God is the ultimate Father and has chosen to invest His time, effort, and resources in us. We can never repay Him for giving us the gift of life and the opportunity to know Him as Father. He doesn’t expect repayment. What He desires is us—our love, our attention, our worship!
The story of the prodigal son perfectly illustrates God’s true motive for creating you. The younger son in the story grew up and wanted to experience life on his own, without his father’s input. He wanted to do his own thing and not have to answer to anyone. He didn’t want his father involved in his life. So he took his inheritance and went out into the world.
Luke 15:13-14
13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
In a short time, the son wasted the inheritance his father had given him. He ended up working on a pig farm. He soon realized that his father’s servants had it better than he did, so he returned home, ashamed and humiliated. He had a pitiful speech prepared to give his father on his return.
Luke 15:20-21
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
He was prepared to serve his father as a hired hand or servant. He realized he had wasted his inheritance, he’d made a mockery of the family name, he hadn’t gotten an education, he had no skills, and had wasted his opportunity to become something.
He was sure his father would reject him because of what he had done! But he misjudged the father’s love. The father didn’t want a businessman or a scholar, nor did he want his son to prove that he could make it on his own. The father wanted a son.
First and foremost, above all else, the father wanted a son!
Luke 15:22-24
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
The son misunderstood the relationship and put pressure on himself to perform or earn his father’s love, not realizing he already had it.
He had his father’s love not because of what he did, but because of who he was. The father was not nearly as interested in the son’s failures or successes as he was in having him home again. The father was thrilled because he got his son back and that’s all he ever wanted.
There was a turning point in my life when I realized I may not be the greatest, the smartest, or the most successful person who ever lived, but I can be a son! And that’s what the Father wants me to be above all else!
Your relationship with your earthly father may have been a very bad experience. There may be some reading this who don’t even know who their biological father is. Some may have been abused or neglected by their parents, maybe at a time in life when they needed them the most. These experiences are all too common in this fallen world and can drive people away from God. For them, even the thought of a Heavenly Father causes fear and anger, because their only example of a father was such a failure.
Please don’t let what a man on Earth has done rob you of the love of your Father in heaven. Earthly fathers are given the privilege and the responsibility to represent the Father God in the life of their children for a short time. They serve as earthly substitutes for the Heavenly Father—temporarily. Their primary job is to share with their children the love of a father and teach them how to relate to a father until the children are old enough to have a personal relationship with God, the true Father.
Since the fall of man, every human father has fallen short of the mark. None have proven to be the perfect father. Some have failed in this monumental task more than others. I’m sure every earthly father would agree that we have all failed in one way or another to fulfill role of fatherhood in our children’s lives. Many fathers are too young to grasp the importance of their role, and most have never been taught by precept or example.
Whether your earthly father was a good father, a bad father, or no father to you at all, you have the right to experience the love God has for you as your true and eternal Father. This is God’s will for every person on Earth. Don’t let past experiences rob you of the love of your Heavenly Father. He has never let you down or done anything to hurt you. His will for you is only good. Let God be your Father and define the love of a father in your life. We were created to be the children of God and there is nothing that fulfills in life like being what you were made to be.
God wants us to experience the best He has to offer, and not even the Angels have a relationship with God like we humans have! This special place in God is reserved only for human beings. Those who have been born again and accepted God’s offer of redemption through Jesus Christ become the children of God.
Another scripture that reveals God’s dream is in Ephesians 1:
Ephesians 1:4-5 (NKJV)
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
He chose us before the foundation of the world! He has had this dream for a long time! This proves that the universe is not an accident—it was planned long before it ever began. Everything God made, He made with us in mind.
Everything that you can see is here because of the love of God. The force behind all of creation is love. We are part of a love project. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world…” And He still does. He hasn’t changed His mind. He is in love with people and love is the reason for all of creation.
The next time you look at the stars above, the blue sky, the trees, the mountains, the ocean, or a beautiful lawn filled with green grass and flowers, remember it is all here because of love.
We tend to forget the bigger picture as life rushes on and we face the challenges that life presents. The good news is that the force behind everything that is, is love. Nothing will ever change that!
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