Who is “The Father”?
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Introduction: We are introduced to God as Father by Jesus. Though there are a few references to God as a Father in the Old Testament, Jesus is the one who popularizes the term for the first person of the Trinity. Jesus calls the one whom He submits to Father. It is a family term that shows authority but also intimacy. Jesus also says that He and The Father are one and that if you have experienced Him, then you have experienced The Father (John 14, see below). We also are told that we, who trust in Jesus, have a special and powerful relationship with the Father, our true Father, and creator.
We become Children of God by accepting His Son. All humans are created in the image of God, but not all humans enjoy the privileges of being children of God. This is reserved for those whom God’s Spirit calls and works faith in them. When humans embrace Christ they become Children of God, we too have a Father in heaven.
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13)
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” (Galatians 4:4-5)
Questions:
What do these verses tell us about the Father?
Why would anyone want God to be a father figure for them?
Why is it significant that we “become” children of God by believing?
How does the desire to “belong” impact the human journey? How might this point us to seeking God as our father?
The Father in Heaven oversees everything and directs everything in the world He created –Jesus describes The Father in heaven as someone who provides for all the needs of everyone and everything on the entire earth. But, he takes special care of His children. We, as frail humans, naturally struggle with anxiety. We carry shame about things in our past and we worry about things in our future. Learning to trust in the sovereign God of the Bible (Father in Heaven) Especially His power, His character, His plans, and His purposes in our lives can help us with this struggle.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:25-34)
Questions:
What do these verses tell us about the Father?
What causes us anxiety?
How is anxiety related to the control of the past (shame) and the future (worry)?
How could God’s powerful influence over the details of the world impact our lives, especially anxiety?
The Father is Good, everything God does flows out of His goodness. He knows what is best for everyone and everything in the world. God knows what brings life and what brings destruction, he wants his children to experience His Goodness. We live in a broken world where well-meaning people are misled into evil. We can no longer trust our senses or even our minds. God’s word reveals His good plan for the world. Our job is to seek His good ways and then live into them.
“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9-13)
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” (James 1:17-18)
Questions:
What do these verses tell us about the Father?
Why is God being good so important for humans?
How do humans discover God’s goodness and walk in it?
Why do we sometimes struggle to see and trust God’s goodness?
What is the appropriate response to experiencing God’s goodness?
The Father loves His children unconditionally. We have been adopted as Children of God. Christ is the firstborn, and his life, death, and burial have opened the door for all who would trust in Him and follow His Spirit to be adopted as well. God’s people are special to Him, we uniquely stand out in the world and can call Him Father.
“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Romans 8:14-17)
Questions:
What do these verses tell us about the Father?
What impact does love, or lack of love, have on a person’s life?
How is fear related to love?
The Father Works powerfully as we follow Jesus. Jesus tells us that He is one with the Father and that in a marvelous mystery, our unity with Him, allows us to glorify the Father by calling on the power of the risen Christ to help us as we do His work.
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
“Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:8-14)
Questions:
What do these verses tell us about the Father?
What do these verses mean to His children?
How would these verses impact how we, as God’s children, should live our lives?
God disciplines His beloved children. God is radically committed to having us embrace our identity and new life as His children. He works in, through, and around our lives to work His goodness and holiness into each part of our lives. Often for the believer, this can be painful, but amidst our challenges and suffering, God, our Father, is working towards a greater good and purpose.
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5-11)
Questions:
What do these verses say about God the Father?
How do these verses impact us as His children?
How can they comfort His children when they face challenges?