School of doctrine

God the Father

What we believe about the Father is really important. If we believe that He is our perfect father, full of love and compassion, and if we believe He is all powerful and all knowing and interested in us as His children, then it will be a huge comfort and encouragement in our walk of faith.

If on the other hand we believe He is the kind of Father who set the world in motion and then stepped back to see how we would get on, this would make us think very differently . For example, this is the view of a group called the DEISTS who see God like the divine clockmaker who created an amazing world, wound it up, and then stood back, having no involvement from there on. The Deists were a significant group during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

Obviously God is so great that no human could even begin to fully understand Him, but the Bible teaches us that He has chosen, out of love, to reveal Himself to us in ways that we can understand (Deuteronomy 29:29). The Bible teaches us that the fullest way to understand the Father is by knowing Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-3 and John 14:5-11).

Over the years, Christians have tended to refer to the idea of a 'progressive revelation', meaning that throughout history, God chose to reveal more and more of Himself to His chosen people.

Obviously in the beginning, Adam and Eve had a special relationship with God, where they knew Him very well, but as a result of their sin, they were removed from the garden of Eden, and as mankind was universally sinful (Genesis 6:5), they lost this knowledge and relationship with God.

Over time, God started to reveal Himself again. In Abraham, right at the beginning, we start to see that it is possible for a man to have a relationship with God, based on trust, and that faith is it's starting point (Genesis 15:6). Then particularly through the Law that God gave to Moses (a set of rules which guided the Hebrews in moral & ethical, social and ceremonial matters, recorded in the books of Exodus and Leviticus) we start to learn about the Holiness of God, and gain a greater understanding of the sinfulness of men and women, and consequently our need of God.

Then through the Prophets we start to gain a clearer understanding of God's heart, and His character, like His passion for His people, His pain over their rebellion, His desire to show mercy and His willingness to act as a good Father and bring correction to His people (Hosea 11 - teaching a toddler to walk). We also see much more clearly how He sees us as His children, not just as servants or slaves.

And then in people like King David and King Solomon, we start to gain a greater understanding of the fact that God wants to have real and personal relationships with us, not just a corporate relationship with a group of people. King David also starts to really understand how God wants our hearts, not our mindless obedience.

In the Prophets, there were strong hints of the Fatherliness of God, but with Jesus, it becomes very clear (Matthew 6:9). Of course, Jesus Himself is the fullest revealer of the character of God the Father, but more of that in the section on Jesus Christ. All of this revealing of truth in the Bible, Christians call 'special' or 'particular' revelation.

Another way God shows Himself is through what Christians refer to as 'general' or 'natural' revelation, which is the idea that as men and women look at the natural world, for instance, the beauty, the order, the creativity, the power, the variety, it is possible to discern some things about God, particularly His power, His genius, and even His providence (eg provision for us). It can cause us to realise His existence, and it can lead us to worship (Psalm 91:2 and Romans 1:18-20).

There are many other ways we learn about the Father, but just a brief mention here of one that will be discussed in much more detail elsewhere. The Jewish nation attached huge significance to names. They had particular meanings. And God chose to reveal His character through twelve Hebrew names (Hebrew is the original language of most, but not all, of the Old Testament). These names came about in particular historic situations, and help us to understand Him. Just one brief example here. In the time when the Midianites were oppressing Israel, the angel of God appeared to Gideon, and after much reassurance, with a little doubt and hesitation, Gideon accepted the challenge of God to be used to bring some deliverance to the Hebrews. In faith, he built an altar which he called 'Jehovah-shalom ' which translated means something like 'The Lord, our peace', in anticipation of God bringing peace in Israel's troubled situation. We learn from this name and this incident that God is one may bring peace in difficult situations.

There is only so much that can be said here, but let's finish by reminding ourselves that the Bible teaches us that there is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4), that He is eternal (lives forever) and is separate from and above His creation (Isaiah 57:15), created the world and can do anything consistent with His perfect character (Jeremiah 32:17 and Luke 1:37) and is part of the Trinity of God (Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, John 14:16, Luke 1:35).

-End-