"God the Father"

Introduction

God the Father is frequently misunderstood. Many are aware of Christ’s mission to save mankind, and of the Holy Spirit’s role within the individual, but what has the Father to do with us? Is He, in contrast to the gracious Son and Spirit, totally removed from our world, the absentee Landlord, thee unmoved First Cause?

Hebrews 1.1,2…God spoke through both Old and New Testaments

The Old Testament alludes to the Persons of the Triune Godhead, but it doesn’t distinguish Them. In fact the New Testament suggests that even in the Old Testament the portrait of God the Father was often conveyed to us through the agency of the Son. (John 1.1-3; Colossians 1.16)

1 Corinthians 10. 1-4…Christ’s role in the Exodus

2 Corinthians 5.19…God was in Christ

God the Father in the Old Testament…
    • a God of mercy…Exodus 34.6,7
    • a Covenant Keeping God…Genesis 9.1;12.1-3; Exodus 19.5,6;
    • a Redeemer God…Psalm 8. 3,4; 18.1,2; Isaiah 44.6
    • a God of Refuge…Psalm 27.5; 36.5-9; 46.1; 62.8;
    • a God of Forgiveness…Psalm 51.1,11; 1-3.11-14
    • a God of Goodness…Psalm 146.7-9 What a fantastic picture of God in the Psalms!
    • a God of Faithfulness…Isaiah 41.9,10; 44.21,22; 45.22
    • a God of Salvation and Vengeance…Isaiah 35.4 The Old Testament description of God as a God of vengeance must be seen in the context of the destruction of His faithful people by the wicked.
    • a Father God…Deuteronomy 32.6; Isaiah 64.8 (63.16); Malachi 1.6; 2.10

God the Father in the New Testament…

The God of the OT does not differ from the God of the NT. God the Father is revealed as the Originator of all things, the Father of all true believers, and in a unique sense the Father of Jesus Christ.
    • Father of all creation…1 Corinthians 8.6 (Hebrews 12.9; John 1.17; Ephesians 3.14,15)
    • Father of all believers…Matthew 5.45; 6.6-15; John 1.12,13; Galatians 4.5,6; Romans 8.15,16
    • Father revealed through the Son…John 1.1,14,18; 14.9 – to know Jesus is to know the Father. Hebrews 1.1-3
    1. a God who gives…creation, Bethlehem, Calvary (The Father, being divine, suffered the pain of being separated from His son – in life and death – than any human being could ever understand. And He suffered with Christ in like measure. The cross reveals – as nothing else can – the truth about the Father.
    2. a God of love…Matthew 44,45; Luke 6.35,36; Luke 15 – three parables portray God’s loving concern for lost humanity.
    • Father of the Second Coming…Matthew 16.27; 26.64; Revelation 6.16

Conclusion

With a longing heart the Father anticipates the Second Advent, when the redeemed will finally be brought into their eternal home. Then His sending of "His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him" (1 John 4.9) will clearly not have been in vain. Only unfathomable, unselfish love explains why, though we were enemies "we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son" (Romans 5.10).

Appeal:

How could we spurn such love and fail to acknowledge Him as our Father?
   

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