Articles
God, Our Father
In every one of the letters written by the apostle Paul, he includes a blessing from “God our Father” (Ex. 1 Tim. 1:2) or “God the Father” (Ex. 2 Tim 1:2). It seems the apostle Paul was one who saw his relationships to God and Jesus the Christ as noteworthy, for he introduced himself to the intended audience each time in this way. This seems to indicate, by virtue of its use in every letter’s greeting, that it was of some importance to him. Seeing God as “our Father” should be important to us and every disciple, too!
For many who do not know God, or who only know Him superficially, God is often illustrated to the world as authoritative and stern — sometimes even uncaring, distant, mean, capricious, and cruel. But this view of God can only be held by those who do not truly know Him. Throughout the New Testament, God is portrayed as the Father of all believers [Christians] and disciples as His children (Ex. 1 John 3:1). If we do not know God, or know Him very well, we may think that a strange designation to use for the Creator of all things, and the all-powerful, all-knowing Deity, but it is most certainly fitting. God is certainly all-powerful, but He is also love (1 John 4:8).
God, as our Father, reveals a relationship that cannot be expressed by knowing Him only as Creator, Judge, King, or Almighty. With the term “Father” comes certain characteristics of God, too, that define that relationship and His care for those who are called His children — even more so than mankind, in general, as His creation. Let us consider some of what He does for us, His children, that reveal and demonstrate that Father-child relationship.
He Teaches Us. The psalmist once asked of the Father, “Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me” (Psa. 25:4, 5), and he asked because he knew the Father would grant him that request. He would later tell us the Heavenly Father is “Good and upright… therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way” (Psa. 25:8, 9). As a father would teach the child because he is wiser, so our Heavenly Father teaches us because His wisdom and knowledge is beyond measure.
But then we might ask, “How does He teach us?” our Heavenly Father does not teach us directly, as some now say. Even in the first century, when the gospel had not yet gone into all the world, Paul reminded those in Corinth, “we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory… God has revealed them to us through His Spirit… we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Cor. 2:6-10). He would tell those in Ephesus that the words he had written to them “He made known to me the mystery…now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets” (Eph. 3:3-5). God’s teaching was done by the Holy Spirit, to the apostles and prophets, who then revealed it to others by either speaking or writing. It is His words we now have in written form, for our good.
He Provides for Us. And, as any earthly father would do for his children, God provides for the needs of His children, whether it be physical needs [food and clothing] or spiritual needs [grace, mercy, and forgiveness]. And as we might expect, His blessings are of much greater value. Jesus pointed to the habit of those of the world, where men worry about what they will eat or drink or wear, and then comforted us by reminding us, “your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” He then reminds us to get our priority straight, admonishing us, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:31-33), He had earlier noted, “your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matt. 6:8). God provides our every physical and material need.
While these physical needs are welcome, there is no greater provision of our heavenly Father than our spiritual needs. The psalmist long ago noted this blessing, saying, “As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them” (Psa. 65:3). He is right, of course, 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). Simply put, there is no spiritual need we have that God has not provided. As Paul put it, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). Indeed, all spiritual blessings have been given to us, in Christ (Eph. 1:3), and we lack for nothing.
He Hears Us. As with our earthly fathers, too, our heavenly Father listens to us when we call on Him. When God spoke to Moses as He was about to send him to Egypt to bring out the Israelites, He told Moses, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows” (Exod. 3:7). This is the case with all God’s people, for as the psalmist wrote, “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Psa. 34:17). The wise writer put it plainly: “The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous” (Prov. 15:29).
This is not to say our heavenly Father hears and gives us whatever we want; God is not an endless source of blessings, but a Father who hears as one who cares for us. John reminds us, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14, 15).
He Corrects Us. And, like our earthly fathers, God also corrects His children as proof of His love for us. Of course, we may not like His chastening for the moment, but it, too, is for our good. The wise writer tells us, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; for whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights” (Prov. 3:11, 12). While we might not think of correction as ‘love,’ it is. Along with this thought, Jesus told the church of Laodicea, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Rev. 3:19).
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that the punishment and correction is, for the time, unpleasant: “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:11). But Paul also reminds us, “when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32, ESV). I am sure we would all agree that momentary discipline is much more tolerable than eternal condemnation!
How do you see God? How well do you know God? If He is, to you, just a mean, unloving, and distant being who really gives you no comfort or peace of mind, then it is certain you do not know God for who He truly is and what he desires for you. Take some time to open up your Bible and really get to know God. It would be in your best interest to do so! — Steven Harper
