GOD THE FATHER
By Abimbola O. Salu.
As A Christian, have you ever wondered about the person of GOD the Father? I have done this several times and to be honest, He is the least known of the blessed Holy Trinity. I mean, almost every Christian knows who Jesus Christ is. We have pictures and images of him and films like “The Passion of the Christ” helps to make him real. GOD the Holy Spirit, even though he is invincible (he is a spirit) dwells in the inside of us .As a child of GOD who has been blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, I feel him, I talk to him and he directs and orders my steps so well. He is my best friend, Teacher, Advocate, Counselor and partner. However, when I think of GOD the Father, I am in awe and in fear because the image I have is that of a father figure. somewhere up there in heaven, ready to admonish and correct. I have spoken with some Christian friends who feel the same way as I do. However, this is a wrong impression because when you study the Bible, you will discover that He is a kind, loving and faithful God. He is a compassionate Father who loves us more than we love him. He does not always deal with us according to our sins or as much as we deserve. He suffered as much as Jesus Christ did on the cross because He turned his back on His only begotten Son and had to watch as Jesus went through all the agony, pain and suffering.
GOD the Father is love itself. When Man fell in the Garden of Eden, GOD had to drive him out of paradise because of his disobedience. Since then, He has wanted to reconcile Man to himself. The only way He could do that was for him to release his only Son to die to atone for the sins of man. For as the Bible says in Hebrew 9 v.22 “”And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” Sometimes, we just don’t appreciate the magnitude of this sacrifice. Imagine if you have just one child .He is the joy and the light of your life. Now imagine that you have a terrible enemy. He hates you so much that if he has the chance to destroy you, he will gladly do so. Now imagine that the only way you can make your peace with this enemy is to send your only child to live with him. How many will be willing to make that sacrifice knowing that this enemy will torture and eventually kill this only child? I am sure that no one will be willing to sacrifice his son to please his enemy. Remember that there is no guarantee that even when the enemy has destroyed that child, he will still be a friend to you. What a great sacrifice that GOD the Father made just to reconcile Man to himself.
We are introduced to GOD the Father in the Old Testament as a hardworking Creator. Everyday, for 6 days, He worked tirelessly. We do know that He was pleased with the works of His hands. The Bible says “and GOD saw that it was good” (see Genesis 1 verses 4,10,12,18,25 and 31) On the seventh day, GOD rested from His labors. Next, we see Him create Man in His own image. (See Genesis 2 v.7)and put him in charge of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2 v.15-17) .We see His understanding of His own creation when He said” it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (See Genesis 2 v. 18). He did not want Adam to live a lonely life so He gave him a companion and helpmate. We see GOD the Father as a God of justice when he meted out punishment to Adam, Eve and the serpent. However, because of that singular act of estrangement, which grieved GOD, we see him make efforts to reconcile man to himself through Jesus Christ his Son.
We continue to see GOD through the Old Testament in the story of Cain and Abel, especially when Cain murdered Abel and GOD pronounced judgment on him. (See Genesis 4 v.11-12) We see how He shows mercy and compassion even to the condemned when He put a mark on Cain so that no one will kill him. GOD the Father is also capable of deep emotions. In Genesis 6 v.6 it is recorded that “the Lord was grieved that he made man on the earth and his heart was filled with pain “(NIV). This shows that we do not serve a Father who is cold, aloof and uncaring. We can grieve Him as much as we grieve the Holy Spirit. However, through all the pain we manage to inflict, in executing judgment, He still does it with a heart of compassion. He had the choice of destroying the whole world with the flood. However, He spared one man He considered righteous and blameless. Noah and his family, together with all the animals He instructed him to keep were the only ones saved from destruction. Afterwards, He made a covenant never again to destroy all living creatures . In Genesis 8 v. 22 He promised:
“As long as the earth endures
Seedtime and harvest
Cold and heat
Summer and winter
Day and night
Will never cease” (NIV)
God displays His wisdom over men by confusing their language as they built the tower of Babel. (See Genesis 11 v.7) GOD the Father always fulfils His promises. He promised Abram (as he then was) that He would give the land of the Canaanites to his off springs. (See Genesis12 v.7 and Genesis 15 v.18) This promise was fulfilled when they possessed the land in Joshua 3 v.16.This same prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus, a direct descendant of Abraham came as King of the Jews. Mathew Chapter 1v.1 gives “ a record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the Son of David, the Son of Abraham “(NIV).
GOD the Father is a God of Blessing. He promised Abraham that He would bless him (see Genesis 12 v.2-3 and Genesis 17 v.15-16). These promises were fulfilled in Genesis 21 v. 2-3.GOD the Father is a compassionate God who listens when his children plead with Him. When GOD told Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah with fire, Abraham pleaded with Him to spare the cities. GOD promised to do so if He could find 50 righteous men. Abraham was able to negotiate with GOD from 50 righteous men to 10 righteous men. Sadly however, the cities were destroyed because 10 righteous men could not be found.
God the Father is a God of deliverance. He delivers his children from the hands of their oppressors. (See Exodus 6 v.2-8). He rescued the children of Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, Pharaoh and his soldiers perished in the Red Sea. (See Exodus 14 v. 28). GOD the Father is concerned with every aspect of our lives. He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our provider. He is also Jehovah El Shaddai.He fed the children of Israel with manna in the desert for 40 years. (See Exodus 16 v. 4) Even when they complained about their lack of meat, He sent them quails from heaven(see Exodus 16 v.13 and Numbers 11 v.31)He brought water out of a rock to quench their thirst ( see Exodus 17 v.6). He led them by a pillar of fire by night to give them light and a pillar of cloud by day to guide them on their way. (See Exodus 13 v.21) For 40 years, they wandered about in the desert, yet their clothes and shoes did not get old.
GOD the Father is an awesome God. His Glory, which Moses witnessed (see Exodus 33 v.18-23) was so great that after the encounter, his face shone and had to be covered with a veil. GOD the Father is a God of mercy and justice. Exodus 34 v.6-7 says
“The Lord, the Lord the Compassionate, and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in great love, and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished, he punishes the children and their children of the sins of the Fathers to the third and fourth generations.”
God the Father is a God of Laws and details. He is interested so much in our everyday lives .He gave Moses the laws that will govern the conduct of the Isrealites.Apart from that, He also gave details on construction of the Tabernacle, the materials to use, how the Priests are to be dressed etc. After the children of Israel had settled in the promised land, they disobeyed GOD and the Bible records that “in those days, the word of the Lord was rare, there were not many visions” (See 1st Samuel 3 v. 1) Indeed, after Moses and Samuel, GOD did not make as much contact with the children of Israel as He did before then. Notable examples of His presence can be seen in Job 38 v.1 (when GOD answered Job out of the storm), Isaiah 6v.8 (when Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord), and Jeremiah 1 v.9 when God put out His hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth etc.
Other attributes that show that God the Father is can be seen in:
Psalm 8 where He is shown as a Redeemer God.
Psalm 27 v.5 – where He is shown as a God of refuge.
Psalm 51 –where He is shown as a God of forgiveness.
Psalm 146 V.7-9 –where He is shown as a God of goodness.
Isaiah 41 v.9-10 –where He is shown as a Faithful God.
Isaiah 35 v.4- where He is shown as a God of Salvation and Vengeance.
Deuteronomy 32 v.6- where He is shown as a Father God.
Genesis 9 v.1 where He is shown as a Covenant keeping God.
In the New Testament, we see GOD the Father through the eyes of His Son, Jesus Christ. Indeed, in Matthew 11 v.27 Jesus Christ said “ No one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him” Again in John 10 v. 17-18, Jesus said,” the reason My Father loves me is that I lay my down my life –only to take it up again. No one take it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” In John 14 v.9, He declares,” Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”. Also in John 14 v. 28, He confirmed the superiority of the Father when He declared”
If you love me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father for the Father is greater than I”
GOD the Father is seen as the God of all creation. In 1st Corinthians 8 v.6, Paul writes, “yet for us there is but one God, the Father for whom all things came and from whom we live and there is but one God, the Father, for whom all things came and through whom we live”.
GOD the Father is also the Father of all believers. John 1 v.12-13 declares” yet to all who received him, to those who believed in His name He gave the right to become the children of God -children born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
The love and compassion of GOD the Father is revealed through the ultimate sacrifice of His only begotten Son. GOD the Father suffered as much as Christ because He beheld his sufferings and actually turned His back on His Son in his hour of need. See Mathew 27 v.46 and Mark 15 v.34 when Jesus cried out” Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabacthani “which means” My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” By the time Jesus gave up the ghost, the curtain of the temple was torn into two from top to bottom. This signifies that Christ has entered heaven for us so that we can now enter into the presence of God the Father. What a supreme sacrifice!
We also see GOD the Father as a God of Love. He urges us to “love your enemies, do good to them and lend to them without expecting anything back. Then your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (See Luke 6 v.35-36). Finally, GOD the Father is a God of judgment who will come to judge the” quick and the dead” on the last days. (See Book of Revelation. See also Revelations 21 v. 3-7 which says “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old has passed away. He who is seated in the throne said’ I am making everything new. Then He said” write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. He said to me ‘It is done, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without any cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this and I will be his God and he will be my son.”
What a mighty and loving God our Father is. Blessed be His Holy name forever, Amen.
