WHY JESUS: THE FATHER 

THE PRAYER           

• Find a quiet space.             
• Breathe deeply and recognise God with you in this moment.             
• When you are ready, speak to God about this time together.             
• After you've finished praying, go through the following passage a few times slowly and thoughtfully (preferably out loud).
• Allow God to meet you in these words.

Lord, I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Be blessed, God; train me in your ways of wise living. I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from your mouth; I delight far more in what you tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches. I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you’ve done it. I relish everything you’ve told me of life, I won’t forget a word of it. Amen. Psalm 119:10-16 (MSG)

THE FIRST READING

Read this passage slowly (preferably out loud) as you allow God to meet you in these words. Pay attention to anything God might be highlighting as you do.

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 (NLT)

RESPONSE

Take some time to respond (write down, draw, pray, etc.) to God’s prompting in the first reading of the passage. What is he highlighting and saying to you through this?

THE SECOND READING

Read the passage again (slowly and preferably out loud) through the “lens” of what The Spirit highlighted in the first reading. Listen for anything else the Spirit might be saying.

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 (NLT)

THE REFLECTION

"This changes everything!” Those were the words that came rushing out of my mouth as I danced around the coffee table in my living room that night. I had been struggling with my faith for a while. I had some questions- questions like, “how could God just love us,” or, “what about my mistakes? I have made so many mistakes!”

I shared these questions with a friend who asked if I would be willing to talk about it. We sat for hours, pouring over a Bible opened on a coffee table in the middle of the room. Back and forth, he would assure me of God’s love for me; I would assure him of how unloveable I was, of how unloveable we all were and what that meant for our religious lives. Eventually, our conversation took us to a passage in Romans that broke through my doubting heart. 

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15 ESV).

Those words hit me like a freight train and in a moment the scales fell from my eyes. Suddenly I saw what before I could not imagine. The spirit cried out from within me, “ABBA FATHER!” and I knew that it was true. I knew I was a son, and God was my Father, and that the fear of my slavery mindset had been done away with in Jesus. This truth pulled me to my feet and set me to dancing in deep celebration.

What I’ve learned since then is that Jesus came, not so much to change God’s mind about us, but to change our minds about God. Jesus came to declare once and for all to a humanity in search of home that God is not what we thought He was. He is not distant, disappointed, or disinterested. 

God is not waiting on us to do enough or pull ourselves together before he offers Himself to us in love. God is a father. Better yet, he is The Father. God is not a cosmic reflection of the failed fathers so many of us have experienced, nor a divine improvement on the wonderful fathers many of us call dad, but something else altogether. God is a perfect fulfillment of our eternal longing for all that a father should be rather than our temporary experience of all that our fathers (good or bad) have been. God runs to us with open arms, greets us with tears in His eyes, and calls us into an eternal celebration where everything He has is ours. (Luke 15:11-32)

When we know this, really know it, we find freedom. Striving comes to an end as we enter into the easy rhythms of his grace, and gratitude propels our lives into action (Matthew 11:28-30).

That’s why Jesus. 

Because in all the spiritualities, in all the world, in all of time, Jesus is the one place where our maker meets us in the mess that we have made of our lives, calls us to His way, teaches us His truth, offers us His life, and leads us to The Father. 

As we come to accept His invitation, when the gravity of His goodness short circuits our skeptical souls, our lives ignite in worship, and day by day we long for His sweet presence in which we are changed. 

This is ground zero of learning to live the story- to know our God as Father and live wholeheartedly as his sons and daughters.