1 (NKJV), In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.
Like God-Relational Genesis 1:26-28 (NKJV), Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
Relational Intimacy John 5:19-21 (NKJV), Then Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
Us the Same John 17:20-23 (NKJV), I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
One 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 (The Message), You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts limbs, organs, cells but no matter how many parts you can name, you re still one body. It s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain his Spirit where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.
One 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 (The Message), 14 18 I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn t just a single part blown up into something huge. It s all the different-butsimilar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, I m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don t belong to this body, would that make it so? If Ear said, I m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don t deserve a place on the head, would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.
One 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 (The Message), 19 24 But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into selfimportance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, Get lost; I don t need you? Or, Head telling Foot, You re fired; your job has been phased out? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way the lower the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?
One 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 (The Message), 25 26 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don t, the parts we see and the parts we don t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. 27 31 You are Christ s body that s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your part mean anything. You re familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his body
The Body 1 Corinthians 11:17-21 (NKJV), 17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord s Supper. 21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.
The Body 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 (NKJV), 27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord s body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
The Lords Supper 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NKJV), For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord s death till He comes.