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The Father’s Heart
Sunday 23rd August

Series: The Heart of God (Part 1)

Scripture:

“Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him. Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.”

— 1 John 3:1-3

Introduction

Thousands of years ago, a man named Moses camped in the desert, carrying the heavy burden of leading millions of stubborn people out of slavery into the promise land. He was tired, overwhelmed, and felt his human limits. In a moment of deep desperation, he looked up at the sky and made a massive request to the infinite Creator of the universe. He said, "Lord, please show me Your glory."

Think about the tension in that moment. How can a limited human being look straight into the power of God without being destroyed?

God looked at Moses and gave an amazing answer. He said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, but you cannot see my face, because no one can see me and live." Then, God did something incredible. He found a small hiding place in the side of a large rock. He placed Moses safely inside that rock, covered him with His own hand, and let His goodness pass by. Moses could not see everything, but he saw as much as God revealed to him.

When God wants to show His greatest weight and power, He does not just show off His muscles; He reveals His character. To see God's glory means to see His ultimate goodness, mercy, and compassion. In other words, God’s glory is simply what is inside His heart showing on the outside.

Today, we are starting a teaching series called The Heart of God. As limited human beings, we often stand exactly where Moses stood, asking: How can we know the heart of God? How can we begin to understand Someone who has no limits? 

The answer is we know him by the measure of what he has revealed to us.

The truth of the Gospel is that God has answered our cry. He did not stay hidden in the clouds. He placed us safely in the ultimate "Rock"—Jesus Christ—and came down into our world to show us His glory. When God reveals His heart, He does not look like a cold judge or a harsh boss. The ultimate secret of His glory is that He is a Father.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

John 1:14, 16-18 

This is exactly what the Apostle John is talking about in our text today, 1 John 3:1-3. He breaks out into praise and commands us: "Look at how great a love the Father has given us..."

For John, the Father's love is a live chain reaction. The Father pours His unconditional, sacrificial love into us. This completely changes how we see ourselves, and it helps us naturally reflect that same love to the people around us.

today, we are going to look at the three clear ways the Father’s heart is shown to us:

• First, through a New Identity. As Moses did, God’s love moves us from slaves to children.
• Second, through Action seen in the story of the Prodigal Son—a searching love that does not wait for us to clean ourselves up, but runs to rescue us in our mess.
• And third, through Correction seen in the story of Peter by the shore—a kind correction that never leaves us feeling guilty or cast aside, but heals our mistakes and gives us our purpose back.

Point 1: Revealed Through a New Identity

The Father’s heart is first made known to us by the way He renames us. John tells us to “look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are!” We are not merely citizens in His kingdom or servants in His house; we are His family. For those Israelites, this transition from slave to children of God wasn’t an easy one. It took more than a physical change of location, a change of mindset was necessary.

• The Spirit of Adoption: Moving out of the mindset of an orphan or a slave and receiving our true position as legal heirs to the King. Paul reminds us: “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” — Romans 8:15-16
• The Father's Intimate Knowledge: As children of God, we know who our Father is. He is not a distant, distracted ruler; He is deeply invested in the tiny details of your daily life. Jesus tells us: “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” — Luke 12:7
• A Secure Future and Inheritance: Because you are a child, your future is full of hope. You can stop worrying about daily survival and start resting in eternal security, entering into his promise and his rest. “So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” — Galatians 4:7

Point 2: Revealed Through a Sacrificial Action

But the Father's heart does not just give us a new name on paper. True love acts. It does not stay silent; it does something. A real, sacrificial rescue mission bridged the huge gap between our human limits and His divine mystery.

The ultimate picture of the Father’s heart is Jesus Christ—God coming in human flesh to show us His mercy, His sorrow, and His deep care in action.

• The Actively Pursuing Father: We know the story in Luke 15. Jesus tells of a Father who had two sons. One son wastes his inheritance on wild living and ends up starving, wishing he could eat the food scraps given to pigs. The other lives like a slave inside the father's house, not knowing or enjoying everything that was already his. Jesus uses the father in this story to show us God's real heart.

 God does not stand back waiting for us to get clean. When the prodigal son returns, He runs to meet us right in the middle of our mess, clearing the blocks that stop us from coming back to Him.“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” — Luke 15:20 (See the full Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32)

• Love Shown even when we were still sinners: this is shown by Paul who writes in the book of Romans that God proved His affection for us even when we did not have our lives perfectly together, but while we were still lost and rebellious.“But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:8
• The Ultimate Gift: Paul goes on to say that God held absolutely nothing back. He gave up His most precious treasure to make sure we could be brought into His family.“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” — Romans 8:32

Point 3: Revealed Through His Correction and Purpose.

When the Father runs to us and embraces us in our mess, He loves us too much to leave us there. This brings us to the final revelation of His heart—a truth that many people misunderstand.

To know the Father’s heart is to understand His core nature. God does not simply turn love on and off; love is who He is. Because His nature is love, His motivation toward us is always restoration, life, and freedom. This completely changes how we see His discipline. 

The Father’s correction is a kind but firm mercy—perfectly measured, full of purpose, and always for our ultimate good. He acts to clear away the toxic dirt of sin and failure before it blocks our destiny.

• The Proof of Being a True Child: Discipline is not a sign that God is angry or has abandoned you. It is the absolute proof that you belong to Him and that He delights in you.“The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son... For what son is there whom a father does not discipline?” — Hebrews 12:6-7
• “The Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father the son he delights in.” — Proverbs 3:12
• The Purpose of Correction: It is designed to bring a peaceful harvest of right living, shaping us to look more like Jesus.“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” — Hebrews 12:11
• Correction vs. Condemnation (Simon Peter's Correction and Purpose): When we fail, the enemy uses condemnation to make us hide in fear, shame, and a feeling of failure. But the Father uses loving correction to draw us close. 

We see this illustrated on the shore of Galilee, where Jesus met Simon Peter after he had denied knowing Him three times. Jesus did not attack Peter's character, nor did He ignore the mistake. Instead, He targeted the root of the problem with a specific, intentional correction. He built a charcoal fire—similar setting where Peter had stood warming his hands when he denied Jesus—and asked three times, "Do you love me?"

This direct, targeted question was painful for Peter; Scripture says he was grieved. But the purpose of this pain was to heal him, not to punish him. It was perfectly designed to pull out the hidden guilt and fix the broken relationship. The ultimate purpose of the Father's correction is never to push us away, but to give us our job back. With every painful question, Jesus attached a new command: "Feed my lambs," "Take care of my sheep," "Feed my sheep." 

The correction did not end Peter's ministry; it restored him, turning a broken man into a bold leader for the early church. Remember how Jesus spoke to peter at the time he was washing their feet, you are already clean because of the words i have spoke to you. (John 15.3). “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” — Romans 8:1 (Read the story of Peter's Restoration in John 21:1-19)

Conclusion

We started today by looking at Moses standing in the desert, asking a the question: "Show me Your glory." God answered Moses by hiding him safely inside the crack of a rock while His goodness passed by. 

Moses was only allowed to see as much as God revealed to him.

But look at how much more has been revealed to us today! We do not have to look through a crack in a desert rock. We are standing in the full light of the Gospel. Can we ask seek and knock and see more of the Fathers love revealed to us.

We see the Father's heart in the dad sprinting down the road to kiss his messy, broken son in Luke 15. 

And we see it on the shore in John 21, where Simon Peter's targeted correction was paired with an immovable purpose, completely swallowing his failures with a warm fire and a renewed calling.

We are God’s children right now. We have been given a new identity, rescued by a sacrificial action, and adopted by a God whose very essence is love.

The same God who covered Moses with His hand is covering you today. This great hope changes how we live this week, cleaning our hearts as we look forward to the day we see Him face to face.

(If time read Peter Marshal's story)

To him who has this hope purified himself as he is pure. The source of our purity comes from the knowledge of the fathers love.

The legendary Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall once preached a timeless message titled "The Keeper of the Springs." In it, he told the story of a quiet, old man who lived high up in the mountains above an alpine village. The man was hired by the town council as the "Keeper of the Springs." His single, silent job was to walk the mountain slopes, clearing away forest debris, leaves, mud, and silt from the cold mountain springs so that the pure water could flow cleanly down to the city reservoir below.

For years, the town flourished. The water was crystalline, the mills ran smoothly, the gardens were lush, and sickness was rare. But one day, a new town council took over. Looking at the budget, they noticed the salary of the mysterious old man up in the hills. They asked, "Why are we paying this keeper? He does nothing but walk around in the woods. We don’t see him. We don’t need him." So, they fired him.

At first, nothing changed. But as autumn came, leaves fell into the springs. Dead branches choked the pools. Silt accumulated. The water slowed to a sluggish trickle, turning yellow, brown, and foul. Soon, a dark epidemic of disease broke out in the village. The mills ground to a halt, and life began to wither. Realising their profound mistake, the town council begged the old keeper to return. He went back to the hills, cleared the blocked channels, and soon, pure life-giving water flowed back into the valley.

Peter Marshall used this story to illustrate that the most critical things in life are often unseen, operating quietly at the source. Today, many of us are struggling downstream in our lives. We are battling anxiety, shame, and a sense of spiritual dryness. Why? Because we have neglected the Spring. We have forgotten the source of our life and our identity. The Apostle John tells us that the ultimate source, the pure spring of everything we are, is the Father's heart. When the source is clear, everything changes.

Prayer

Father, thank You for Your immense, searching heart. Thank You that You do not leave us as orphans or slaves, but You call us Your children. As we begin this new series, clear out any fear of condemnation, guilt, or failure from our hearts. Help us to rest in Your purposeful correction, knowing it flows from Your perfect love and delight. Let Your love fill us so deeply that it overflows to the people around us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Action / Response

• Exchange Condemnation for Purposeful Correction: This week, think about the stories in Luke 15 and John 21. Identify one area where you are carrying guilt, shame, or a feeling of failure. Hand it over to the Father. Trade the heavy, isolating voice of shame for His gentle, restoring correction that points you back to your purpose.
• Live as a Child, Not a Slave: Practice speaking to God this week like a child talking to a loving parent. Intentionally let go of the pressure to perform for His approval, and rest in the truth that you are already loved.