God the Father
THE FATHERHOOD OF A LOVING GOD (2)
God the Father
THE FATHERHOOD OF A LOVING GOD (2)
This is a continuation of our previous lesson on “The Fatherhood of a loving God.” And as we get into this study we find that He is a creative Father. The second direction we take to probe the question of the Fatherhood of God goes outside the internal nature of the Godhead. As we proceed, we must keep in mind that although the distinction of Persons is seen in the Trinity, the unity of their work is apparent in what they have done and are doing. Three examples help to clarify this point. Creation is the first example (Genesis 1:1-2; John 1:1-3; Hebrews 1:1-3). It is the work of God in totality – the Trinity. Revelation is the second example (Galatians 1:12; Ephesians 3:2-6). It, too, is the work of God in totality – the Trinity. Atonement is the third example. The work of God in totality (the Trinity) is also seen here (Hebrews 9:14; 10:3-10).
While more examples could be noted, these are enough to illustrate that God is “entirely” involved in all His work. God the Father is not solely involved in creation, revelation, and atonement. The distinctiveness of the roles of the Persons in these works does not nullify their unity in the works but enhances it. For example, in the overall plan of redemption, God the Father sent God the Son to die on the cross for the sins of the world. However, God the Father did not die on the cross; nor did He suffer on the cross. God the Father sent God the Son to die for us. After the Son’s burial and resurrection, God the Father gave Him all authority and power, exalting Him to His right hand (Matthew 28:18; John 3:16; Acts 2:23-33).
After looking “within” at the works of the Godhead, what do we conclude about God as Father? He is eternally Father, not because of sexual orientation or masculinity but by divine nature. His work of creation is not exclusively the work of God the Father, but of God in totality. Then, by appropriation (participation) we find Him taking a unique role in the affairs and destiny of humanity.
In light of this, it is obvious that the term Father for God is not evidence that the ancients were chauvinistic. As we said earlier, idolatrous and pagan societies usually perceived their gods as males and females. Many, if not most, of their cultic practices were fertility rites. Male gods and their consorts romped about with wild abandon. These rituals were alluring to the Israelites at times, as the Old Testament repeatedly shows. After all, their God was invisible and austere compared to the vivid displays they observed among the people around them.
Therefore, it is incorrect to claim that when the Israelites called their God “Father” it somehow reflected the tenor of the times. He is the one true and living God: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4). There was no polytheism, no mother god. These prohibitions were pressed upon them by law. The religious conventions of other nations called for male gods and female gods but not the revealed religion of Israel. In fact, there is not even a separate Hebrew word for “goddess” in the entire Hebrew Bible.
To claim that a “patriarchal complex” caused God to end up being called Father instead of Mother cuts across the abundance of evidence, both biblical and non-biblical. That claim also denies the accuracy of the Scriptures as a true revelation of God. When people advocate that the Lord’s Prayer is to be discontinued on the grounds that it is addressed to “our Father” it is a sad commentary on our time, not on biblical times.
As we look further, we find that God is a universal Father. We have previously spoken of God as Father in the relationship of Persons in the eternal Trinity. Now, as we consider God as Father, we look back upon the extensive historical revelation of God to His people – the Bible. Here we find that God is revealed as Father in three different ways. All of these are important: All are distinctive.
The first way we note is that God is universal Father by way of His creation. Since we have seen that all three Persons of the Trinity were engaged in creation, we are now reminded that by appropriation the Father’s role in creation is stressed. (In like fashion all three Persons are engaged in the overall work of redemption, but only in His appropriation of the Redeemer role do we see God the Son paying the redemption price.) The Father relationship of God to His creation arises from His creative work. Humanity is seen as the crowning creation, because in the human race the image and likeness of God are implanted (Genesis 1:26-27).
The power displayed in God’s creative work assures Him of Lordship over all of His creation. Many Bible passages reflect this combination of Creator-Father and Power-Lord. They assert a close relationship between the universal Fatherhood of God and His creation: “Just as a father has compassion on his children so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him, for He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust . . . The Lord has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all” (Psalms 103:13-14).
God is Father in His compassion toward man as He rules over His creation. The universal Fatherhood of God was recognized in Paul's address to pagan philosophers at the meeting of the Areopagus in Athens. He quoted one of their own poets, who said of God, “We also are His offspring” (Acts 17:24-29; esp. verse 28). If we are the offspring of God, He is our Father. This has reference to all people. Thus, by creation, God is universal Father of everyone.
It is interesting to read in the Bible of Adam’s genealogy. “In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created” (Genesis 5:1, 2).
However, in the New Testament, the language used to describe this creation is found in the final statement of Jesus, shall we say, reverse genealogy, as “the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:37). God’s creation of Adam (man) is seen as a “fatherly” role. As the Father of the original man, He is the Father of all mankind.
While God is the Father of all mankind, He is also a selective Father. God is selective Father by way of His promise/covenant. A passage from Malachi gives us a transition of thought from God as universal Father by creation to God as selective Father by promise/covenant. God said that His covenant with His people was a covenant “of life and peace.” He also said, “You have turned aside from the way . . . you are not keeping My ways.” Then Malachi made a plea to the Jews based upon a universal truth. He said: “Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?” (Malachi 2:5-10). Malachi was reasoning with the people upon the basis of two overarching principles: God is Father because He is Creator; He is Father of Israel because of His covenant with them.
God as selective Father by way of promise/covenant is a major theme of the Old Testament. We should see an important development taking place. God as universal Father by way of creation was sufficient grounds for man to have full fellowship with God so long as sin did not cause a separation from God. In his pure state Adam was, as we have seen, “a son of God.” When man sinned, he was separated from God. From then on, throughout all history, God as universal Father by way of creation has not been sufficient grounds for full fellowship with God.
Through God’s initiative, Abram was called to His service and encouraged by God’s promises (Genesis 12:1-3) and the covenant (Genesis 17:1-2). So were his son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob, or Israel (Genesis 26:2-5; 35:9-12). Were these actions of God the work of God the Father? Yes, indeed. Even before the Law was given to His people, beginning at Sinai, God acknowledged Israel as His first-born son (Exodus 4:22). The people called by God were aware that they were selected from among all others to be His people upon the basis of their faithfulness to the covenant (Exodus 19:3-6).
As time passed, the people entered Canaan. They had judges for leaders. Eventually, kingship was established. Amid the glitter, pomp, and power of the reigns of David and Solomon, God reminded them that He was their Father. God said to David concerning his son Solomon, “. . . I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me . . .” (2 Samuel 7:12-14; 1 Chronicles 28:4-7). The psalmist sang praises to God concerning these glorious times of Davidic kingship, the covenant, and David’s acknowledgment of God as His Father and recorded what God said about His relationship to David: “He will cry to Me, ‘Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my Salvation.’ I also shall make him My first-born . . .” (Psalms 89:24-29).
Many of the prophets stressed the Father/children relationship of God with His chosen people. This was often done in terms of reprimand when the people were not loyal to God, the Father. Once, when they complained and questioned God’s method of delivering them by using the Persian king Cyrus, His sharp reply through Isaiah was: “Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’” (Isaiah 45:9-11). Incidentally, it is interesting that the apostle Paul used this Scripture for a similar reason in Romans 7:14-24.
These passages show that the relationship of God as selective Father with His people included Lordship on His part and servant-hood on their part. This brings into sharp relief God’s view of His people when they became idolatrous. It was shameful when they said to wood, “You are my father,” and to stone, “You gave me birth” (Jeremiah 2:26-28). Their rebellion and unfaithfulness to His will was described as dishonoring the Lord of Hosts as Father, showing no fear to Him as Master (Malachi 1:6).
Overall, the prophets kept proclaiming that God was not only the God of their forefathers, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but He was also, always, the Father of His chosen people, the one and only living God upon whom they can depend: “For Thou art our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not recognize us. Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer from of old is Thy name” (Isaiah 63:16). They also acknowledged, “But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and all of us are the work of Thy hand” (Isaiah 64:8).
In spite of the famine, pestilence, punishment, rebellion, captivity, idolatry, warfare that marked much of Israel’s eventful history, God, the selective Father, always acknowledged Himself as their Father (Jeremiah 31:9). He remained faithful to His promise/covenant and continued to hold out forgiving arms to His beloved children. One of the most poignant passages in the Old Testament describes God's unrequited love for His wayward children: “When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. The more they [God’s prophets] called them, the more they went from them; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols. Yet it is I who aught Ephraim to walk. I took them in My arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I let them with cords of a man, with bonds of love, and I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws; and I bent down and fed them” (Hosea 11:1-4).
Now we turn to a consideration of God as our spiritual Father. We have analyzed how God may be seen as eternal Father (in the Godhead), universal Father (in creation), and selective Father (in His covenant/promise). Now we will begin a study of God’s work as spiritual Father.
Here we consider the problem of separation. As universal Father, God was in full fellowship with man until sin marred that relationship. God did not act arbitrarily when He sent Adam and Eve out of the garden and away from the tree of life. This condition of separation was because of God’s nature and their sinful state. God is absolutely holy; they became sinful (unholy). Once sin appeared, the separation was inevitable. It was preceded by a warning and followed by a promise (Genesis 2:17; 3:15). What we read in Genesis 3 is the way the separation was carried out by an all-wise and loving God. This separation was not automatic annihilation; it was the certain consequence of sin. Sin creates a barrier over which we cannot climb (Isaiah 59:1-2). In fact, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This principle operates through the ages as we follow the way God has dealt with the presence of sin in man.
The first era began with the creation of humans in God’s image. It continued uninterrupted until they became sinful. We tend to think of the period between creation and the fall as relatively brief, perhaps because it is covered in the first three chapters of Genesis. Actually, we know no more about the length of their tenure in the garden than we do about the time of the second coming of Christ – we just do not know because we are not told. After their expulsion from the garden, God continued to be concerned about their destiny. However, the fellowship between God and His human creation took on a different character. Before Adam and Eve sinned, it had been direct, “conversational,” immediate. After they sinned, individuals began to offer sacrifices to God and to call on His name (Genesis 4:3-4, 26). In other words, sin has separated, but God had not annihilated. God continued to be the universal Father of humanity, but that relationship was not sufficient for them to have full fellowship with God because of their sinful state.
Now we look at God’s process of preparation. As God began the selective process by way of His promise/covenant, this did not mean that He ceased to be universal Father. However, His continued activity shows that He did not consider His universal Fatherhood grounds for the survival of humanity. Therefore, based upon His early promise in Genesis 3:15, He began to deal with the human race through promise and covenant to Noah. Let us notice these following readings from Genesis: “And behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you” (6:17-18).
“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt o offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, ‘I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done’” (8:20-21).
“Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, ‘Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. And I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of a flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.’ And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth’” (9:8-13).
The import of this promise/covenant was that God would never again destroy humankind as He has done with the flood. Therefore, it is obvious that this benefit from God to His creation had reference to the physical life of humans. It was a grand and gracious commitment by the universal God. It was good news and was unconditional. It is “everlasting.” Today we may rest assured that as long as the earth lasts God will not sweep us away in such a wholesale fashion as He did in the deluge catastrophe. Although the physical survival of humanity is not the ultimate survival, it did set the historical stage upon which God would launch His majestic role as selective Father.
We see how God’s providence unfolded as He chose a particular people through whom He would proceed with His historical saga of retrieving sinful mankind. This process started with Abram, the Hebrew. God promised Abraham His blessing, a great name, and land. God also promised that through him all nations would be blessed or bless themselves – this great multiple promise was sealed by covenant. Abraham received all these favors with complete trust in God, and God viewed Abraham’s faith as righteousness. It should be emphasized that it was God’s plan that eventually, through Abraham's seed, all nations would be blessed.
After the descendants of Abraham had reached millions in number, they were given a law. God’s chosen people were called Israelites by the time they received the Law at Sinai. Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, had his name changed to Israel. His descendants who received the Law at Sinai were called the twelve tribes of Israel, or Israelites. The law God gave to the Israelites through Moses, beginning at Sinai, was specifically for them. This was another step in the work of the selective Father. They were His chosen people; the law of Moses was God’s law for them. God did not choose them because they were “special” people among the peoples of the earth. Rather, it was God’s selection of them that made them His chosen ones through whom He would fulfill the promise made to their forefathers – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deuteronomy 9:4-5).
