Every time Christmas time comes my heart is moved. I get excited. And I think the reason I get so excited is because it makes me realize just how much Jesus loves me. He loves us. He SO loves you. And His love is so great it is like when He was on the cross He was saying, “I love you this much. I love you. I am going to die for you. Thats how much I love you son.” And He LOVES YOU JUST AS MUCH!! And having sons myself it amazes me how God sent His son to die for ME! To die for You! I can’t help but say THANK YOU JESUS. He came into this world and then He died and rose again so that we could have a relationship with Him so we could have what Isaiah speaks of as an everlasting father.
So in Isaiah we read that not only did Jesus come to be called your Wonderful Counselor, and your Mighty God, but He was also born so that you would have an EVERLASTING FATHER. What does that mean?
Well…The word father in the Hebrew scriptures is the word “ab.” Jesus said father in the Aramaic language which is Abba. And that word Abba can be described this way. If you were to go to Israel, and went to the Holy Lands and you went to see where Jesus walked, you would see the local families there and you would likely see some little children about the streets, standing right by their dad and they would look up towards their dad handheld their hands up and say “abba, abba, abba.” They say, “Dad. Daddy. Pick me up.” The word means our daddy. Abba is the most intimate term used for father and it communicates the warmest affection. So Jesus came into this world so you can have an Everlasting Dad. An Everlasting Papa, Everlasting Father. Your friend. And I share that because when I first became a Christian, I avoided God alot. Why? I was afraid of Him. I thought, “You know He’s got to be disappointed with me most of the time, because I know I am not living right.” And so when I first became a Christian, this is how I would pray. I would kinda approach God like He was going to whack me on the head. And its almost like I pictured God up in heaven playing a giant “whack-a-mole” game and I was the mole and whenever I would pop up and pray, I thought he was ready to come down on me. And so I didn’t think that God was my Dad, my Father, my Abba. I thought God was just this angry, mad God. And so I avoided Him. Like a lot of other people do. But let me tell you this. None of us live a perfect life? Can we all just agree to that? And we all make mistakes. And I am not saying that God approves of everything that you’ve done. He doesn’t. He doesn’t approve of everything I’ve done. But there is one thing that will NEVER happen with God as your Dad, and here it is…He will NEVER stop loving you. EVER. Because His love for you is unconditional. Which means that you don’t have to do anything to earn it. It’s unconditional love. It never stops. And that’s why Jesus said when you approach Him, He’s your Father. And you just pray, “Dad, how are you” And you can talk to Him like that. Our prayer is that every one of you would get soon close to this Everlasting Father that when you pray you just feel like saying “Hey Dad. Man I’m having a tough day. I am a little stressed about my situation. I need You” Thats the kind of relationship this Everlasting Father wants to have with you.
