00:00Everlasting father. The room was silent. Heads were down. The mood was heavy. Finally,
00:16someone spoke. I've been playing football my whole life, but my father has never attended
00:22any of my games. The speaker was Milam, the toughest, grittiest, most talented football
00:28player on his high school football team. Then, with a shaky voice and downturned eyes, Milam
00:35asked with a tearful whisper, Why doesn't my father want to come watch me play? Why doesn't
00:40he love me? Why? Milam's heartbreaking declaration was shared at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes
00:47FCA meeting back in 1982. I know because I was there. When I was a junior in high school,
00:55my parents moved my little brother and me to a new school. This meant meeting new friends,
01:01trying out for a new football team, and doing my best to fit in. So, when God called me to
01:07approach the head coach about starting an FCA group with the football team, I felt overwhelmed
01:13and underqualified. Yet, the comforting assurance from my father helped me muster the confidence
01:19and the faith to take the role head on. Over the weeks and months that followed, I saw God
01:25do amazing things in that fledgling FCA group, including how he worked in Milam's life. The
01:31night Milam shared the story about his father, he was responding to the question that had been
01:37posed to the group, How is your relationship with your parents? After posing the question and
01:43applying some of the small group leadership skills I'd been taught by my father, I allowed the room
01:48to grow uncomfortably quiet. It was all I could do to remain silent and allow the Holy Spirit to
01:55begin to do his work. And it was then and only then that Milam finally shattered the silence and
02:02spoke about the rejection and pain he was carrying. You see, despite being one of the best players on
02:08the football team, Milam didn't see himself as the team MVP, all-district and all-state player that
02:15he was. He only saw himself as an unloved, unwanted nuisance who was undeserving of his father's love,
02:23time, and attention. If we're honest, most of us are just like Milam. We long for our earthly
02:30father's love, acceptance, and approval. Yet, for some of us, the Christmas season can be a difficult
02:37time. We may be missing our fathers who have passed away, and we might feel a sense of loss.
02:43Or, we might have never had the kind of father we wished for and feel a longing for that kind of
02:49relationship. These feelings can be tough to deal with, especially during the holiday season.
02:56It's no different in our spiritual life. In Isaiah 9 verse 6, Jesus is referred to as our
03:03Everlasting Father. However, it's doubtful Isaiah had the Trinity in mind when he described Jesus as
03:10our Everlasting Father. He was not suggesting that God the Son is the same as God the Father within the
03:17Trinity. The prophecy of Isaiah regarding the Messiah as the Everlasting Father can be better
03:23understood as referring to the fatherly and nurturing role that the Messiah would play towards
03:28us, highlighting the enduring care and guidance he provides. To understand the nature of God,
03:35one only needs to look to Jesus. Jesus is the perfect image of God and represents him, exactly.
03:42When Jesus, our Everlasting Father, came to earth, he showed us how to love one another.
03:49He filled us with the love of heaven so that we might reflect that love to others. And it is through
03:55Jesus that we can come to know the Father and enter into his eternal care, protection, and provision.
04:02In Jesus, we have the perfect leader, protector, and shepherd who embodies all the qualities of a
04:09loving Father. He will forever be Father-like to us, fulfilling every desire we have in a relationship
04:16with an earthly Father. When we accept Jesus as our Savior and Everlasting Father, nothing,
04:23not even death, can ever separate us from his love. Praise God, once we become a child of his through
04:30Christ, we belong to him forever. As we celebrate this Christmas season, let us take the time to
04:37thank God for providing us with eternal security through Jesus Christ, our Everlasting Father.
04:44Prayer. God, thank you that you are my Everlasting Father. Regardless of my relationship with my earthly
04:52Father, you are loving, kind, gracious, just, and good. Thank you that you will never leave me or forsake me.
05:00You alone are perfect. God, continue to work in me and make me look more like Jesus.
05:07Help me to love others the way you love me. In Jesus' name, Amen.
