"God, the Father" Isaish 64:8; 1 Peter 1:3 Pastor Allan Wooters, D.Min.
If you were asked what is the most important piece of information you could acquire right now, how would you respond? Some might say, “That’s easy! The numbers to the Powerball jackpot!” Others might say an answer to the current pandemic. But if you genuinely thought about it, the best answer is to have accurate information about God. Think. What other insight holds such far-reaching implications for us? Knowledge about God affects what we value, how we see ourselves, others, and how we confront challenges including the challenge of death and what comes after. A. W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think of God is the most important thing about us.” 1And so, the Apostle’s Creed begins with the statement, “I believe in God, the Father….”
The Creed does not begin saying simply, “I believe in God.” Rather, it goes beyond that simple phrase to describe the identity and character of God. We see this with the ancient prophet, Isaiah in chapter 64 of his book. The chapter is a prayer for mercy. Isaiah pleads with God asking the Lord to “rend the heavens and come down” (v.1). Isaiah gives two reasons for his petition. First, he wants God to “come down” to “make [His] name [meaning God’s character] known to the nations. Second, to save His people. This last petition is no small request. Isaiah notes:
You were angry, for we sinned, we continued in them a long time; and shall we be saved? For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away…. You have hidden Your face from us… (vs.5b – 7).
But at v.8, the tone changes. “But now, O LORD, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand.” In the midst of their distress, in a time of national disaster, the imagery of God’s fatherly nature is recalled.
Likewise, with the apostle Peter, the depiction of God as Father opens his first letter. In 1:3 Peter declared, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” But no one used the picture of God as Father as much as Jesus did. Our Lord constantly addressed God has His Father and ours. In His model prayer Jesus began saying, “Our Father Who is in heaven….” No wonder the Apostles’ Creed begins by addressing God as Father. The impact on us concerning the fatherly nature of God is incredible. For one thing knowing that God is the Father tells us that God is a personal God.
Father: Tells Us God is a Personal God
We do not worship some abstract deity. Our confession is not, “I believe in the numinous, the sacred, the god of many understandings.” God is not an “It.” He is not the god of Thomas Jefferson who embraced a view known as Deism. This idea of God, still embraced by some today, is that God created the world but then left it to run on the natural laws He created. He is not personally involved with the world any longer. He is more like an absentee landlord. This God might choose to get involved with the world or our personal lives on a rare occasion but mostly, God is gone from us. Islam, to a large extent has this sort of view of God.
Not so Christianity! God is a person, a Father, indeed, the Father! We need to be careful with this aspect of God’s nature, however. Today, it has become politically correct in some segments of Christianity to declare the universal fatherhood of God and the brother and sisterhood of all people. Everyone is God’s child. From such a view it is a short step to conclude that all people will be accepted by God and saved whether they have any real faith in God or not.
But this is not what Scripture teaches. In Isaiah 64, God is seen as the Father of the Jewish people in the sense of being the One who created the nation through Abraham. The people are depicted as clay and the work of God’s hand. That’s the creative side of God’s Fatherhood. But we see another view namely, that God is the Father only of those who have surrendered their life to Christ. This is the message from Peter. God is the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” who has caused us to be born again. God is the Father of all things by way of creation. But He is the Father of believers in a special, saving sense, through Christ.
So, do you know Christ as Lord and Savior? Only through Jesus can you rightfully call God your Father. Knowing Christ makes all things new and different. It gives you forgiveness and causes you to be adopted by God so God is your Father in truth. And we have this relationship in part because God is a personal God. But there’s a second implication to the Fatherhood of God. This is that by being the Father, God always stands with His people.
Father: Reveals a God Who Stands with His People
First Peter shows this fact. Right after saying God has given us a living hope in Christ, he goes on to say, “to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (emphasis added, vs.4 – 5). There is no way we would make it to heaven on our own. Even after we accepted Jesus, we need God’s protection. And we have it because of God’s power. Through all the difficulties of this life, all the heartache and disappointments, God stands with us.
As a Father, God longs to be with us. He always has. In Eden, before sin entered the world, God came to meet with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. Were Adam and Eve resting after a hard day’s work? Maybe they were sitting by the fire pit toasting some smores. While they relax God shows up. By the way, that’s not exactly how the story goes. There were no smores or fire pit. But God was right there meeting daily with His two special children.
This theme of God being with His people continues with the building of the tabernacle. This was a tent-like structure. It was a place where the people could meet with God. God had ordained the building of that tabernacle including its furnishings. One of the pieces of equipment God commanded to be made was a lampstand. That lamp was to burn 24/7. Priests were to make sure the oil in the lamp never ran out so the light would always be there even at night. That light was one of the symbols of God’s presence. So even at night, if a man was anxious about some matter and couldn’t sleep, he could get up, look outside his tent towards the tabernacle and see the light glowing in that structure and be reminded that God was right there. He was not alone.
This ever-present nature of God is true for us as well in an even greater way. For us as Christians, we are now that tabernacle (1 Cor.3:16; 6:19). God has put His own Spirit in us. When we believed we were forgiven and filled with God’s Spirit. We now have the light of God in us to be with us and show us the way. You can’t get any closer than that. God with us literally. So, right now, know that you are not alone. God is standing with you. And this fact of God standing with us, being with us, means we have hope. This is another implication of the Fatherhood of God.
Father: Declares that God is the God of Hope
Again, this is seen in Isaiah. The failures of the people are seen in chapter 64. Yet, God’s fatherly nature gives the prophet a sense of peace and hope. Peter speaks clearly of our hope of heaven due to the fatherly actions of God. This makes complete sense. As a child, if there is a problem, a good father will be right there to help. You cannot keep him from helping.
Jesus displayed this aspect of God’s caring in what is probably His most famous parable, the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Many interpreters have seen it more as the Parable of the Waiting Father. Regardless, you know the story most likely. A son destroys his life through one bad decision after another. He ends up living far from home but in a flash of insight realizes that what he needs is to go back home. As he approaches his father sees him coming and runs to meet him. It’s a dramatic moment as the father quickly forgives the wayward son, welcomes him home, and throws a massive party to celebrate. That parable has given more hope to people than we can imagine. And it’s all because God is a God of hope.
And right now, we need to know this and more about God. This need is made very personal in an article I came across by a writer named Rachael Lane. She writes:
I don’t know about you, but some mornings I don’t feel much like getting out of bed at the moment.
Sometimes just the prospect of facing another day in lockdown seems overwhelming. Today looks exactly the same as yesterday. Yesterday looked the same as the day before. And the tomorrows seem to stretch out ahead of me, with no prospect of a change let alone an end in sight. Wouldn’t it just be so much easier to say ‘NO’ to this day…to roll over and pull my duvet over my head and let life happen somewhere else?
Or perhaps it’s the anxiety that is overwhelming you right now. It’s been said that we get anxious about things we can’t control, and if ever there was a situation in which most of us feel powerless it’s this one. Maybe we can control whether we ‘do our bit’ by obeying government guidance and staying home. But we have no control over the mounting death tolls, or the struggling economy, or when any of the restrictions that have changed our lives might be lifted. None of us know how long this is going to go on, and that alone is profoundly stressful.
If you are struggling with your mental health at the moment, know that you are not alone. This is a hard time for a lot of people. Even many of those who have been ‘managing’ their depression or anxiety well for many years are having to face new battles here, or revisit old ones. Many of the things that helped us have been stripped away. Maybe it’s the predictable structure of a school or workday. The focus of exams to work towards. The relaxation of time with good friends – before it was only through a screen. We’re all feeling that sense of loss…and all needing to find new ways through.
Then she gives three ways to cope: know that this time will pass, keep your focus short term, and make today count. You can do this Rachel says because “our help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” 2
I believe in God the Father! Now we see that this affirmation by the Creed isn’t for show, for poetic effect, or simple theological precision. In reality, it’s for living now, tomorrow, and forever. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who reveals to us His Father as our Father and by this find real hope.
For Further Reading
Our God is Awesome, Tony Evans