In this episode, we delve deep into the essence of knowing God as our Father and the profound implications it has for our identity. Despite earthly father’s presence or absence, the need for a divine paternal connection is a universal yearning discussed with poignant detail. Through scriptural insights from John’s Gospel and Ephesians, Rabbi Schneider unravels this spiritual necessity, reflecting on how a restored relationship with God counters social ills and provides profound blessings.
Paul described that we were separated from God, alienated from God, and through regeneration, we’ve been brought into an experience not only with God, but with knowing God as our Father. I believe the most profound need that you and I have as human beings is to know God as our Father. I grew up in a home where my physical father was present. And in so many ways, he’s a good father and was a good father. And I would not be who I am today without God imparting to me through my earthly father. But even as a young person, I wanted so much more from a father. I remember as I wrestled going through school, I wanted so badly for my wrestling coach to put his arm around me and call me son. I remember wanting to go to military school because I craved discipline. You see, deep down inside, whether you’re a son or a daughter, we need to be affirmed by a father. We need boundaries in our life. We need to know that we’re protected. We need to know that our Father is strong, and Father God wants to provide all these things to each one of His sons and daughters. As I’ve said, if you were raised in a home where you had no father at all, or if you had an abusive father, or if you had a father that wasn’t present even though he was there physically, he wasn’t there emotionally or spiritually, I want you to know With God, all things can become new, and Father God can fill every empty space in your life and my life regarding our need for a Father. You see, Jesus said in the Gospel of John chapter 14, verse 18 and 26, these words. He said, “…I will not leave you as orphans.” I will come to you. But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” Right before Jesus went to heaven, he spoke to the greatest need that you and I have. He spoke to having what I’m calling an orphan spirit. He said, I will not leave you as orphans. What is an orphan? An orphan is somebody without a father. A father provides protection. A father provides identity. A father provides security. And Jesus said, listen, I’m going away. You won’t see me physically anymore, but I want you to know, He said, you are not going to be left alone. The Father is going to come to you. I am going to send you, Jesus said, the Ruach HaKadosh, the Holy Spirit. Did you know, beloved, that outside of Jesus everybody’s an orphan, and that before you were born again, you were an orphan in the greatest sense of the word? The book of Ephesians, chapter number 2, verse 1 through 6, described what happened when Adam sinned, and how it affected your life and my life, and how Adam’s sin made you and I orphans. Listen to this, Ephesians 2, 1 through 6. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Everybody that hasn’t been regenerated. We were living by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which are the sins that the devil tempted Adam and Eve left. The devil said to him, if you eat it, it’s going to make you like God. You’ll know good from evil. It’s going to be good for the taste. It’s pleasant for the eyes. This is the spirit that people are led by before they’re brought into a regenerating experience and before they come to know God as Father. Paul continues, among them, we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest, but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you’ve been saved and raised up with Him and seated with Him in the heavenly places.” You see, beloved ones, what happened is that when Yeshua came, He brought us out of this isolated experience in which Paul described that we were separated from God, alienated from God, and through regeneration, we’ve been brought into an experience not only with God, but with knowing God, praise the Lord, as our Father. In the book of Malachi, chapter number four, verse number six, we read that before the coming of the Lord, that Elijah would come, the prophet would come, and he would restore the heart of the children back to the father. Listen again, Malachi chapter four, verse six. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse. When John the Baptist came, Jesus pointed at John the Baptist and said, this is Elijah if you can receive it. In other words, the primary, one of the primary purposes of John the Baptist was to restore our hearts back to Father. He’s not talking just about earthly fathers there. He’s speaking prophetically. He’s talking about restoring our hearts back to Father God, and through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, making Father God’s heart active and experiential in our life. Because without a father, the land is struck with a curse. Listen to what Malachi said again. He will come and restore the heart, speaking of Elijah. And remember, Jesus pointed at John the Baptist and said, he is Elijah. And so through Elijah, pointing us to Jesus, our hearts would be restored to the Father because Jesus said, I’m the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. Jesus taught us and modeled for us how to live in relationship with the Father. So once again, he will restore the hearts of the fathers to the children. and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” Now, what does this mean where the Lord says here that through the restoration of our hearts back to Him and placing us in a position where we can walk in His fellowship through the cross, through Jesus, The land won’t be smote with the curse. What does this mean? Did you know that when you look in the prison systems, the percentage of those that are in prison that grew up in homes without fathers is astronomical? That whether it’s drug abuse, whether it’s teenage pregnancy, whether it’s criminal activity, you look at every social ill and the root of almost every social ill is the result of not having a strong father in the home. And so all these sins and all these abnormalities and malfunctions of society, the root of these things is not having a father. through restoring, beloved one, our heart back into a relationship with Abba, with Daddy, with Father God. The land is then freed from judgment because through restoration with the Father, through coming to know Him as Father, our life then takes on a fragrance that’s pleasing to Him rather than we would continue in the pattern that we just read about in Ephesians chapter 2, living in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life that brings judgment. And so when you and I are brought into a restored relationship with Father God, we’re brought into blessing. And every part of our life, beloved, then receives the blessing of Abba Father, just like John prayed, that we would prosper and be in good health, even, hallelujah, as our soul, praise His holy name, prospers.
SPEAKER 01 :
You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider, and he’ll be right back. But first, did you know that this program is available in Hebrew, Russian and Spanish? If you know somebody who speaks one of these languages, now’s your chance to share the blessing. To access the language version that’s right for them, just go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com and click the watch forward slash listen tab and choose an available alternate language channel right there. Do you want to be an instrument for God’s work on the earth? Well, join us as a new monthly partner and receive a handcrafted shofar that’s made in Israel. This instrument will announce Jesus’ second coming one day. And by supporting these teachings, you’re helping prepare the way for His return. So would you prayerfully consider joining us? Visit DiscoveringTheJewishJesus.com or partner with us by calling 800-777-7000. 7835. And now, back to Rabbi.
SPEAKER 03 :
Jesus’ mission was that He would die for our sin and that He would reveal the Father to us and bring us to the Father. Listen what Jesus prayed in John 17. We call John 17 the High Priestly Prayer because this is the prayer that that Jesus prayed before He went to the cross. And you could say that a person’s most weighty words are oftentimes the words that a person will speak knowing that their death is imminent. In other words, you’re going to communicate to your loved ones the deepest, most weighty matters of your heart when you have a last opportunity to speak to them before your impending death. And so when we come to John 17, Jesus knows he’s on the way to the cross. He’s about to be crucified. And so he speaks his most weighty words, beloved, to those that he loved. Listen to what he said in verse number 26. He says to the Father, I have made your name known to them and will make it known so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them. In other words, Jesus is about to go to the cross. He’s speaking the burden of his heart. He’s speaking the purpose for which he came and lived on earth for 33 years. He’s carrying now the burden that he had all his life that led him to the cross. And he said, Father, I’ve accomplished the work that you’ve given me to do. And listen to what he said. I have made your name known to those that you love, to those whom you’ve given me, to the ones that Jesus referred to as the Father’s sheep in John 10. And Yeshua said, and Father, I will continue to make it known. In other words, beloved one, Jesus got to the end of his life, and he had completed his mission. He was about to go to the cross, bring in the mission to the climax, but his purpose was to reveal the Father to us and to die for our sins, that he could bring us into a relationship with the Father. He said, Father, I’ve revealed your name to them, and I’ll continue to make it known. Once again, the name that he was revealing, beloved, was the name of Father. And Jesus taught us how to live in relationship with the Father by modeling for us what it means to be a son. Jesus showed us how to live as a son. And so we see the way that Jesus related to the Father. I encourage you to go through the Gospel of John and underline in John’s Gospel every time that Jesus spoke to the Father. And you’ll see how Jesus related to the Father. He lived his life to do the Father’s will. He lived in total dependency on the Father. His food was through the will of Him that sent Him. Jesus was totally in love with the Father, was totally humbled under the Father’s presence. I mean, He walked in total dependency and submission, and He lived for the Father’s glory. He showed us how to be a son. And Jesus is calling us, beloved, to in Him walk out this same lifestyle by the Holy Spirit. I’m going to the gospel of John now, beloved one. Chapter number 13, John chapter 13, verse number three and four. Hear the word of God. This is one of my favorite scriptures in the entire word of God. This was the last message that I preached in Bible school. Here’s the word of God. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, knowing who had given all things into His hands? The Father. He knew He had everything. You see, Jesus wasn’t living from a lack mentality. He wasn’t living from a scarce mentality. He wasn’t living from a poverty mentality. He was living from an abundant mentality, knowing, it says here, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given him all things. Now, this doesn’t mean that Jesus drove around, you know, on the nicest donkey in Jerusalem. It doesn’t mean he dressed in the finest clothes. But he knew that everything he needed for fullness in life, the Father had given him. That he was lacking nothing that pertained to life and godliness. And you know what the Bible says about us? That God has blessed us. The Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Father wants you to know that today. He wants you to begin to affirm it. Don’t live from a fear mentality, a scarce mentality. Live from an abundant mentality. The Father has given you all things. confess it, declare it, warfare into it by faith. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands and that He had come forth from God, He had an identity. See, when we know who our Father is, we’ll know who we are. When you and I see God in His glory, and we know that God is our Father, and we see Him in us, when we come into revelation of God’s glory, of the Father’s Son living in us and through us, you’ll know who you are. You won’t need all the circumstantial things, all the superficial things to put on a face of an identity that only lasts as long as you’re in a protected, superficial environment. No, you and I will come to really know who we are so that everything could be stripped away from us, our looks, our beauty, all of it could be stripped away, and we would still have a great self-image because we would know that we’ve come from God. This is what Jesus had. He wasn’t depending on a false face image. He was revelatory, understanding that he was the Father’s Son, and in that he was free. So knowing that he had come forth from God, And knowing that he was going back to God, not only did he know who he was, not only did he know that the Father was in him and he was in the Father, that the DNA that he had was the Father’s DNA, which is the same of you, every child of God. I break every curse right now and every lie that’s preventing you from knowing that you’re the son and daughter of the living God, that you’re a child and a daughter of the Most High God, that God’s your Father. I release revelation to you right now, knowing that he had come from Father God and knowing that he was going back to Father God. He knew his destiny. He knew his destiny. He wasn’t empty because he knew who he was and he knew where he was going and he knew that the Father had given him all things. He was free. And so the next verse said, knowing that in verse four, he got up from the supper, He laid aside his garments, and taking a towel, he girded himself and began to wash the disciples’ feet. You see, because Jesus knew he already had everything, which is the same for you, God his Father has given you everything that you’re going to need in life. It’s already there. When you need it, it’s going to be there. And Yeshua, knowing that he had come from God, he knew who he was. And I want to encourage you, keep praying, keep asking, keep knocking, Father, to reveal to you that you’re his daughter, that you’re his son, that you’ll know his DNA is in you. And Jesus then, knowing he was going back to God, he knew his destiny. He knew that this world was not his home, that there was something so much greater ahead for him. He had purpose and destiny. Knowing all that, he was free, beloved. Listen now, to be concerned about other people. You see, if we don’t know who we are, then all our energy is going to be spent trying to make ourselves somebody. We’re going to be competing with everybody else for a sense of significance. We’re going to try to take all the world has to offer to try to make ourselves, see ourselves as valuable. We’re going to be competing. There’s going to be strife. There’s going to be division if we don’t know who we are because we have such a need for significance that we’ll do whatever we need to do to try to feel significant. And for many, that involves beating up other people, you know, not physically, so to speak, but doing whatever they have to do to make themselves above others so that they can feel like somebody. But when we know who we are, we don’t need to do that. And so Jesus, knowing who he was, knowing where he was going, and knowing that the Father had given him everything, so he didn’t have to be operating in greed. He didn’t operate on a scarcity, fear-based mentality, take, take, take, take, because he was afraid he wouldn’t have it or would run out. He knew the Father had given him everything. He knew where he was. He knew where he was going. So as a result of that, beloved one, He was able then to focus on the needs of others. And so he girded himself with a towel because he was free. He already was full. He already had everything. He had identity and destiny. And in that state, he girded himself with a towel and he began to wash the disciples’ feet. Isn’t that beautiful? Father, God, Daddy, I pray for myself and for everyone right now. I want to encourage you, beloved daughter, child of God, son of God. Put your hand over your heart and let’s just ask Abba Daddy for this together. Father, God, Daddy, I come to you as your son right now in Jesus name. Or I come to you as your daughter right now, Abba Daddy, in Jesus name. I want and need what Jesus had. You said to me, Daddy, that you’ve adopted me as a son. You’ve adopted me as a daughter in your son. And now I ask that I would understand through the revelation of the Holy Spirit through your son, that I would understand that I’ve come from you, that I’m born of you, that your spiritual DNA is in me. Daddy, that I would understand that you have given me all things already. Everything I ever need in life, I already have. It will be there for me when I need it. That I don’t have to have any fear or lack. And that, Daddy, I’m going back to you. That, Father, like Jesus, that I would know that I’ve come from you. that You’ve given me all things, and that I’m going back to You. Daddy, I ask You to put Your hand on my heart right now and reveal this to me by Your Spirit through Your Son, that You would, Daddy, make me secure. Abba, Daddy, I want to thank You for loving me today. And I ask You to change my heart and help me transform my thoughts by Your Word so that I would walk in the fullness of this revelation. And Lord Jesus, I want to thank You for coming. and dying on the cross for me. Help me, Lord Jesus, to be like you, to become a servant because I’m free. Father God, I love you. Help me to start crying out like never before, Abba, Daddy, Father, thank you that you love me. I think one of the greatest things that the Lord is doing through this ministry is using Discovering the Jewish Jesus in a huge way in the earth to prepare the Gentile church and to equip them to share their faith with Jewish people. In fact, Paul said in the book of Romans that he magnified his ministry to the Gentiles because he said through Gentile believers, his own people would be reached. And so Gentile believers being equipped To share their faith with Jewish people is a huge part of God’s redemptive purposes. So I want you to know, every time you sow your finances into discovering the Jewish Jesus, you’re sharing, you’re sowing seed into good ground that is right in God’s redemptive strategy to prepare the world for King Jesus’ return. Maybe you’ve never presented an offering to the Lord through this ministry. I would humbly ask you today to open your heart to the Lord and consider doing so. And if you feel the Holy Spirit knocking at the door of your heart to move forward with this, just be obedient. And because of you, we’re making a difference.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. Thank you, Rabbi Schneider. And friends, if the Lord is leading you to financially support Discovering the Jewish Jesus with the gift of any amount today, give us a call at 800-777-7835. Or if you’d like, give online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And you know, Rabbi is serious about sharing the gospel of Yeshua, Jesus, the Jewish Messiah with Jewish people online. all around the world, but especially in the Holy Land. And that passion is at the heart of our Israel Awakening initiative. We’ve launched a Hebrew language YouTube channel that’s specifically designed to reach Israelis in their native language. It’s cutting edge and it brings Rabbi’s powerful messages directly in Hebrew to homes in Israel and around the world where people speak the Hebrew language. It meets them right where they are with the message of Messiah. And between our billboards in Israel, our digital advertising and our Hebrew YouTube channel, We’re seeing Jewish people come to faith in Yeshua. Thank you so much for helping us make this possible. And if you want to partner with us this year and help support it even more, I want to encourage you, visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Now let’s wrap up with God’s sacred blessing. Rabbi.
SPEAKER 03 :
In the book of Numbers, chapter 6, the Lord gave instructions to Moses and Aaron to speak this blessing over his people. And the Lord said, When you speak these words over my people, I will place my name on them and bless them. Receive the impartations of the Lord’s blessings.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, His peace. God bless you and shalom.
SPEAKER 01 :
I’m your host, Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us again next time when Rabbi Schneider examines the prayer life of Jesus. That’s coming up Tuesday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
