The Fatherhood of God #5

Fatherhood of God Overview

In this fifth installment of his series on the Fatherhood of God, the pastor builds on a foundation established through earlier messages on worship, drawing believers into a deeper understanding of who God is rather than merely what He does. Rooted in Ephesians 3:13-15, the message unpacks the Greek word Patria, meaning fatherhood, to reveal that the entire family of heaven and earth is named after and defined by this divine fatherhood. Moving through John 5:37-47, the pastor challenges listeners to move beyond an intellectual knowledge of Scripture toward a living, experiential relationship with God as Father. Drawing on the contrast between Israel, who only knew the acts of God, and Moses, who knew the ways of God, the sermon calls believers to pursue intimacy over information. Key passages from Second Corinthians 3 and 4 illuminate how, with unveiled faces, we are transformed into the likeness of Christ from glory to glory. Illustrations ranging from a granddaughter asking for peanuts to Smith Wigglesworth on a train car filled with priests ground these profound truths in everyday life, making the call to experience God as Father both urgent and deeply personal.

Fatherhood of God Outline

• 0:00 – From Worship to the Fatherhood of God: The pastor introduces the series context, explaining how a series on becoming worshipers led naturally into this five-part study on the Fatherhood of God, and why praise and faith are inseparably linked.
• 8:30 – Knowing the Heart, Not Just the Hand of God: A foundational distinction is drawn between Israel, who only knew God’s acts, and Moses, who knew God’s ways, anchoring the call to pursue relationship over transactions.
• 16:00 – Ephesians 3 and the Meaning of Patria: The pastor exegetes Ephesians 3:13-15, unpacking the Greek word Patria and its connection to fatherhood, and uses the Phillips translation to show that the whole fatherhood in heaven and earth is named after God.
• 24:00 – Jesus as Apostle Revealing the Father: Drawing on the Roman concept of the apostoline, the pastor explains how Jesus came not to condemn but to negotiate a truce, inviting humanity to surrender to the Father and receive everything the Kingdom offers.
• 34:00 – John 5 and the Danger of Intellectual Religion: An extended walk through John 5:37-47 confronts religious knowledge without relational experience, showing how the Pharisees searched the scriptures but missed the living God standing before them.
• 45:00 – Second Corinthians 3 and the Unveiled Face: The sermon moves into 2 Corinthians 3:13-18, contrasting the veiled faces of Israel with the unveiled faces of believers who are being transformed from glory to glory in the presence of the Lord.
• 54:00 – The Thesaurus Within — Treasure in Earthen Vessels: Second Corinthians 4:6-7 is opened to reveal that believers carry a thesaurus, a storehouse of divine treasure, and that growing in experiential knowledge of God causes that treasure to flow outward to others.
• 1:02:00 – The Heart of Worship and a Call to Experience: Closing with the story of Matt Redman and the origin of the song Back to the Heart of Worship, the pastor issues a passionate call for the congregation to pursue genuine experience with God above programs, performance, or routine.

Scripture References

Ephesians 3:13-15, John 5:37-47, Matthew 16, Mark 11:24, James 4:8, 2 Corinthians 3:13-18, 2 Corinthians 4:6-7, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Matthew 5:15, Acts 17:28

Key Takeaways

• God wants us to know His heart and His ways, not merely witness His acts on our behalf, just as Moses knew God in a way Israel never did.
• Praise offered in faith for things already prayed for positions us to see God move in our lives far more than repeated begging ever will.
• The Greek word Patria in Ephesians 3 reveals that the entire family of heaven and earth is defined by and named after divine fatherhood, making relationship the core reality of our faith.
• Religious knowledge of Scripture without a living experiential relationship with God is the same trap the Pharisees fell into when they rejected Jesus while knowing the Torah by heart.
• Every born-again believer carries a thesaurus, a divine storehouse of power, revelation, and life, that flows outward to others as intimacy with God deepens.
• The fruit of worship is revelation, the fruit of revelation is intimacy with God, and the fruit of that intimacy is the conception and birthing of the will of God in a believer’s life.
• Believers are called to let their light shine without dimming it to make others comfortable, because they were created to reflect the glory of God in a dark world.

Fatherhood of God Notes

Worship That Goes Beyond Singing

The pastor opens by reframing what worship actually is. True worship is not the performance of songs but the pursuit of knowing who God is. Using the contrast between Israel and Moses, he shows that Israel repeatedly cried out to God from need and received His acts, but Moses pitched a tent of meeting and sought God’s presence so consistently that he came to know God’s very ways. This distinction is the heartbeat of the entire series: worship moves a believer from knowing what God does to knowing who God is, and that shift changes everything about how faith is lived out day to day.

Patria and the Whole Family of Heaven

Central to the message is an exegesis of Ephesians 3:13-15, where the Greek word Patria, translated as family in most English Bibles, is shown to carry the specific meaning of fatherhood. The pastor uses the Phillips translation to demonstrate this nuance clearly: the whole fatherhood in heaven and earth is named after God the Father. This is not a generic family concept but a specific relational identity rooted in divine paternity. When a person gives their life to Jesus, their father becomes God Himself, and that reality, fully embraced, carries a liberating power that reorganizes every other relationship and priority in a believer’s life.

The Roman Apostle and What Jesus Came to Negotiate

One of the sermon’s most vivid historical illustrations draws on the Roman practice of the apostoline, an envoy sent ahead of conquest to negotiate surrender and truce. Rather than destroying a region, Rome would offer its military protection, infrastructure, schools, and civilization in exchange for submission. The pastor draws a direct parallel to Jesus, who came not to condemn the world but to offer the full resources of the Kingdom of Heaven to anyone who would surrender their life to the Father. Yielding to God is not loss but exchange: giving up the limited for the unlimited, the broken for the whole.

Searched the Scriptures, Missed the Savior

The walk through John 5:37-47 is a sobering examination of religious knowledge disconnected from relational experience. The Pharisees and Sanhedrin had committed the entire written Torah to memory, yet Jesus declares that they had never heard the Father’s voice, never seen His form, and did not have His word abiding in them. The information was there but had never taken root in their hearts. The pastor warns that this same danger exists for modern believers who accumulate theological knowledge without ever opening their hearts to an encounter with God. Scripture is meant to point to a Person, not to replace relationship with Him.

Unveiled Faces and Transforming Glory

Second Corinthians 3:13-18 provides the theological climax of the sermon. Where Moses had to veil his face because Israel could not bear the fading radiance of God’s glory, believers in Christ stand before God with unveiled faces. The veil is only removed in Christ, meaning only the born-again can truly see and experience what God is doing. As believers turn toward the Lord with open hearts, they are transformed into His likeness from one degree of glory to the next. This ongoing transformation is not achieved by effort or information but by beholding, by sustained, intimate exposure to the presence of the Lord.

Carrying the Thesaurus Into the World

The sermon closes with a powerful unpacking of 2 Corinthians 4:6-7, where Paul declares that believers carry a treasure in earthen vessels. The pastor reveals that the Greek word for treasure is thesaurus, a storehouse of words with meaning on every subject. Applied spiritually, this means every born-again believer carries within them a deposit of divine revelation, healing, wisdom, and power that is meant to overflow into the lives of people around them at work, at home, and in every ordinary setting. The call is not to dim this light but to stop containing it, letting the experience of God as Father spill outward as a natural, unstoppable testimony.

Frequently Asked Questions