Knowing the Heart of Our Heavenly Father
If we want to rediscover our identity in Christ, we must start with the right foundation: the Father. Before we fully understand what Christ has done for us, we need a clear revelation of who God is, what His heart is like, and how deeply He loves us.
Talking about the Heavenly Father is both a meaningful and significant conversation. That’s why this teaching is divided into two parts. This first part focuses on the Father’s love and true nature. Next week, we will build on that foundation.
Our Christian identity is inseparable from how we see God. If our view of the Father is distorted, our Christian identity will be distorted as well.
God’s Love Revealed: John 3
One of the clearest windows into the Father’s heart is found in John chapter 3:1-21. The context is important. Jesus is healing the sick, proclaiming the kingdom, and performing miracles. A respected Jewish leader named Nicodemus, a Pharisee and teacher of Israel, comes to Jesus at night.
Nicodemus recognizes that God is with Jesus, but he does not yet understand the deeper spiritual reality. Jesus tells him plainly, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
This confuses Nicodemus. Jesus explains that this new birth is not physical but spiritual—born from above, born of the Spirit.
Then Jesus makes a stunning claim: “No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”
In other words, true revelation of God does not come through human effort, religious status, or intellectual mastery. It comes through Jesus alone.
That is when Jesus speaks the words many of us know by heart: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Jesus is explaining the Father to a religious leader who thought he already understood God. The message is clear: God’s motivation toward humanity is love, not condemnation.
John continues: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
God saw humanity’s brokenness—its confusion, pain, sin, and separation. From the very beginning, God has loved humanity, and He continues to love humanity through every horrific evil and injustice in history. Because of that love, He made a way for redemption.
The Father’s Heart Is Redemption
Condemnation is not God’s heart. Redemption is.
Scripture tells us that Jesus is “the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Redemption was not an afterthought. God knew humanity could not save itself, so He planned from the beginning to restore us through His Son.
Peter writes: “The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
God is love. God is good. Even when we do not understand His ways, His nature does not change. Yet this love must be received. God has made the way through Christ, but we must choose to believe. Rejection of Christ is not God rejecting humanity—it is humanity rejecting the provision God has lovingly made.
Seeing the Father Through the Son
Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus makes something even clearer. In John 14:1-11, on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus tells His disciples not to let their hearts be troubled. He promises to prepare a place for them and assures them that they will be with Him forever.
Thomas asks the question we all ask: “How do we know the way?”
Jesus answers: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus is the way, the Father is the destination.
Then Philip says something profound: “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
Jesus responds: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
This is foundational. If you want to know what God the Father is like, look at Jesus. Jesus is not a softer version of a harsh Father. He is the perfect revelation of the Father’s heart.
What Jesus Reveals About God
When we read the Gospels carefully, we see what the Father is like:
• Mercy
• Grace
• Compassion
• Forgiveness
• Kindness
• Healing
• Acceptance
Jesus welcomed sinners. People on the margins were drawn to Him. The only group Jesus consistently confronted was the religious elite—those who used religion to burden and exclude others.
Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Religion heaps heavy burdens on people, but the Father does not.
This matters deeply for our identity. A fearful, judgmental image of God produces fearful, performance-driven believers. A loving Father produces secure sons and daughters.
Distorted Views of God
Many people struggle to believe in a loving Father because of theology, suffering, or past experiences.
One major theological challenge is the problem of evil—how can a good God exist alongside suffering? This question has caused many to lose their faith entirely. In theology, this issue is called theodicy. Scripture does not give us simple answers, but it does give us hope.
David wrote: “This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of all his fears.” (Psalm 34)
When suffering confuses us, we look to the cross. Jesus entered human suffering, bore evil upon Himself, and declared, “It is finished.” The cross reveals God’s response to evil—not distance, but self-giving love.
Another distortion comes from portraying God as angry and judgmental. Fear-based preaching may produce momentary repentance, but it cannot sustain genuine faith. Fear creates performance. Grace creates transformation.
Reconciliation Through Christ
Paul summarizes this beautifully (2 Cor. 5:17-21): “God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)
God has made provision for everyone—past, present, and future—to be reconciled through Christ. This does not mean all paths lead to God. Jesus is still the way. But it does mean that God’s posture toward humanity is one of reconciliation, not rejection.
If God is not counting people’s sins against them, we should be careful not to do so either.
A Father Who Loves His Children
At the core, every person wants the same thing: to be loved, accepted, and understood.
That desire never fades with age. The Father’s love is nurturing, protective, and always there. Through Jesus, we are invited not just to receive forgiveness but to live in God’s presence without fear.
Perfect love casts out fear. Because of the cross, we no longer approach God as criminals awaiting judgment, but as children welcomed home.
An Invitation to See the Father Anew
Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” That is our invitation.
When our view of God is shaped by Jesus, our identity becomes secure. We no longer strive to earn love—we live from it.
The gospel is not about fear, condemnation, or performance. It is about a good Father who so loved the world that He gave His Son. And that love changes everything.
Let’s pause and ask the Holy Spirit to show us if our view of the heavenly Father needs to change.
Holy Spirit, I ask you to reveal the Father’s true, loving, compassionate nature to me. Thank you, Father, that through Jesus, I can approach you and stay in your presence. Father, heal my heart of wrong ideas and past experiences I have had about you, in Jesus’ name! Help me grow in understanding your love. Help me experience your love and grace more deeply. Thank you!
