God the Father

SERMON NOTES

We continue our series on The Apostles’ Creed this Sunday (2/15) by focusing on God the Father.  I’m excited to bring this message to our people:

This We Believe #3: God the Father
Sunday, February 15, 2026

Main Text: Isaiah 40:28-31

1) Meet God the Father

God is the everlasting LORD.
God is eternally Father to the Son.

“God’s loving fatherhood of his eternal Son is both the archetype of his gracious relationship with his own redeemed people and the model from which derives the parenthood that God has created in human families.” – J.I. Packer

God becomes our spiritual Father through adoption in Christ.

2) Trust the Almighty

God’s power never diminishes.
God’s power is perfectly aligned with His character.
God accomplishes His purposes while working through human freedom.

3) Believe the Creator

The creator/creation distinction defines reality.
Creation establishes purpose, ownership, accountability, and dignity.
Creation humbles us and directs us to Christ.

4) What does this mean for us today?

God’s fatherhood corrects our distorted experiences.
Renewed strength flows from resting in the Father’s heart.

SERMON MANUSCRIPT

Opening Illustration

The Bible does not ultimately divide the world between those who believe in God and those who do not. That

is how modern Western culture frames the conversation — believers versus atheists — but that is not how

Scripture frames it. The divide in the Bible is between those who worship the one true God and those who

worship false gods.

Why? Because everyone worships something. Every human being builds his or her life around some ultimate

reality — a greatest love, a highest value, a final allegiance. For some, that ultimate reality is religious in

nature – a different deity. For others, it is material — money, success, achievement, sex, power. For others

still, it may be something less tangible but just as ultimate — personal freedom, romantic love, inner peace,

physical pleasure, or new identity.

Whatever we say, “If I have this, I am secure; if I lose this, I am undone,” that is functioning as our god.

The Bible calls those substitutes “idols”, and idols always promise life but eventually produce

disappointment, disillusionment, and, if left unchecked, destruction. They are too small to carry the weight of

our worship.

The Apostles’ Creed confronts that reality and invites us to make a clear confession: “I believe in God the

Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” That confession anchors us not in a god of our imagination, not

in a god shaped by our personal preferences, but in the true and living God who has revealed Himself in

Scripture.

The Need

Just as we learned last week, if we misunderstand who God is, we will inevitably misunderstand everything

else about our lives.

If we believe in a small god, we will live anxious and fragile lives because everything will feel out of control. If

we believe in a harsh god, we will live in fear and feel the need to constantly perform. If we believe in a distant

god, we will live with quiet loneliness. And if we substitute idols for the true God, those idols will eventually

collapse under the weight of our expectations.Our faith, our formation, and even our salvation depend on knowing the true and living God as He has

revealed Himself. Let me say it directly: You cannot be saved by trusting a false god. You cannot be

transformed by worshipping something that is not real. We must know Him rightly.

Last week we looked at the triune nature of God — one in essence, three in persons, each fully divine: Father,

Son, and Holy Spirit. For the next three weeks, we are going to slow down and consider each person of the

Trinity individually, because knowing God as He really is matters profoundly for how we relate to Him.

Today, we begin where the historic Christian confession begins: we believe in God our Father.

Sermon Subject

We want to dig deep into the opening line of the Creed: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of

heaven and earth.” In that single sentence, we are given three profound truths about who God is — that He is

Father, that He is Almighty, and that He is Creator — and each of those truths reshapes how we understand

ourselves and our world.

Can you open your Bibles with me to Isaiah 40:28-31 and stand for the reading of God’s Word? The prophet

Isaiah speaks to a weary and discouraged people, reminding them in the midst of their exhaustion and

confusion who their God truly is.

TEXT: Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth.

He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding.

29 He gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless.

30 Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall,

31 but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength;

they will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.

Preview:

This morning, we are going to work through four movements:

1. Meet God the Father

2. Trust The Almighty

3. Believe the Creator

4. What does this mean for us today?

Sermon:

1. Meet God the Father

Isaiah begins by naming Him: “The LORD.” Notice that the word “Lord” is in all caps. That word in our English

Bibles represents Yahweh — the covenant name God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3 when He said, “I AM

WHO I AM.” This is not a generic deity or a philosophical abstraction. This is the self-existent, covenant-

keeping God who binds Himself to His people.When Isaiah asks in verse 28, “Do you not know? Have you not heard?” he is reminding Israel that this is not

new information. They have been taught who God is. Their problem is not ignorance — it is forgetfulness.

And spiritual discouragement almost always begins with theological amnesia.

Who is God the Father? What does the Bible and this passage teach us about his nature?

God is the everlasting LORD.

Isaiah calls Him “the everlasting God.” In Hebrew, it’s the phrase “Elohim Olam”

– the God who lasts forever.

That phrase anchors everything that follows. God has no beginning and no end. He does not grow into power.

He does not diminish over time. He is not subject to decay, weakness, or development.

When God revealed His character in Exodus 34:5–7, He described Himself as compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, and abounding in faithful love and truth. That is Yahweh. That is the everlasting God.

So when Israel says, “My way is hidden from the LORD,” Isaiah responds by saying, “You are talking about the

everlasting covenant God. Do you really think He has forgotten you?”

His eternality means His promises do not expire. His covenant love does not weaken over time. Let me say it

the way the New Testament does: God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. How is He the Father?

God is eternally Father to the Son.

When we confess “God the Father,” we are confessing something essential about who God has always been.

Before heaven and earth were created, before time existed, the Father loved the Son. Jesus speaks in John 17

of the glory He shared with the Father before the world existed and of the Father’s love for Him before the

foundation of the world.

This means God’s fatherhood is not reactive. He did not become the Father when Jesus was born in

Bethlehem. He has eternally been the Father. The relationship between the Father and the Son is not an

afterthought in history; it is the eternal reality at the center of God’s being.

J.I. Packer writes:

“God’s loving fatherhood of his eternal Son is both the archetype of his gracious relationship with his own

redeemed people and the model from which derives the parenthood that God has created in human families.”

Earthly fatherhood is derivative. God’s fatherhood is original. We do not project fatherhood onto God;

fatherhood flows from Him. God is not a reflection of our earthly father. He is the perfection of fatherhood.

If we want to learn how to be good parents, we learn from God the Father.

What does this mean for our relationship with Him?

God becomes our spiritual Father through adoption in Christ.

Because the Father has eternally loved the Son, and because the Son accomplishes our redemption on the

cross, we are invited into that relationship through adoption. John 1:12 tells us that those who receive Christ

are given the right to become children of God.Isaiah 40 is not abstract theology. It is deeply personal. The everlasting God is not merely Creator; He is the

covenant-keeping Father. The God who does not grow weary is the same God who binds Himself to His people

in faithful love.

To meet God the Father is to encounter the eternal source of love who invites weary sinners into His family.

So, God the Father is the everlasting, covenant-keeping God who adopts us into His eternal family and loves us

with an unchanging love. This is inspiring, but can God do this for all who believe in Him?

This moves us to the second word, God the Father Almighty.

2. Trust The Almighty

Isaiah continues in verse 28: “He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding.” Then in

verse 29, “He gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless.”

Notice the contrast Isaiah builds.

Even youths grow tired and weary.

Young men stumble and fall.

But God does not.

God’s power never diminishes.

Israel is weary in exile. They are politically powerless. They feel forgotten. And Isaiah lifts their eyes to a God

who never becomes faint or weary. The Latin word in the creed translated “almighty” is the word

“omnipotent” = all-powerful.

God does not experience fatigue. He does not burn out. He does not struggle to sustain the universe. He does

not need recovery time. His energy is not depleted by history.

Psalm 135 declares that He does whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth. Daniel 4 says no one can stay

His hand or question what He does. Ephesians 1 says He works all things according to the counsel of His will.

My favorite definition of God’s omnipotence is this: God cannot be hindered from being who He is or

accomplishing what He wills. How does this apply to his actions in history?

God’s power is perfectly aligned with His character.

When we confess that God is almighty, we do not mean He can act irrationally or contradict Himself. God

cannot lie. God cannot sin. God cannot cease to be God. He cannot do something nonsensical, like squaring a

circle, because such contradictions are not “things” to be done.

His omnipotence is always consistent with His holiness, love, justice, and truth.

This is important because sometimes people hear “almighty” and imagine arbitrary power. But biblical

omnipotence is not chaotic strength. It is sovereign, wise, holy power.Isaiah emphasizes that “there is no limit to His understanding.” His power is not blind force. It is intelligent,

purposeful sovereignty.

Trusting in God’s sovereignty is vital for our peace, joy, and hope. If God cannot accomplish His ultimate plan,

then we are destined for despair. But does this mean we don’t have free will?

God accomplishes His purposes while working through human freedom.

Isaiah (and the rest of the Bible) does not eliminate human responsibility. The people are still called to trust.

But their trust rests on the confidence that human rebellion, political empires, and personal weakness

cannot overthrow divine sovereignty.

God works through real human choices and yet still accomplishes His ultimate purposes. To hold on to biblical

truth, we must teach two things at the same time: human beings make real decisions that have real

consequences that we are really accountable for, and God is sovereign and will ultimately accomplish His

purposes on the earth.

And because He is almighty, Isaiah can promise in verse 31 that those who trust in Him will renew their

strength. The strength of believers is connected to God’s infinite strength. It flows from the inexhaustible

power of God.

If He were loving but not almighty, He might care but lack the ability to act. If He were almighty but not loving,

His power would terrify us. But He is both.

And that combination is what gives weary people hope.

We relate to God as Father, trust Him as the Almighty One, and believe that He is the Creator…

3. Believe the Creator

Isaiah says He is “the Creator of the whole earth.” The Creed echoes this: Creator of heaven and earth.

This declaration establishes the most basic truth about reality: He is Creator, and we are created.

The Creator–creature distinction defines reality.

He is infinite; we are finite. He is self-sufficient; we are dependent. He never grows weary; we collapse under

pressure. Verse 30 says even the strongest among us — youths, young warriors — grow tired and stumble.

Creation means there is a permanent distinction between God and everything else.

We are not divine.

We are not ultimate.

We are not self-sustaining.

And that distinction is not oppressive — it is liberating. Because if we are not God, we do not have to hold the

universe together.Creation establishes purpose, ownership, accountability, and dignity.

Because He created us, our lives are not accidental. We were designed. Our bodies, our minds, our capacities

— they are gifts. You are not a mistake.

Because He created all things, everything belongs to Him. We are temporary stewards of His world. Our

careers, our resources, our influence — they are entrusted to us, not owned by us.

Because He created us, we are accountable to Him. One day, we will stand before our Maker and give an

account of our lives.

And because we are created in His image, every human life has value and worth. The doctrine of creation

grounds human dignity in God Himself. No person is disposable. No life is insignificant.

Creation humbles us and directs us to Christ.

The confession that God is Creator confronts our pride. We are not autonomous. We do not define ultimate

reality. We respond to the One who made us.

And when we stand before Him, the question will not be whether we were impressive, but whether we were

reconciled.

On that day, we want to be in Christ, because apart from Him we are guilty before our holy Creator.

4. What does this mean for us today?

Isaiah 40 does not end with abstract theology. It ends with a promise meant for weary, discouraged people

who feel forgotten. Verse 31 says that those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength. In other words,

Isaiah is not merely giving us information about God; he is calling us to a response.

The everlasting God, the almighty sovereign, the Creator of heaven and earth, is not merely to be studied —

He is to be trusted.

Isaiah is calling weary people to stop anchoring their lives in substitutes and to anchor their lives in Yahweh,

the everlasting God who does not grow weary and whose understanding has no limit. This sounds good on

paper, but it is hard for many of us to do, primarily because our earthly father didn’t give us a great picture of

our heavenly father. We must know God correctly because…

God’s fatherhood corrects our distorted experiences.

I know this gets very personal, because for many people, the word “Father” does not immediately feel

comforting. For some, it feels complicated, painful, or even threatening. And that’s why the pastoral work

here matters: we have to let Scripture define God’s fatherhood, not our wounds.

Barie and I have talked about this many times, because Barie’s relationship with her earthly father was very

difficult. Her dad was in prison for drugs and for stealing money. He did terrible things that no father should

ever do. One of the most disturbing things he did was giving out her name and address to other inmates and

having them write letters to her when she was in high school. You can imagine how hard it would be for her tohear that God was her Father when she didn’t have a good picture in her mind of what a father is supposed to

be.

Your story may not be that extreme, but none of our fathers are exactly like God. Even the best earthly fathers

are still imperfect men with limitations, weaknesses, and blind spots. I am a broken father who has sinned

against my children. So the question becomes: what do we do when our earthly experience of fatherhood

makes it harder to trust our heavenly Father?

We don’t erase the pain. We don’t pretend it didn’t shape us. But we also refuse to let that pain define God.

We allow God to define Himself.

And Isaiah 40 is doing exactly that. Isaiah is correcting their distorted assumptions about God — that He

doesn’t see, doesn’t care, and won’t act — by declaring who He actually is.

So I want to draw out a few contrasts, because some of you need to hear these clearly:

• If your earthly father was absent, I want you to know that God the Father is present.

• If your earthly father was evil, I want you to know that God the Father is good.

• If your earthly father was inconsistent, I want you to know that God the Father is always the same.

• If your earthly father loved you based on your performance, I want you to know that God the Father

loves you for who you are.

• If your earthly father demanded perfection, I want you to know that God the Father extends grace and

mercy.

That is not sentimental talk. That is anchored in who God reveals Himself to be — the covenant LORD,

compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and faithful to His promises.

Don’t put your experience with your earthly father on God.

Also, don’t get stuck in repeating what your father has done.

Renewed strength comes from resting in the Father’s heart.

And that leads us back to Isaiah 40:31. The promise is not given to the strongest people. It is not given to the

most mature people. It is not given to the people who have it all together. The promise is given to those who

trust in the LORD.

Which means the invitation is not, “Perform better so God will approve of you.” The invitation is, “Trust Him.”

So hear this: you can trust the character and heart of God the Father. You can rest in His love for you. You can

stop performing for approval. You can stop trying to earn His acceptance, because the good news of the

gospel is that the Father has made a way for you to be His child through faith in His Son.

His arms are open wide to you. Remember the story that Jesus told about the prodigal son in Luke 15. After

the younger son makes a mess of his life, he decides to get up and return to his father at home. The most

amazing part of Jesus’ story is that when the Father sees the sons far of, the Father runs to him with open

arms. Jesus is teaching us something profound about God the Father in that story.I didn’t fully understand this truth until I had children. My heart as a father to my kids taught me how God the

Father sees me. I love my kids so much. I long for their good, for their joy and peace. I want them to do well

in life and experience all that God has for them.

But even more importantly, I want them to reach out to me when they mess up. When I took my kids to

college, I told them all the same thing, “if you get in trouble and you don’t know what to do, I’m your first call.

I will show up for you, no matter what.”

Our God is such a good father to us. When we mess up and call on Him, He shows up for us. He runs to us.

He covers us with grace and washes us with mercy.

Receive His offer and fall on His grace.

The everlasting God.

The Almighty One.

The Creator of heaven and earth.

And, through Jesus Christ, your Father.