In His Name Devotionals
FATHERHOOD OF GOD
In His Name Devotionals
FATHERHOOD OF GOD
“Our Father who art in heaven.”(Matthew 6:9)
The term Father is one of the most commonly used terms in praying, and rightly so, because that’s how Jesus taught mankind to pray. But as common as that term is to you, it was very uncommon to the people of Christ’s day.
At that time, most of the people who worshiped false gods thought of them as distant, capricious, and immoral being who were to be feared. Even the Jewish people, who should have understood the Fatherhood of God, had removed themselves from His Fatherly care through their sin and apostasy. Consequently He seemed remote to them. Even some who did claim God as their Father were rebuked by Christ, who called them children of the Devil because they rejected the Son (John 8:44).
Against that backdrop, Christ’s teaching was revolutionary. He proclaimed God as a caring and gracious Father who deserves intimate fellowship with His children. That fellowship can come only through faith in the Son.
Beyond that, Jesus revealed the Father’s character in everything He said and did. When Philip asked Jesus to show him the Father, Jesus replied, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Jesus also proclaimed God as a Father who has all the treasures of Heaven at His disposal and who makes them available to His children so they might glorify Him: “Your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him...Do not be anxious...But seek His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all (you need) shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:8, 31, 33).
Your faith in Christ is what makes God your Heavenly Father. He loves you, listens to your prayers, and supplies your needs according to His abundant resources. Look to Him today, and live as a thankful, obedient child.
