If He could He would - Happy Father’s Day devotional

15/6/2018

If He could He would - Happy Father’s Day devotional

It’s Father’s Day! To every dad reading this, I pray that today you will receive a greater anointing as a believer, as a husband, and as a father.

Let’s also take this time to honor our Heavenly Father Who has adopted us as His own children. We praise You Abba Father!

You know, in the past before I became a dad, I could not relate to our Heavenly Father’s love.

I was even thinking: “If the Father really loves us so much then why did He send Jesus to die instead of doing it Himself?”

I am ashamed to admit that I even thought it was cowardly of Him to send Jesus instead of coming to die Himself.
I was so ignorant at that time - praise Jesus that we don’t remain stagnant in our walk with God -
that we keep grow in the knowledge of God’s truths and ways.

In case anyone is having the same thoughts as I was, today’s devotional aims to show you the true heart of our Abba Father:

“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.” (John 12:36-41 NKJV)

Jesus is referred to as the “arm of the Lord”.

“Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? ... But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.” (Isaiah 53:1, 10 NASB)

When Jesus was scourged, humiliated and crucified, it felt to the Father like His own arm was crushed.

Jesus is a part of the Father and that is how dear Jesus is to the Father’s heart.
Make no mistake - it was much more painful for the Father to see Jesus suffer and die than to go through it Himself.

Our Abba Father's sacrificial, unconditional love far exceeds ours

“The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom [my son] safe?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all those who rise against you to do evil, be [dead] like that young man is.” The king was deeply moved and went to the upper room over the gate and wept [in sorrow]. And this is what he said as he walked: “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! How I wish that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”” (2 SAMUEL 18:32-33 AMP)

Absalom was one of King David’s sons. Absalom was an evil and ungrateful son, and he even tried to overthrow David’s regime.
Despite all the wickedness that was done to him, David still wished that he could have taken Absalom’s place in death.
That’s the sacrificial, unconditional love of a father.

My daughter Maeleth (2 years old) is suffering from a runny and blocked nose as I write this.
If I could take her place in sickness, without any hesitation I would.

However I know better that such declarations are not for us to make - God’s will is for all of us to be in health, not to sacrifice one’s health for another - Jesus has already paid the price for our healing!

“If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him.” (MATTHEW 7:11 AMP)

Whatever good traits we see in us, they are just tiny fragments of what is in God - the Father’s goodness is so much better than any of ours!

If we have a heart of sacrificial, unconditional love for our children, you can be sure that our Abba Father’s love is much deeper than ours!

If David being a mere mortal could love the wicked Absalom like that, i'm sure our Abba Father's love for the perfectly obedient Jesus is exceedingly much more!

So why didn’t He come to earth and die for our sins instead of sending Jesus to do it?

I believe that the reason is because He couldn’t.
If He left His throne and died on earth, the universe would probably descend into chaos because there would be no one sitting in the throne as God.

As the Righteous Judge, the Father had to be the One to pour out His judgment upon Jesus at the cross.
He had to be the One to resurrect the sinless Jesus from the dead.
He had to continue to sit in His throne and be God throughout Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection.

I believe with all my heart that if our Abba Father could come and die for our sins Himself, He would have done it.

As a perfect Father, He wouldn’t want His precious only begotten Son to come to any harm.
But He couldn’t do it personally, so He sent Jesus out of necessity.

We have such an unbelievably loving and good Heavenly Father. Happy Father’s Day, Abba! We love You because You first loved us.

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6 Comments

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Hi I’m Milton Goh, I'm 31 years old and i'm a blogger who writes about Christianity, Parenting, Life Lessons that I learn from Movies/Shows, and Lifestyle.

I independently compile and post New Creation Church and Pastor Joseph Prince Sermon Notes Online here on my blog.

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Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified Bible.

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Axl

5/8/2019 07:25:57 pm

1. Quote: "So why didn’t He come to earth and die for our sins instead of sending Jesus to do it? I believe that the reason is because He couldn’t.” / “I believe with all my heart that if our Abba Father could come and die for our sins Himself, He would have done it.”
Seriously?

God is sovereign and omnipotent. There is nothing He "couldn't" do.

For I know that the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
(Psalm 135:5-6)

I know that You can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
(Job 42:2)

2. Quote: "If He left His throne and died on earth, the universe would probably descend into chaos because there would be no one sitting in the throne as God.”

While no doubt there is a literal throne in Heaven (1 Kings 22:19/ Revelation 4:2-5), it is just ridiculous to think the Lord Most High have to be stuck on it to rule the universe. He rules because He is God and not because of a throne.

In any case, “throne” is mostly used as a metaphor for the God’s sovereignty.

Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
(Isaiah 66:1)

3. Quote: "He had to continue to sit in His throne and be God throughout Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection.“

Can you just explain exactly why God “had to”??

Milton Goh

5/8/2019 07:41:15 pm

Hi Axl,

Blessed day. When I say sitting in His throne, what I mean is: continuing to be the ruler of all creation.

Can you explain your point of view, why you think God the Father can choose to die for mankind Himself without all creation descending into destruction?

6/8/2019 01:39:44 pm

1. Quote: "When I say sitting in His throne, what I mean is: continuing to be the ruler of all creation."

Ok sure. Then I am fine with that. Just that it was not too obvious from your original post.

2. Quote: "Can you explain your point of view, why you think God the Father can choose to die for mankind Himself without all creation descending into destruction?"

Actually I don't need to give an explanation. I am not the one who tries to come up with a theory. If the Bible says the Son was chosen, it is good enough for me. I don't see the need to speculate things.

But since you are the one who said God "couldn't" (which is a big claim to make), then you need to explain how did you arrive at this conclusion.

7/8/2019 04:35:34 pm

So why do you say the Father "couldn't"?

7/8/2019 04:57:59 pm

I believe there is a reason that no one has ever seen God the Father in person yet.

“No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.”
‭‭John‬ ‭1:18‬ ‭WEB‬‬

I believe if He came down to earth, every sinner would be struck dead in His presence.

“You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,” ‭‭(Habakkuk‬ ‭1:13‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

“He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”” (‭‭Exodus‬ ‭33:20‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

If His intention is to save mankind, then He would just achieve the opposite of that by coming down to earth.

Based on God’s character revealed in the following passage, I believe that if the Father could save mankind by dying at the cross Himself, He would do so instead of sending His Son.

“Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured. It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]. Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].”
‭‭1 CORINTHIANS‬ ‭13:4-7‬ ‭AMP‬‬

He is not self-seeking, and would gladly bear and endure all things. Our Abba Father gives as much as He can.

Of course He could choose to come down to earth if He wanted to. He can do anything He wants.
But if His goal is to save mankind, then the best option He had was to send His Son.
If He came down Himself, all men would die without ever being saved.

8/8/2019 04:37:02 pm

Quote: "I believe there is a reason that no one has ever seen God the Father in person yet./‬‬ I believe if He came down to earth, every sinner would be struck dead in His presence./ If His intention is to save mankind, then He would just achieve the opposite of that by coming down to earth."

Firstly, you are saying as if Jesus is not God, and whatever attributes of God the Father somehow does not apply to Jesus.

Secondly,you are assuming IF God the Father was the one who came down, He would come in His spirit form. How can it be when we need a kinsman redeemer to redeem us?

If Jesus can take on a human body, why can't God the Father do the same? Is there anything that says He can't?