Part 2: Transactional vs Relational: Seeing God as The Heavenly Father, The Loving Father

Hebrews 11 reflects on many Old Testament believers who demonstrated good character and behavior and lived by the works of their faith, believing that the old (transactional) covenant would be fulfilled.  When the believer had faith in their faith to perform and behave, and believed that God is The Almighty Being, Lord, expectations would be met.

Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Galatians 3:14, Hebrews 10:38–39, and Galatians 2:20 all reveal how sons and daughters are meant to live by faith in Jesus Christ. This understanding is a pivotal step in seeing how God desires to relate to His children (sons and daughters) in this new season.

When we step into the body of Christ, we see that Jesus lived as a Son to His Heavenly Father. In the same way, God desires a relational connection with His sons and daughters today. The only way to truly know God is through His Son, as Jesus said in the Gospel of John 14:6, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

This reveals how God wants us to see Him as a loving Father, so that the new covenant can establish a relational relationship from an internal approach (Heb. 8:10–11), with God as a Father to His adoptive sons and daughters.

As sons and daughters, it is natural to look up to a father. In the same way, God wants His sons and daughters to look to Him for guidance, protection, and direction.

Some people were blessed to have loving fathers; others had absent or broken fragments of a father, and some individuals may have only had a male figure in their lives. Even then, there is a perception of what a father should be, often because the father was absent physically or emotionally.

This season, God wants to fill his sons and daughters with Love from The Heavenly Father. He wants to heal pain and wounds that the earthly father may have caused. In this season,  purpose is tied to this identity in God. This season is not about rehearsing the pain, nursing the wounds, or allowing the scars to prevent cognitive flexibility,  but seeing Him as The Loving Father.

Lean into Him through the faith of His Son, Jesus Christ, modeled throughout the Gospels. Make it personal. A relational relationship that a beloved son or daughter has with their Faithful Loving Father. The Holy Being of The Heavenly Father will internalize this relational relationship in the willing heart of a man.

“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, Abba, Father.’ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory…” “And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15–17 (NLT), Galatians 4:6–7 (NLT)

References

 Hebrews 11

 Romans 1:17

Galatians 3:1

Galatians 3:14

Hebrews 10:38–39

Galatians 2:20

John 14:6

Romans 8:15–17 (NLT)

Galatians 4:6–7 (NLT)