Jesus is “.”
Everlasting Father = אֲבִי עַ֖ד “Avi Ad”
Lit.: “Possessor of Eternity”
Jesus is the King who treats His people more like than .
John 14:18 NIV
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
How Jesus is an Everlasting Father—
1.
John 6:35 NIV
I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Philippians 4:19 NIV
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
The number one way He provides: Through His .
3.
John 10:28-29 NIV
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
The one who holds eternity, holds .
Luke 13:34 NIV
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
3.
Hebrews 12:5-6 NIV
Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves.
“Don’t mistake meekness for weakness.” – James Byrd
Jesus is tender, and kind, but He has an expectation of .
John 8:31 NLV
If you keep and obey my word, then you are truly my followers.
4.
Colossians 1:18a NIV
And he is the head of the body, the church.
5.
Matthew 11:28 NIV
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
1 Peter 5:7 NIV
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Jesus is in it for the .
Question for Reflection:
In this Advent season, how can I better trust in Christ’s fatherly care?
“Behind this universe stands one God—not a great number of warring spirits, as we had always believed—but one God; and that God loves me.”
The Shepherds Carol
Seek not in courts nor palaces,
Nor royal curtains draw,
But search the stables;
See your God extended on the straw.
“Man’s maker was made man that he, ruler of the stars, might nurse at his mother’s breast; that the bread might hunger, the fountain thirst, the light sleep, the way be tired on its journey; that the truth might be accused of false witness, the teacher be beaten with whips, the foundation be suspended on wood; that strength might grow weak, that the healer might be wounded, that life might die.” –Agustine of Hippo