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<p class="lead">Through Jesus Christ, believers are welcomed into a loving relationship with God as their Father.</p>

<p>Some people think of God as distant or constantly disappointed with them. Others struggle with the word father because of painful experiences with an earthly parent.</p>

<p>We must not measure God by imperfect human fathers. Through Jesus and His Word, God shows us what perfect fatherhood truly is.</p>

<div class="scripture">
“I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

<h2>Jesus Makes the Father Known</h2>

<p>Jesus reveals what the Father is like.</p>

<div class="scripture">
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

<p>Jesus welcomed sinners, showed compassion, spoke truth, forgave the repentant, and confronted evil. His character reveals the Father’s holiness and love.</p>

<p>The Father did not need to be persuaded to save us. He sent His Son because He loved us.</p>

<div class="scripture">
“God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.”

<p>When you wonder what God is like, look to Jesus.</p>

<h2>Welcomed into God’s Family</h2>

<p>Through faith in Christ, we become children of God.</p>

<div class="scripture">
“To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

<p>We do not enter God’s family through good works or religious effort. We are received because of Christ.</p>

<p>The Bible calls this adoption. God does more than forgive our sins. He brings us near and gives us a place in His family.</p>

<div class="scripture">
“You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”

<span class="ref">—Romans 8:15</span>
</div>

<p>God remains holy and worthy of reverence, yet believers may approach Him with the confidence of beloved children.</p>

<p>You do not have to earn your way into His presence. In Christ, the Father has welcomed you.</p>

<h2>The Father Who Cares for You</h2>

<p>Jesus taught His disciples to trust the Father’s care.</p>

<div class="scripture">
“Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”

<span class="ref">—Matthew 6:32</span>
</div>

<p>God knows your needs, fears, and burdens. This does not mean He gives us everything we desire. A loving father provides what is truly good, even when his child does not understand.</p>

<p>Sometimes God removes a difficulty. Sometimes He gives strength to endure it. Sometimes He closes a path we wanted to take.</p>

<p>Sometimes He will do a miracle.</p>

<p>You may not always understand what the Father is doing, but you can trust that He is wise and never careless with His children.</p>

<h2>The Father Who Corrects You</h2>

<p>God’s fatherly love includes correction.</p>

<div class="scripture">
“The Lord disciplines the one he loves.”

<span class="ref">—Hebrews 12:6</span>
</div>

<p>Discipline is not condemnation. Condemnation casts away, but fatherly discipline restores and trains a child who already belongs.</p>

<p>God may expose our sin through Scripture, consequences, or other believers. His purpose is not to destroy us but to make us more like Christ.</p>

<p>When God reveals sin, do not run from Him. Run to Him in confession and repentance.</p>

<h2>Coming to the Father</h2>

<p>Jesus taught His disciples to pray:</p>

<div class="scripture">
“Our Father in heaven.”

<span class="ref">—Matthew 6:9</span>
</div>

<p>These words hold together closeness and reverence. God is our Father, so we come confidently. He is in heaven, so we come humbly.</p>

<p>You may speak honestly to Him. You can thank Him, confess sin, ask for help, and bring Him your fears. Your prayers are accepted because you come through Christ, not because you pray perfectly.</p>

<div class="scripture">
“Through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

<span class="ref">—Ephesians 2:18</span>
</div>

<p>Your relationship with God does not rest on your feelings. It rests on Christ’s finished work and the Father’s promise to receive those who belong to His Son.</p>

<h2>Resting in the Father’s Love</h2>

<div class="scripture">
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.”

<p>Other people’s opinions do not determine your place in God’s family. Failure does not turn an adopted child into a stranger. Loneliness does not mean you have been forgotten.</p>

<p>The Father sees you, knows you, provides for you, corrects you, and listens to you.</p>

<p>In Christ, you no longer live as an abandoned orphan trying to survive. You live as a beloved child learning to trust a faithful Father.</p>

<h2>What We Have Learned</h2>

<ul>
  <li>Jesus reveals the character and love of God the Father.</li>
  <li>Through faith in Christ, we are welcomed into God’s family.</li>
  <li>Our Father knows our needs and wisely cares for us.</li>
  <li>God corrects His children in love.</li>
  <li>We may approach Him with confidence and reverence.</li>
  <li>Our security rests in the Father’s love, not in our feelings.</li>
</ul>

<h2>What We Are Called to Do</h2>

<ol>
  <li>Look to Jesus to understand what the Father is like.</li>
  <li>Approach God in prayer as His welcomed child.</li>
  <li>Trust His wisdom when His answers differ from your desires.</li>
  <li>Respond to His correction with repentance.</li>
  <li>Refuse to measure God by the failures of human fathers.</li>
  <li>Rest in the assurance that, in Christ, you belong to God’s family.</li>
</ol>

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