(Laying Hold on Eternity) Knowing God as Our Father — Zac Poonen

Laying Hold of Eternal Life

My subject for this weekend is laying hold of eternal life and I want to take three sessions on that. This is a phrase found in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 12 where Paul tells Timothy, and remember Timothy was not a new believer, he was Paul's finest co-worker.

In another passage in Philippians 2, Paul says, among my co-workers I don't have anybody like Timothy. He is the only one who really never seeks his own in anything and to this man Paul writes towards the end of Paul's own life, when Timothy had already known the Lord perhaps for 25 years, he writes to him in 1 Timothy 6 12, fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of eternal life.

Now most of us are believers here and we've heard the well-known verse Romans 6 23, the gift of God is eternal life. It's very dangerous when we use logic to try and explain scripture. When we, I know when I was a young Christian I was told what do you do with a gift?

Somebody offers you a gift, you take it and it's yours, you got it. Now if you apply that logic it was pretty stupid of Paul to write to Timothy to lay hold of eternal life and Timothy should have said I already got it, I got it 25 years ago.

I fear that many many Christians and perhaps many people sitting here have got a wrong understanding of eternal life. We base our understanding perhaps just on that one verse the gift of God is eternal life but there's a lot more to it than that and it's because we don't obey this exhortation to lay hold of eternal life that many Christians find their Christian life so shallow and very often a Sunday service like this becomes like a pep talk to revive them but the momentum they get here doesn't seem to last long and they're down in the dumps before next Saturday.

They need another pep talk. If you find your Christian life is like that up and down and up and down and revived occasionally by pep talks and Sunday services or in other meetings like that I'll tell you what you need you need to lay hold of eternal life you need to understand this verse and when Jesus defined eternal life he defined it in a very different way from the way we would understand it.

To many people eternal life means you live forever but people who go to hell live forever too but they don't have eternal life and not only them it says Jesus said even the worms in hell live forever the worm never dies he said so obviously eternal life those worms in hell don't have eternal life.

So eternal life cannot mean living forever. It must mean something else. What does it mean. The definition of eternity is something not something that never ends but something that never had a beginning and never ends a life that had no beginning and no end that's not your life or my life or any created life that's the life of Almighty God.

So eternal life is actually another expression for the life of God and that's what we need to lay hold of and Jesus defined it in John 17 and verse 3 in this way. And you couldn't get a better definition of eternal life than Jesus own words.

John 17 3 this is eternal life that they may know thee he was praying to his father that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent. So here is Jesus definition of eternal life.

It means to know God to know Jesus. And that's a very deep word to know. It's. It's used in the Old Testament to express the most intimate relationship between husband and wife. Jesus turns around to people in the day of judgment and says I never knew you to know.

You know there are many expressions we use to find out whether a person is a believer. We ask people are you saved. Are you born again. Are you converted. Have you accepted Christ. And all of them mean the same thing.

But I find that many of those words have lost their value. A lot of people say they are born again today. They don't seem to manifest any evidence of new birth. But I have over the years come to prefer to use the expression do you know the Lord.

Do you know God. Do you know Jesus. Do you know him as a personal friend who walks with you every day. Do you know him as someone on whom you can cast all your burdens. Do you know God as your dad. Jesus described people in the world who don't know God as father as orphans.

Knowing God as Father Rather Than as a Distant Deity

In John's chapter 14 he said these words to his own disciples. He said I will not leave you as orphans. An orphan is one who doesn't have a father. In the Old Testament people were like that they knew God as God Almighty.

But it was like knowing the CEO of the universe is no relationship to you. I mean you can work in a company for many many years and never meet the CEO even once. Probably very difficult to go and meet him.

You got to go through so many secretaries and so many levels of leadership before you reach the CEO. But that CEO's little son can go and sit in his lap without any making any appointment or any such thing.

He just walks in because he's his dad. That's the difference between Old Testament and New Testament. And when I say that many Christians are living as though it were still BC what I mean is they know God as Almighty the CEO of the universe.

But they don't know him as dad. And I'll tell you why. Because when you look at their life you find all the characteristics of orphans. See orphans are very insecure. They don't know who's going to take care of them.

They are afraid of the future. Are you a Christian and afraid of what will happen in the future. Well I don't want to make you feel condemned but I want to tell you you're an orphan and you don't have to be.

If you listen to the Word of God that you hear this evening you can completely pin and believe it. You can finish with being an orphan. You can know God as your own personal dad. You know when Jesus was teaching his disciples he said you know they once heard heard him pray.

We read in Luke chapter 11 that Jesus was praying somewhere and he was obviously praying audibly because they heard him and they found something different about the way he was praying. And they had spent 20 -30 years listening to the Pharisees praying their long monotonous prayers in the synagogue.

And when they heard Jesus it was so different here he was talking to somebody. He knew he was talking so intimately. And they turned around to Jesus and said Lord teach us to pray like this this is real prayer.

And then the first thing he said to them was in Luke 11 verse 2 when you pray the first thing you need to know is to call God your father. And that was revolutionary. I mean today we just take it for granted.

But remember that in the history of Israel nobody had ever dared to call God father. It was absolutely revolutionary. God was Almighty distant. You had to tremble before him etc etc. God didn't change.

But when Christ came to earth he brought us into a relationship with the father where we could call him dad and not just call him. It was not just a question of terminology it was a whole change of our relationship with him.

I've seen you know we have many orphanages in India and I've seen people who come out of these orphanages years later you can see these you can see their behavior when they are 30 40 50 years old and you see that they came out of an orphanage.

They never knew the love of a father when they were children. And so they you find them very possessive they they want people to be only their friends and nobody else's friends. They're very exclusive they're very insecure.

They are very they hoard things because they're afraid they may not. There wouldn't be anybody to take care of them tomorrow. And if you find you're a Christian like that that's the orphan syndrome. Now I want to tell you that the word of Jesus is I will not leave you as orphans.

He wants us to know our heavenly father as one who cares intensely for us one who loves us. He explained as much as he loved him in John 17 verse 23 I never get tired of speaking about this because this is what changed my life many years ago from being an insecure Christian always feeling inferior to others always trying to prove myself to someone who was completely secure who didn't have to prove myself to anybody in the world because I found God loved me as he loved Jesus.

That's one of the most amazing verses in the whole Bible. In John 17 verse 23 Jesus prayed that we may know if we have surrendered to him if we have given our life to Christ that we may know this that the world may know this that the father loves us as much as he loved Jesus.

This is an amazing truth. And I have preached this for 30 years now because it changed my life. And I'll never stop preaching it. And I'll never stop preaching it because I find that so many Christians still don't believe it.

They don't live as they believe it. I I've often thought about the story of D .L. Moody the great evangelist here in the United States over a hundred and twenty years ago or so. He took a series of meetings somewhere and for one week every evening his subject was you must be born again.

So there was one man there coming every evening hoping to hear a new message and he must be born again. And at the end of seven days he went up to Moody and said why do you always say you must be born again.

He said because you must be born again. That's why. So when people ask me why do you keep talking about knowing God as a father. Because you need to know God as your father. You need to know him as your dad.

I tell you it will change your life completely. And you need to hear that again and again until you lose all your insecurity all your fear and anxiety. Think of a verse like this Jesus said in Matthew 6 and verse 31.

Do not be anxious. How many Christians have you met in the world who even believe that such a life is possible in this world. Did Jesus give us impossible commands. I tell you you can know that life every day if you know God is your dad.

Fears. Do you know the number of times Jesus said fear. Not fear not ever. Don't fear don't fear. How many Christians have you met who are free from fear and anxiety. They say they have accepted the Lord.

They've said the magic words Lord Jesus come into my heart. I'm a sinner. And they've been told now God is your father and all that. But it doesn't seem to sink down. The Holy Spirit has come to show us God is our father.

Jesus came to reveal that the Bible says that no one had seen God at any time John 1 18. But Jesus explained the father to us his whole life was to demonstrate that God was a loving father. Once when Philip one of his disciples said Lord just show us the father once and Jesus said have I been so long with you Philip.

And haven't you known me. If you've seen me you've seen the father. In other words he was saying if you want to know what the father is like just look at the life of Jesus. That's how he was. That's how the father is.

And that's how Jesus wants us to know him. And that's what removes many things. You know jealousy of other people. Do you find yourself jealous. Jealousy comes because you feel that God has given that person more than me in a material in the material realm or spiritually or in any way.

I'll tell you something if you know God is your dad it will eliminate remove jealousy from your life completely. You'll never again be jealous of another person. It's true because you realize that your heavenly father made you exactly the way he wanted you to be.

And he made that other person exactly the way he wanted him to be. And there's no competition. There's so much of competition even among believers. I found myself like that in my early days as a Christian.

For many years after I was born again I found myself in competition. I wanted to prove to others that I was better till I knew God is my dad. And it went from my life completely. I'll tell you honestly I'm not in competition with anybody in the world today.

I'm just quite happy to be what I am the way. And it can be it can be like that in your life. The whole secret is knowing God as our father. Knowing God the father as our father and to lay hold of this means we get to know him more and more and more and more.

It's like you know when a little baby first cries out daddy yeah he's come to identify. This is my daddy. But you know as that child grows up he comes to know his father better and better and better and better.

That's how we're supposed to know. Until one day that little child himself becomes a father and then he begins to appreciate his earthly father much more. And this is how it is in our Christian life. God wants us to grow up to the place where we become spiritual fathers helping others the way he has helped us.

We're not supposed to be just attending meetings all our life and just receiving and receiving and receiving. We're supposed to be growing up. I mean if you've been a believer even for 10 years I would say it's about time you became a spiritual father to others.

Think of a difference it would make to the workload of many pastors and elders and many churches. If many people in the church became spiritual fathers that is God's will for us. There's a lovely verse in Romans chapter 2 which has encouraged me tremendously.

In Romans chapter 2 it's a little statement about God's nature. And if you understand the implication of this it's absolutely fantastic. It's a very simple statement which says in Romans 2 in verse 11 Romans 2 11 there is no partiality with God.

Becoming Like Christ as God's Children

Now all of us understand that there is no partiality with God. Think of a father now think of God as a father if you have children. And if you're a good father you will show no partiality between one child and another.

All will be exactly the same. If you have an inheritance to divide you'll divide it equally. You will treat each one exactly like the other. You will do for the youngest what you did for the oldest. That's would be a good father.

When it says God is there's no partiality with God. That's exactly what it means that he he'd do exactly the same for all his children. Now I want to show you the implication of this. The Bible says in Romans chapter 8 and verse 29.

Romans chapter 8 and verse 29 we read that way back in eternity God predestined those who would receive Christ as their Savior and Lord whom he knew by his foreknowledge who they would be. He predestined all of them to become like Jesus in their character.

And the purpose of this is so that listen to this is an amazing verse whom he foreknew. That means the ones whom he looked way into the future through thousands of years. And he saw you and me that sometime in the 20 of the 21st century we'd accept Christ.

He knew that millions of years ago. That's foreknowledge. And those whom he foreknew he predestined. That means he determined a destination for them. And that destination is not heaven. That destination is to become like Christ.

And the ultimate purpose of this is so that Jesus would be the firstborn or the eldest brother among many brothers. Now I don't know whether you know that when Jesus came to earth he was called the only begotten son of God.

God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son he had only one son. That's why it's called the only begotten. You know it's like if you have only one son you say that's my only son. But when you turned around to your son and say this is my firstborn son what does that mean.

That means you got other sons. Do you know that that happened at the resurrection. Do you know that the name of Jesus changed from only begotten son to firstborn son when he rose up from the dead. Why.

Because now God had other sons. And that's what he says here that Jesus is now the firstborn. And after the resurrection he is never again called the only begotten. I mean you can call your first son your only son as long as you don't have any other sons.

But once you have other sons you can't call him your only son. He's your firstborn. And that's the significance. This tremendous meaning to this the only begotten became the firstborn. And who are the others.

Is you and me. Believe it or not is you and me are to be the younger brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. It's so wonderful it's mind-boggling. I'll tell you that when you think of the implications of this and that's why on the day that Jesus rose up from the dead he called God his father by a special title that he had never used in his entire earthly life.

If you read the Gospels you'll see that Jesus always referred to the father as my father or sometimes your father when he spoke to his disciple your heavenly father knows what you need. Or my father so-and-so.

But after his resurrection we read in John chapter 20 he used an expression a title for God where he combined these two. And that's very significant in John chapter 21 when he met when Mary Magdalene the first person to see the resurrected Lord he said to her go to.

This is John chapter 20 verse 17. John 20 verse 17 he said stop clinging to me because I'm not ascended to the father but go to my brethren and say to them I ascend to my father and your father. Here was an expression that was never used before my father and your father because now I'm no longer the only begotten son.

I'm the firstborn. And that's the first time that he called his disciples my brothers. Earlier on he'd said who are my brothers. Those who hear the Word of God and do it etc. But when he turned around to his disciples in John 15 he said I call you servants.

Now I call you friends. But in John 20 after the resurrection he could say my brothers. We need to understand this. Now we come to that other verse we thought of there is no partiality with God if you're a father and you're a father without partiality you would do to for every one of your children what you do for your firstborn.

I sought to do that as a father myself because I tried to follow God's example. Now I want to say when you realize the implication of this that whatever God did for Jesus he would do for me and you. If he didn't he would be partial.

There is no partiality with God. It's amazing to believe that that he would care for me just like he cared for Jesus. That he would love me like he loved him. He would plan my life just like he planned the life of Jesus.

Isn't that amazing. It's really is to think that I've thought of this. For example that many times in the particularly in the Gospel of Matthew and in other places in the Gospels it says this happened so that the scripture might be fulfilled.

For example he was born in Bethlehem because it is written in Micah chapter 5 for 500 years before he was born that he had to be born in Bethlehem. He couldn't be born anywhere. He couldn't be born in Nazareth.

He had to be born in Bethlehem because that's how God's plan was there. And you know God would move Caesar out there in Rome to pass a silly order that all those who when a census is being taken everybody's got to go to the place where they were their hometown.

Now why do you need to go to your hometown to get a census. You're just counting the population. It's a crazy order. But it's because of that that Joseph and Mary moved and went all the way to Bethlehem because it was written 500 years before that Jesus had to be born in Bethlehem.

You know the amazing things God will do. He can move a Caesar to fulfill his scripture. What's written in scripture. And now what's the implication of that for you and me. He can move anybody on the earth to fulfill his plan for my life.

I don't know whether you believe it. I believe it with all my heart. I'll tell you this if you believe it it will remove so much of anxiety fear insecurity and so many things from your life. He'll care for me.

He cares for you. He cares for your children because he's a father as he cared for Jesus. You know that other place where it says Herod was scheming and planning to kill the babies in Bethlehem because he wanted to get rid of Jesus.

You think you can take God by surprise. Oh no long before Herod's soldiers came there God moved and took Joseph and Mary out of that place to some other place. And the soldiers came the nest was empty.

He had gone. I've experienced situations like that myself and I'll tell you when you serve the Lord you don't have to fear. You don't have to fear that. You know somebody scheming and planning evil against you like Herod and scheming to hurt you.

When he comes to hurt you he won't be able to because God has already worked out something to save you from that. You know these are the things that happen when we believe that we're younger brothers of Jesus that God is our dad just like Jesus.

The Father’s Delight and the Believer’s Security

He was Jesus dad. The word we find in where it says in Romans 8 that the Holy Spirit cries out within us Abba father. Now Abba is not an English word. It's a Hebrew word. And the correct translation of that into English would be daddy.

This is the word which little children say daddy. Have you ever looked up into your heavenly father's face and said daddy. I believe that many Christians have never done that. They don't believe that God looks at them with delight.

You know when it says in the book of Zephaniah. That's one of those wonderful Old Testament books which I would encourage you to read like many other books in the end of the Old Testament. Remember you're gonna meet Zephaniah in heaven.

And he'll ask you to read the little book I wrote. There's only three pages. You didn't take time to read it. And Habakkuk and Nahum and Micah. You're gonna meet all these people. You better read it before you get there.

I'm serious. You're gonna meet these people. They're all in heaven and you're gonna meet them and be highly embarrassing if you meet meet them. And you have to tell them. Sorry I didn't even know. You wrote a book.

Okay. Listen to this Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 17. The Lord your God is in your midst. Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 17. A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy. Just just meditate on that for a moment.

Don't move on. He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. And you look around. So you can't be referring to me. Must be somebody else. No he's referring to you. He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

Can you think of how Abraham picked up Isaac. I mean he had waited 100 years for a little child to be born. Can you imagine how he looked at Isaac. That's how God looks at us. The Bible says in Isaiah 49 and verse 15 God's not only a father he's also a mother.

See God is sexless. He's father and mother combined. That's why when he made someone in his image he had to make him man and woman. Otherwise his full image would not come through. That's why I believe we need to esteem women as equal with men.

Because the image of God is seen only in both together. And so God's we call God father. But he's got all the characteristics of a mother too. Because it says in Isaiah 49 verse 15. Can a woman forget.

Can a mother Isaiah 49 15 forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb. Even these may forget but I will not forget you. You know when God wants to speak about his love he the the best example that he can take on earth is that of a mother.

Because there's absolutely no love on earth to surpass that. It's totally selfless totally selfless. The mother's love for a child. And that's the example he uses. You know a lot of what the world calls love from the cinema screen is selfish love.

The man the boy wants something from the girl. The girl wants something from the boy. But when you think of a mother's love it wants absolutely nothing from the child. He just wants to give and sacrifice and do anything.

And he knows the child is going to create so many problems for it. But he still loves. And think of a woman was married for say 15 20 years never had a child. And then she gets a child. Can you see her face when she picks up that child which is just born.

Oh that's the type of way God looks at you. Can you believe it. He rejoices over you with shouts of joy. This is our God. You know many many Christians have always have got the feeling that God always looks at them with a frown oh you're not good enough.

He's always coming after them to catch them like the policeman flashing his lights behind. You know and you know you have to pull up but you're scared. And many people feel this God's coming after me.

I don't know what what I did wrong now. Or this feeling that you're no matter what you do you have the feeling you're not good enough. I remember when I was maybe 35 36 years old I've been a believer for 15 16 years but I had that feeling about God no matter how hard I tried.

I felt he was always saying it was not good enough. I think a lot of Christians feel that way. There's a lot of preaching that makes people feel like that now. And God gave me a dream I'll never forget it.

Rejecting Condemnation and Receiving the Father’s Compassion

And in that dream I was already in Christian work in the ministry I saw myself coming back from some tent meeting where I had preached and I I had tried my best to preach my heart out. As I was coming back to my room I heard a voice behind me in the dream saying you could have done better.

That wasn't good enough. And I was discouraged in the dream. And in the dream I said to the Lord I said Lord why is it. You always seem to say this word from behind me and I it's not good enough. And the Lord said to me turn around and see who's speaking.

And in my dream I turned around and it was a dark figure it was a devil and he ran away as soon as he was identified. And I learned something that day that God never says that think of your little five-year-old child wants to write a birthday greeting for you his dad on your birthday.

And he takes a piece of paper and tries to write happy birthday. The spellings all wrong. The P is crooked the other way around etc. And he comes and gives it. You wakes you up in the morning and says dad here's something I wrote for you.

Look at it say this is not good enough. Is that what you'll say. Is there any father who would say that you've got to be the devil himself if you want it to be. If you speak to a child who is trying to express his love to you do you think God is worse than that.

When you try to do something right. You messed it up. How many of us have tried to do something for the Lord and it didn't go right. How does God look at you. It's happened to me many times in your service for the Lord so many times we say the wrong thing or we are misunderstood.

We made mistakes. We bungled. And I see that I come to God and say Lord. I tried. I slipped up. I'm sorry. He always says forget it. Let's move on. I want you to know that God's a father. He's not a judge.

He's not a policeman. In the Old Testament they never knew him. Like this we read in the Old Testament that there was a one part of the temple that was blocked off called the most holy place. That's where God dwelt.

And there was a veil there and that was to teach people that you can't go in there. Nobody could go in there because you know people had sinned and until Christ shed his blood nobody could get into God's presence.

That's what he was trying to teach them. And so they never knew who was behind that veil. Was it a policeman. Was it a judge. They never knew. Till Jesus tore that veil. It says the veil was torn when Jesus died and Jesus explained it's not a policeman.

It's your dad inside. Go in and meet him. Go and sit on his lap enjoy him. Do you enjoy God. You know in my early days I never enjoyed God. I'll tell you it was a ritual. I had to read the Bible because I was told.

That's the thing Christians do. Get up in the morning and read the Bible for a half an hour. But I'll tell you how I have come to know God in these last few years. He's the most wonderful person in the universe if you knew.

If you really know him no one on earth can compare with him. He's so compassionate so understanding so mindful about the little things you know things that we can't share with anybody else we can go and tell him.

And he understands. I often think it's one of my favorite stories in the Gospels is Jesus dealing with a Samaritan woman. I never tire of talking about it. A woman who was divorced five times and now sleeping around with a man is not even married to.

I mean it almost sounds like 21st century but but this is first century from from a despised group. You know the the Samaritans were hybrids. They were not pure Jews. And the Jews would despise them so much they wouldn't even walk through that town.

Jesus, the Samaritan Woman, and God’s Welcoming Love

And here was Jesus caring for this woman because he knew that nobody cared for her. I don't know whether you know that in all eastern countries and this is true in the villages in India too women come to draw.

Well draw from the water from the well early in the morning because they need water right from five o 'clock in the morning for that day's work. Why did this woman come at noon. Because she must have been so teased and harassed by all the other women when she came with them at five o 'clock in the morning she decided I better go when there's nobody there.

She was an oppressed and you know she wanted probably to turn. I'm sure she wanted to turn from her ways. There are many sinful people many people who have messed up their life and who want to turn but they don't know what to do.

They don't know where to whom to go to. And Jesus was led by the Spirit to sit at that. Well at twelve. You know whenever I've read that story I say Lord please make me so sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit that when you tell me to go somewhere I'll go.

And when you tell me to stay somewhere I'll stay because there may be some needy person. You want me to read someone who's despised and misunderstood by everybody else. And Jesus explained the father to her.

And do you know that Jesus used that woman to bring a revival in Samaria which he couldn't use his twelve disciples for that's amazing really amazing. That's how God is. God is a father. He cares for us.

He's interested in every little detail of our life. And if only you knew that I believe it would change everything about your life in the future. It would make you secure it would you know it would make you stop being so critical of other people.

Because you see how compassionate God's been with you that you. It'll be very difficult for you to go around being critical of others. You may disagree with people. That people I a lot of people I disagree with a lot people I can't work together with.

But I say I'm not here to judge. God is their judge. Let me show you one verse in closing. It's in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament is speaking about the last days speaking about the time when the Antichrist is going to rule on the earth.