Nena Arias | June 19, 2023
“Our Father who art in heaven.”
(Mathew 6:8)
To grow up healthy in every way, everyone needs a loving father or father figure to guide and nurture especially in your inward world meaning spiritually, emotionally, and even physically in many ways. This is God’s order for the family and all of civilization.
Have you ever wondered why out of all the names Jesus could have addressed God with he chose “Father”? Why didn’t he say, “Almighty God”, or Creator of the universe or another title that easily applies to him? And when he taught his disciples to pray he reiterated that title to teach them how to address God. God has many names and some that even seem even more lofty like Yahweh or Elohim, etc. Yet, addressing him as Father is what Jesus preferred to indicate how endearing or affectionate a relationship Father God wants to cultivate with us especially since the coming of Jesus to earth, God wanted to be more intimate with us. He now wanted to call us his children.
A father is the progenitor, protector and provider but is also the one who gives identity to the family. We have God’s identity when we belong to him. God has delegated a very important role to fathers, and he commands that we respect them, which is why he even designated one of the Ten Commandments to this respect. The Fifth Commandment says, “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you…” (Exodus 20:12).
The father figure in the family and in society has lost its rightful place as was intended by God. As a result, too many people do not have a good image or example in their earthly father. Many grow up without a father in their lives and so the term is meaningless to them or at the very least has a negative connotation.
In February of 2022, the Census Bureau reported that: Across America, data indicates there are approximately 18.3 million children who live without a father in the home, comprising about 1 in 4 US children. It is obvious that fatherlessness is the most significant family and social problem facing America. How does this fatherlessness in the lives of people reflect in how they relate or fail to relate to God? This is a serious problem and in-depth healing must take place to have a growing relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Normally, when someone is your father, you take on their characteristics. It is obvious that Jesus presented Father God in this manner so we should also endeavor to take on the characteristics of God if he is indeed our Father. Jesus was confident in that he was faithfully representing the Father before his disciples when he was asked by Philip in John 14:8-11, “’Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”
The Bible has many passages that clearly refer to God as our Father (1 John 3:1, Ephesians 4:6, John 1:12, Galatians 4:6).
God is the creator of heaven and earth and of our lives. It is correct that we refer to Him as our Father if we belong to Him.
Those who don’t belong to him also have a father figure. It is important to note that there is a biblical reference to another father of those who do not belong to God by having the devil as their Father. John 8:44 says, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
In this passage, Jesus was addressing the religious Jews of his time and he clearly let them know that though they practiced religious traditions they still belonged to the devil because they lived fulfilling their fleshly desires instead of submitting to obedience to God.
God is a loving Father. A good earthly father loves his children and accepts the responsibility for their growth. God is love and wants to be a loving Father to us. He desires a loving relationship with us, and it is to our advantage to have a loving relationship with God.
God is loving, he is forgiving, he is long-suffering toward us.
Knowing God helps us overcome negative father issues that we may have experienced in life. If you were abandoned by your earthly father, you will know that Father God will never abandon you. If your earthly father didn’t provide for you, you will get to know Father God as your provider. You will know that your heavenly Father will always be close to you and has promised to never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).
You will learn to approach your heavenly Father as a child. To Him, that is what we are. Bottom line, he is our creator and our Father.