Our Heavenly Father #8
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Discover how to move from faith in Jesus to the faith of Jesus and walk in your full inheritance as a child of God in this powerful series message.
Description
Our Heavenly Father Overview
In this eighth message of the Our Heavenly Father series, the pastor of NTC Ministries opens with a foundational truth: God did not build His Church merely for religious gathering or personal networking, but to draw His people into a genuine family relationship with Him. Drawing on Hebrews 12:2, John 5:39-40, Ephesians 3:14-19, 2 Peter 1:1-4, Galatians 4:1-7, Matthew 25:14, and 1 Peter 2:9, the message traces the believer’s journey from having faith in Jesus to walking in the faith of Jesus. The pastor illustrates how Israel’s leaders memorized Scripture yet missed the living Word standing before them because they clung to the letter rather than the spirit. A vivid analogy of a heavenly store where gifts are given as seeds requiring cultivation underscores that growth demands continual hearing. Personal stories from the pastor’s own life reinforce that perseverance through difficulty, in marriage, work, and church, always positions the believer on the threshold of breakthrough. The sermon concludes with a compelling call to glorify God for who He truly is: a loving, merciful, and generous Heavenly Father who desires to fill each believer with all the fullness of God.
Our Heavenly Father Outline
- 0:00 – Building the Kingdom: God’s True Intention: The pastor recaps the series foundation, explaining that Christ builds His Church not for religious routine but to bring people into an eternal family inheritance through grace.
- 8:30 – God Created Man to Express His Love: Drawing from the creation account, the pastor corrects the notion that God was lonely, showing instead that He created humanity to pour out His love in a family setting.
- 17:00 – Jesus the Mediator and Our Eternal Inheritance: Using Hebrews 9:15 and 1 Timothy 2:5, the pastor explains how Christ as mediator negotiates our access to the Father so that those who are called may receive their eternal inheritance.
- 27:00 – The Letter Versus the Spirit: Israel’s Fatal Mistake: Referencing John 5:39-40 and 2 Corinthians 3:6, the pastor shows how Israel’s leaders had grammar without grace, memorizing Scripture while refusing to come to the living Word for life.
- 36:30 – Rooted and Grounded in Love: Ephesians 3: The pastor unpacks Ephesians 3:14-19, revealing that being rooted in love is the pathway to comprehending the fullness of God and receiving all comfort, provision, and protection.
- 45:00 – Heirs of All Things: Galatians 4 and 2 Peter 1: Galatians 4:1-7 and 2 Peter 1:1-4 are opened to show that every believer is already an heir of all things, but maturity through continual hearing is required to walk in that inheritance.
- 54:00 – Glorifying God: The Key That Opens Everything: Romans 1:18-23 and Romans 2:4-5 are examined to show that refusing to honor God for who He really is darkens the heart, while glorifying and thanking Him opens the doorway to every blessing.
- 1:03:00 – The Parable of the Talents and Kingdom Participation: Matthew 25:14 introduces the parable of the talents, with the pastor explaining that the divine invitation to participate in the blessings of redemption requires active, faithful stewardship.
- 1:08:00 – Keep Hearing Until Breakthrough Comes: The pastor closes with a passionate exhortation drawn from 1 Peter 2:9: do not quit just before the breakthrough. Continual hearing is the simple but powerful key to transformation and fullness.
Scripture References
Hebrews 12:2, 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 9:15, John 5:39-40, 2 Corinthians 3:6, Ezekiel 36:23, Matthew 6:9, Ephesians 3:14-19, Galatians 4:1-7, 2 Peter 1:1-4, 1 Peter 2:9, Romans 1:18-23, Romans 2:4-5, Matthew 25:14
Key Takeaways
- God built His Church not for religious routine but to bring believers into a living family relationship where they can receive their full eternal inheritance.
- Jesus is the one mediator between God and man who advocates for mercy on our behalf so that every believer may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
- Continual hearing of God’s Word is the single greatest key to spiritual transformation, because it plants an incorruptible seed that grows into faith, strength, and freedom.
- Staying spiritually immature means living like a slave even though you are already an heir of all things; maturity comes through persisting in hearing even when it is difficult.
- Being rooted and grounded in love is the prerequisite for comprehending the fullness of God and walking in all comfort, provision, and protection.
- Glorifying God, honoring and rendering Him excellent for who He truly is, opens the heart to receive His goodness and leads the believer into complete repentance and inheritance.
- The goodness of God, not His wrath, is what leads people to repentance; seeing Him rightly as loving, merciful, and generous transforms both the believer and those around them.
Our Heavenly Father Notes
Mediator Who Brings Us to Inheritance
The pastor anchors the entire series in Hebrews 9:15, where Christ is called the mediator of the new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promise of an eternal inheritance. Just as a Roman apostle would negotiate terms of peace with a city, promising roads, hospitals, schools, and defense in exchange for joining the empire, Jesus negotiates on our behalf with the Father. He went through every human experience to become a faithful high priest, pleading mercy so that when He comes out, as the Old Testament priests came out of the tabernacle, He always has blessings to declare over His people.
The Danger of Letter Without Spirit
John 5:39-40 delivers one of the sharpest rebukes in Scripture: the very men who had memorized the entire Torah were standing in front of the living Word and did not recognize Him. The pastor draws a direct parallel to churches today that handle the text accurately yet miss the Spirit behind it. He cites 2 Corinthians 3:6 to reinforce that the letter kills while the Spirit gives life. Both the Word and the Spirit are necessary; all Word and you dry up, all Spirit and you blow up. Together they bring empowerment to live righteously and bear genuine fruit.
A Heavenly Store Full of Seeds
One of the sermon’s most memorable illustrations pictures a man who walks into a heavenly store staffed by a glowing angel. Everything in the store, love, joy, peace, strength, is free. But when the man requests a large supply, the angel hands him a small velvet sack and explains that inside are the seeds for everything he desires. It is up to him to plant them, water them, and keep giving them away. This story captures the sermon’s central tension: all things have already been given to believers through divine power, yet growth into those gifts requires deliberate, consistent action rooted in hearing and obeying God.
Heir or Slave: The Choice of Maturity
Galatians 4:1-7 teaches that an heir who remains a child differs nothing from a slave, even though he is master of all. The pastor uses the imagery of a Hebrew household where intimate family conversation stops the moment a servant enters the room. Servants receive instructions; sons receive inheritance. The moment a believer matures enough to understand the unconditional love of the Father, expressed by the Aramaic word abba, which means the one who knows the father’s love intimately, he moves from slave status to sonship and begins to access everything the Father has prepared.
Glorifying God Opens Every Door
Romans 1:18-23 warns that refusing to honor God for who He truly is leads to darkened, foolish hearts. The pastor defines the Greek word doxazo as rendering someone excellent with dignity and worth before all. Giving honor, whether to God, to a pastor, to a parent, or to a spouse, softens the heart and opens a doorway through which God can pour out blessing far beyond what the one honored ever possessed. Conversely, making Jesus a rock of offense by blaming Him for hardship cuts off the very life source the believer needs to overcome those hardships.
Persevere: Breakthrough Is Always Near
The pastor closes with a deeply personal testimony. For years the Holy Spirit pressed him about a specific area of his life. He resisted, but instead of walking away he kept hearing. Gradually acceptance replaced resistance, and one day he woke up to find the issue had simply ceased to exist. The Holy Spirit had cleaned the computer, so to speak, without requiring the pastor’s own strength. This is the exhortation of 1 Peter 2:9: you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, God’s own possession. Do not quit. The breakthrough, the maturity, the fullness of God, is always on the other side of the next act of faithful hearing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant?
Hebrews 9:15 explains that Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant by means of His death, which redeemed transgressions committed under the first covenant. His role as mediator means He advocates on our behalf before the Father, pleading mercy so that those who are called may receive the promise of an eternal inheritance. Just as a human mediator helps two parties understand each other, Jesus helps us see the Father’s goodness while representing us before Him.
How does continual hearing transform a believer’s life?
Romans 10:17 teaches that faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and this sermon develops that principle in depth. When a believer keeps hearing God’s Word even about areas of struggle, an incorruptible seed is planted that grows into faith, strength, and ultimately freedom from the very thing that seemed impossible to change. Transformation is not accomplished by willpower but by persistently allowing the Word and the Spirit to work together in the heart.
What is the difference between the faith of Jesus and faith in Jesus?
Having faith in Jesus is the starting point of salvation, looking to Christ as the author and finisher of our faith as described in Hebrews 12:2. Growing into the faith of Jesus means maturing to the place where you walk with the same confident trust He demonstrated on earth, knowing that what you declare in prayer will come to pass. This maturity comes through growing in the knowledge of God as described in 2 Peter 1:2-3.
Why did Israel miss Jesus even though they knew the Scriptures?
According to John 5:39-40, Israel’s leaders searched the Scriptures looking for eternal life in the text itself, but were unwilling to come to Jesus so they could have life. They focused on the letter of the law and ignored the spirit behind it, as 2 Corinthians 3:6 explains. The hardness of their hearts prevented them from recognizing the living Word standing in front of them, a warning that biblical knowledge without openness to the Spirit can become an obstacle rather than a gateway.
What does it mean to glorify or honor God according to this sermon?
The Greek word doxazo used in Romans 1:21 means to honor someone for who they truly are, rendering them excellent with dignity and worth before all. The pastor teaches that glorifying God means seeing Him accurately as loving, merciful, generous, and good, not as a wrathful judge waiting to punish. When believers genuinely honor God in this way, their hearts remain soft and open, allowing His goodness to lead them into repentance and full inheritance.
How can a believer know they are an heir of God?
Galatians 4:6-7 states that because we are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying out Abba Father, and therefore we are no longer slaves but sons and heirs of God through Christ. The word abba is an Aramaic term describing one who knows the father’s love intimately and unconditionally. Every born-again believer already possesses this status, but walking in the fullness of that inheritance requires growing beyond spiritual childhood through continual hearing of the Word.
What is the fullness of God mentioned in Ephesians 3?
Ephesians 3:19 prays that believers would be filled with all the fullness of God, using the Greek word pleoma which means completion, copiousness, or a multitude fully supplied. The pastor connects this to three Roman uses of the word: a census finding every house full, a cargo ship with every hold packed with precious goods, and a battleship with every station manned. To be filled with the fullness of God means having all comfort, all provision, and all protection fully operational in the believer’s life.
Why does the sermon say God’s wrath was fully placed on Jesus at the cross?
This teaching is grounded in the New Covenant understanding that all the wrath of God due to humanity’s sin was exhausted on Jesus Christ at Calvary. Jesus Himself said in John 10:10 that it is the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy, while He came to give life abundantly. Therefore the troubles nations and individuals face today are not expressions of divine punishment but consequences of refusing to hear God, and the remedy is turning to the goodness of God which, as Romans 2:4 states, is what leads people to repentance.
