The Person of the Father: The Goal of Redemption Is Family

The Person of the Father: The Goal of Redemption Is Family


Scripture:
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”
— 1 John 3:1 (NKJV)


When we think about God, we often think of Him as our Creator, the Almighty God who made the heavens and the earth, who rules over all things and holds everything together by His power. And indeed, He is all these things.

But there is something deeply personal about how God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. He is our Father.

Think about that for a moment. The God who created the universe desires that we know Him, not simply as the Almighty, but as Father.

In Deuteronomy 32:6, Moses reminds Israel that God is their Father, the One who made them and established them. He is the source of their existence, the One who formed them as a people and faithfully sustained them.

And through Jesus Christ, we come to know an even deeper dimension of this relationship. We are invited into fellowship with God as His beloved children.

Fatherhood Is at the Heart of God's Love

What comes to mind when you hear the word father?

For some, it brings memories of love, security, encouragement, and belonging. For others, the experience may have been quite different.

But God's fatherhood is not defined by our human experiences. Rather, He reveals what true fatherhood looks like.

He is the Father who loves, provides, protects, corrects, and nurtures His children. His love is not distant or impersonal. It is a love that reaches toward us, draws us close, and invites us into relationship with Him.

The Apostle John could hardly contain his wonder when he wrote:

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1, NKJV)

Notice John's language. He invites us to behold, to stop and consider, the extraordinary love of the Father.

It is one thing to know that God loves us. It is another to grasp that He has loved us so deeply that He has made us His children.

And this is not simply a title we carry. It is a relationship we have been brought into through Jesus Christ.

The Goal of Redemption Is Family

We often speak about salvation in terms of what God has saved us from: sin, condemnation, and eternal separation from Him.

And rightly so. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have received forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

But have we considered what He has saved us for?

Ephesians 1:4–5 tells us that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world and, in love, predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ.

What a beautiful revelation of the Father's heart!

God's redemptive purpose was never simply to forgive our sins and leave us standing at a distance. Through Christ, He has brought us near and welcomed us into His family.

We have not only been forgiven; we have been adopted. We have not only been reconciled; we have been given a place of belonging.

Peter reminds us that according to God's abundant mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:3).

We are no longer strangers trying to find our way to God. Through faith in Christ, we have become His children.

And as His children, we can approach Him with the confidence that we are loved, known, and received.

We Belong to the Father's Family

There is something powerful about knowing where you belong.

So much of life is spent searching for identity, acceptance, and a place to call home. Yet in Christ, God has given us something far greater than anything this world could offer: a place in His eternal family.

In Ephesians 3:14–15, Paul bows his knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

He then prays that believers would be strengthened through the Holy Spirit and rooted and grounded in love, so that they might begin to comprehend the immeasurable love of Christ and be filled with all the fullness of God.

I find this particularly beautiful.

Paul does not simply pray that we would know more about God. He prays that we would be established in His love, that we would experience the depth of that love and grow into the fullness of the life He has given us.

This is what it means to live as children of the Father.

We are not trying to earn a place in His family through our performance. We belong to Him because of what Jesus Christ has accomplished for us.

And from that place of belonging, we learn to trust Him, walk in obedience, reflect His character, and grow in our relationship with Him.

Living as Beloved Children

I wonder how differently we would approach life if we truly understood God as our Father.

Would we still carry the same anxieties about tomorrow? Would we strive so hard for acceptance or allow our failures to define us? Would we approach God with fear and uncertainty, or with the confidence of children who know they are deeply loved?

Romans 8:15 reminds us that we have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, "Abba, Father."

What a privilege that the Creator of heaven and earth has welcomed us into such an intimate relationship with Himself!

This does not mean that life will be without challenges, or that we will always understand what God is doing. But it means that whatever we face, we do so as children who belong to a faithful Father.

The goal of redemption is not merely that we escape judgment, but that we are restored to fellowship with the Father and brought into His family through Jesus Christ.

We are His children, His beloved, and heirs of His promises.

May we move beyond simply knowing God as the Almighty Creator and come to know Him more deeply as our loving Father.

And may that revelation transform how we pray, how we live, how we love one another, and how we walk with Him each day.

For in Christ, we have not simply found salvation. We have been welcomed home.


Revisit the Teaching

If you missed this Equip Night teaching, or would like to spend more time reflecting on the Father's love and what it means to belong to His family, I encourage you to revisit the session.

Watch the recording here.

Review the presentation slides here.

My prayer is that as you revisit this teaching, you will come to know the Father more intimately, grow deeper in His love, and walk with renewed confidence in your identity as His beloved child.