A Father of Orphans

Psalm 68:5 ~ "Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation."

In over one hundred nations around the world there is a celebration. It goes by varied names and traditions, but the foundational element is the celebration of fathers. The grand distinction of fatherhood compared to other masculine endeavors is found not in the propagation of offspring, but in their care and development. Many men are hard at work, industrious, and disciplined. There are many men who are highly intellectual and can fathom great depths of knowledge. There are warriors, men who show themselves valiant against an opposing force. But fewer seem to stand with the courage needed to be a true father, one who cares for, instructs and disciplines his children. The father who embraces with godly love the child in their care has come to understand, in some small way, the magnitude of the Fatherhood of God.

And it is this Fatherhood that we will strive to understand. For God is revealed to those who have come to faith in Christ as--Father. Jesus our LORD has instructed us in this. In teaching His disciples to pray, the LORD instructs them in this way, "Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name'" (Matthew 6:9). And in our text today, we discover a grand love and tender care that truly exceeds all others and stands as the magnitude of what fatherhood should be.

Let us first consider the relational expression of God. He is known by many titles and wears many crowns of exaltation. He is LORD and He is King. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He is the Provider and Protector of His people. He is God, the true and only Deity. Navigate your way through the Scriptures and you will encounter the Almighty page after page. But you will not find Him more intimately connected to His people as when He is known as "Father." In John 20:17 we read, "Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Jesus did not say that He was departing to His Father and our Creator. He brings us into close and loving fellowship when He says to His disciples that God Almighty is also their Father too.

But how can God be also our Father? He is Creator of all things, and He will be Judge of all mankind. God can be our Father because He has determined to be so, as He is the Father of the fatherless. He has purposed to adopt all who come through Jesus Christ for the pardoning and cleansing of their sin. Ephesians 1:5 tells us, "He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will." He is not everyone's Father, but only the Father of those who believe on the LORD Jesus Christ for salvation. The Almighty is Father to those who belong to Him by faith. 

Beloved, before you came to Jesus Christ by faith you were an orphan. Bereft of hope and outside of the family of God, you wandered in this wicked world along with the rest of those who have no fellowship with God. But the LORD God, the Almighty, invited you in and placed you in His family, not as a servant but as a child of adoption. And as His child, He has fully vested His interest in you, for in Christ, He is now your Father. No wonder John proclaimed these tremendous words in 1 John 3:1, "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." 

Finally, God is in His holy habitation. And, dear ones, He will bring you to that habitation as well. You will not long walk this world, though it may seem like you still have many steps to go. Soon the LORD will take you to His palatial estates in glory and you will be enriched in all the wonder of His eternal and ever-present love. Jesus said that though He depart this world, He left for a purpose--to prepare a place for all who will believe (see John 14:1-3). He also said in John 14:18, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." We are not abandoned to this world. Jesus did not depart that He should leave us orphaned once again. We are adopted, and we have now an inheritance with all the saints. 

So, dear Christian, look to God Almighty and know Him in His most intimate revelation of Himself--know the LORD as Father. He brings with that title all the love and interest that it implies.
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In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

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