WHAT ABOUT GOD THE FATHER?
My grandchild speaks of “dear Jesus.” The Christian songs they sing are about “sweet Jesus.”
Most of the modern spiritual songs are about “my Jesus.”
So what’s wrong with that?
By itself, there is nothing wrong with that. Jesus is our Savior. He deserves our praise and expressions of gratitude.
But let us be honest, God the Father is less in the picture than Jesus. God, the Father, is neglected in Christianity. He does not get the attention, praise, and admiration He deserves.
The Catholics make much of Mother Mary. The reformed Protestant churches tend to emphasize Jesus. The Pentecostal churches tend to put Jesus and the Holy Spirit first. But God the Father receives less attention. Why?
The reason God the Father does not get that much attention is because people (and I mean Christianity in general) have a wrong perception of Him. He is seen as a harsh commander. He has little mercy for offenders. Jesus must intercede for us and plead for us or we will be in big trouble with God the Father. Jesus is sketched as the gentle one — God the Father is stricter — more severe. He hates sin so much that He wants to destroy all who do so or torment them forever in hellfire — unless they offer a sacrifice to Him. That is how many Christians perceive God the Father.
And I don’t blame them. Because I thought so too. We grew up that way. It just happened without me realizing it. Nor was it a deliberate strategy pursued by leaders in the Christian denominations. Rather, it was a trend that has unwittingly been present in the Christian community and tradition for centuries.
That’s how I saw God the Father in my childhood. Like our principal. Serious. No sense of humor. You just have to work. Not too much laughter. From too much laughter comes crying. Do not enjoy life too much. Watch out! Your day will come!!
This is such a wrong perception of God, the Father.
In the so-called Old Testament, the people of Israel could get the impression that God is strict and severe. Yet He revealed himself to Moses as merciful, gracious, patient, slow to anger, and abounding in longsuffering and lovingkindness (Exodus 34:6). However, God was not revealed as a personal Father to each of His people. He was sometimes revealed as a Father to the nation of Israel. They were privileged as a nation in that they knew Him as Yahweh—the Eternal Unchanging God—something that other nations did not have. But they did not know Him as a personal Father with whom an individual could have a close personal relationship.
In the so-called New Testament, Jesus revealed the Father to the people.
Jesus said,
“…nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and the one to whom the Son wants to reveal Him.” (Mat 11:27)
In His prayer during the last supper before His arrest, He said:
O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You… And I have declared to them Your name, and I will declare it …. (John 17:25-26)
More than 150 times in the Gospel books He mentions God as His Father. He explained that if you saw Him (Jesus), you saw the Father (John 14:9). Jesus radiates His Father’s nature. He is the express image of His person (Hebr 1:3); the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15). If Jesus was full of compassion — and He was and still is so — so is God the Father. If Jesus was and is gracious and full of love – so is the Father.
Jesus told His followers:
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Mat 7:11)
God the Father, is the best Father ever. And you and I know of good fathers who take good care of their children — and cherish them with love. Good loving fathers make a positive impact on their children’s lives.
However, in our world there are also fathers who do not fulfil their God-given role. With far-reaching and destructive consequences. It is well known that absent or violent fathers can leave a scar on their children that they carry with them for the rest of their lives.
My dad was a wonderful father. I was blessed to have such a father. When I was little, he was my hero. “My father is stronger and smarter than your father,” I would brag to my friends. My father took care of us to the best of his ability and we knew he loved us very much. He has been deceased for a long time and still I miss him. But since his death, I have become more aware of the omnipresence, the omnipotence, and perfect love of my actual Father—my God and Creator.
There is no one with more wisdom, with greater intellect, with more power, or with more love than God the Father.
You and I cannot have a better dad than God the Father. He knows everything. Is in control of everything. Has all power and sovereignty. He can do anything He wants. What He has promised, He will fulfil.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17).
He is Almighty, steadfast and unwavering and at the same time, He is love.
1 John 4:8 says,
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Note, it doesn’t say God has love. It says “God is love.”
For many people, this is an unreality because they did not experience love from their own father. If your own dad wasn’t such a good dad – maybe an alcoholic or whatever – don’t let the value for you of God’s Fatherhood be affected by it. Your experience of your father in childhood should not cloud your concept of God the Father.
God the Father is the most loving Father ever. He loves you more than anyone else loves you. He knows more about you than your parents, your spouse, or your best friend know about you. He was intensely aware of you when your mother was expecting you. He was involved in your formation in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:15). And He knows exactly what He wants for you, not just in this life, but in what is yet to come. And He is preparing us for a future beyond this life, which we cannot even dream of (1 Cor 2:9, 13; 12; 2 Cor 12:4)
You as His child may call Him “Dad” or “Daddy” in harmony with the Aramaic word “Abba” that Jesus used toward Father (Romans 8:15) and consider yourself to be co-heir of God with other believers and Christ, and to be glorified with Christ (Rom 8:17).
If He knows how many hairs are on your head and how much more hair you had a year ago, as was taught by Jesus (Mat 10:30), He knows the finest detail of your life. He knows what you like; what your preferred foods are; your music taste… All of it. He knows what pains you are experiencing in your body; your challenges at your job or what you are doing on a daily basis; your fears; your worries-He knows all about it.
“Yes, and He knows all my sins, weaknesses and faults! He knows how many times I’ve messed up… I think He is angry with me. He is going to punish me,” some might say or think.
Yes, God knows all your sins, all your trespasses and errors. But He is not angry at you!
How do I know this?
Because He knows how weak you and I are! He knows how vulnerable we are. He knows what stuff we are made of. After all, He is the Creator of man whom He created out of dust.
As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear [revere – Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible] Him; for He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103:13-14)
God has more of an issue with people who are proud or conceited. People who say, “I can keep God’s law. Watch me…..”, than He has an issue with people crying out to God in their weakness “Lord, help me… I need your help!”
That is why Paul says, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10).
Father is always there to take us by the hand. To cheer us up.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation…(2 Cor 1:3-4)
Father is love. You love your dog and your cat. God loves them too. He loves animals (Psalm 104:11, 27-28). He is love.
He is the best father you and I can have. You can pour out your heart to Him. You can trust in Him, even if you don’t understand everything He does. You can know that He knows what He is doing. He is at work on His people…. Like a potter with clay. So is He moulding you and and me (Rom 9:21; Eph 2:10).
Do you know the father-heart of God the Father? Do you know that God also has a father’s heart toward those who do not know Him?
He has a love for all people — even those in China and North Korea, or wherever, who don’t know Him at all, or who do not believe in His existence. He cares for them as well. They are also on His agenda (Cf. Mat 5:43-48).
God longs for a Father–Child relationship with all mankind.
This is beautifully illustrated in the account of Jonah’s reluctant mission to warn pagan Nineveh on behalf of God and calling them to repentance. And then these gentiles heeded Jonah’s words, and the king ordered man and beast to fast. And Jonah didn’t like any of this. For the people of Nineveh were not his people.
Jonah 4:10-11:
But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city , in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between right hand and their left – and much livestock?”
It says something about God.These people were created by God and even though they did not realize it, they belonged to Him and He was concerned about them.
Look at Acts 17:26-28 where Paul was speaking in the market square in Athens to people caught up in idolatry.
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the LORD, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being , as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are His offspring.’
These were not converted believers. Yet God was close to each one of them, although they didn’t realize it. And Paul describes them as God’s offspring.
Many unbelievers who do believe in the existence of God think God is angry. Angry about all the sins on earth… and about all the sins they themselves have committed.
It is true that sin is diametrically opposed to God’s character. We won’t argue about that.
But is He angry about it all the time?
No, he’s not.
How do I know this?
Because Scripture tells us He is a happy God. He is full of joy.
1Tim 1:11:
In accord with the evangel of the glory of the happy God (Concordant Literal Version)
According to the glad-message of the glory of the happy God (Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible)
But my Bible doesn’t say “happy God.” It says “blessed God“.
The Greek word is makarios. And elsewhere in many English translations, notably the King James Version, it is translated as “happy,” for example in John 13:17, Acts 26:2, Rom 14:22; 1 Pet 3:14, 4:14). One may ask, why is makarios translated as “happy”, except in 1 Timothy 1:11—where it describes God?
Here is a good example where translators not only translate, but also interpret. That God could be happy, apparently goes against the view the translators have of God: “How can He be a happy God? Let’s translate it as ‘blessed’ or ‘good’ or ‘praiseworthy’.”
No, God is a happy God. He is 100% in control of everything. Everything goes according to His plan. And He knows where to everything is heading. And He knows it is good news for those who can receive its message. (See the article about “The Happy God” on this website).
Part of the fruit of the Spirit of God is joy. Being joyful is a character trait of God.
But what about the sins of mankind?
Well, Scripture clearly says God is reconciled to humanity.
… for it pleased the Father…. to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him [Christ], whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross (Col. 1:19-20).
… God… who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men: the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time (1 Tim. 2:4-6).
God is not angry with humanity. Yes, I know of the verses in the Bible that say God was sorry that He made man and that He was going to assert His wrath. (See the article “The Wrath of God” on this website).
The doctrine that God will let unbelievers be burnt forever in the fire of hell or be annihilated forever is unscriptural. (See the article “The word ‘Hell’ is not in Scripture” on this website).
As William Barclay writes:
No father could be happy while there were members of his family forever in agony. No father would count it a triumph to obliterate the disobedient members of his family. The only triumph a father can know is to have all of his family back home again. (A Spiritual Autobiography – William Barclay)
God knows what stuff man is made of and how weak man is – even though mankind does not think so about itself (Ps. 103:14). No, God is not sullen, angry, or unreasonable.
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Cor. 5:18)
Pay close attention to the words. God is not now reconciling the world to Himself. He has already done it.
And it is not man who has taken the initiative for reconciliation. This is God’s initiative. Man did not come to God, but God to man. And that while man was, and still is, hostile to Him.
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God… (Rom. 5:10)
How did that happen?
… through the death of His Son…. (Rom. 5:10)
… having made peace through the blood of His cross (Col. 1:20)
Not by man’s doing or works, but by Christ’s finished work on the cross. This is what Jesus meant by his last dying words, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
Notice, too, the reconciliation is not only with believers. It is with the world!
…. the reconciling of the world.. (Rom. 11:15)
… by Him [Christ] to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven … (Col. 1:20)
God does not have an issue with any human being about his or her sins and transgressions. He does not think about it.
… not imputing their trespasses to them… (2 Cor. 5:19)
For Him, one’s transgressions do not exist when it comes to His relationship with that person. Through the blood of Christ’s death on the cross, God reconciled Himself to the world. The reconciliation on God’s part has already happened. However, humanity in general has not yet accepted the atoning gesture of God. That will happen in time to come…
God has already been reconciled to you. But are you reconciled to God?
… we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20)
The full reconciliation between man and God will come…
It is part of His great plan.
Later in his ministry, Paul wrote:
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father…, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named (Eph 3:14-15).
The day is coming when every creature in heaven and earth will be reconciled to God. Moreover, every creature will accept and acknowledge God as Father. This is what God’s will is. This is where everything is heading. (See the article “Does the Bible Teach There Is Salvation For All?” on this website.)
We who are part of the Body of Christ are the first fruits that look forward to our adoption as children of God (Rom 8:23), while all of creation has the same hope of deliverance from corruption in view of “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom 8:19-21).
Like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, God the Father is also waiting and looking forward to take His children under His wing (cf. Luke 13:34), and He will bring it to fruition at His appointed time.
And that, my friends, tells us something about God’s Father-heart.
Phil. 2:9-10:
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him [Christ] and given Him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
God is the Father of all fathers. He is answerable for everything. He knows what He is doing. All tragedies and injustices are under His control. And as the centuries pass, it will become more and more trivial and insignificant. For the time is coming when Father will dry all tears and a time when there will be no more tears. The consummation of time where there will be for all, only admiration and complete joy and love in the arms of God the Father.
I want to encourage you to get to know God and appreciate Him as your wonderful Daddy – the best Dad you can have… and as the loving Father of all living.
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I highly recommend the book “We Call Him ‘Father’” by Clyde Pilkington, Jr (Bible Student Press/Kindle e-Book at Amazon) )