God the Father

By Riaan Engelbrecht

God is an actual, literal Father. He is the source of life. Yes, our God the Father created the universe and everything in it. He is a big God but at the same time is a personal God who knows each person's every need. God the Father set a plan in place to save humanity from itself. Yes, He is a good Father and a loving God who wants a family and to be with His children. He is not cruel or mean. Not abusive. Loving and kind. But also a Father who is not pleased with wickedness, evil or sin. He is a holy God. Unto Him we cry “Abba, Father” and He hears us. What an awesome God we serve, far better than the supposed fathers of mythology! Just as earthly fathers have an important part in contributing to the life of children, this is true with God as His spiritual children. He provides, protects, and nurtures. In this study, learn more about the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yes, He is the heavenly Father of Jews and Gentiles alike. Unto Him comes all the glory and all the praise. He is Holy. He is almighty. Unto Him comes all power, for He is authority. May we draw closer to Him and let God Father us in His love, beauty and majesty.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Riaan Engelbrecht
• Release date: Dec 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9791222478821

Riaan Engelbrecht

Ps Riaan Engelbrecht is the founder of Avishua Ministries, the vice-president of Lighthouse Ministries International and the station manager of Lighthouse Radio. His ministry deals primarily with the prophetic, but he also has a passion to teach the Truth of the Lord Jesus and His Kingdom for only the Truth of the Lord sets us free (John 8:32).  He is also a qualified and seasoned journalist.

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God the Father

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Scriptures quotes from the New Kings James Bible, Amplified, and the New International Version.

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Table of Contents

Our Father who art in heaven

Jesus reveals the Father

Jesus the door to the Father

Adopted sons and daughters

Abandoned unto the Father

Return to the loving embrace of a forgiving Father

Father sings a lullaby

A Father to the fatherless

Bring glory to God the Father

The will of the Father

A good good Father

A Father who protects and provides

Revere no one else as Father

A Father of law, order and discipline

God of Covenant

Fatherhood in the Old Testament

A Father of authority

God the Father, sin and repentance

The danger of the Oneness doctrine

Beware of the other father

Our Father who art in heaven

In the Lord’s Prayer , we are urged to pray, according to Jesus, to our Father who is in heaven. Everything Jesus did on earth was to reveal the Father. Yes, we have a Father in heaven. And no, He is not Jesus. One is the Father, known as 'ehye 'ăšer 'ehye, or in other words, I Am who I Am, and then translated as YHVH. The other is the Son of God, known as Yeshua, or Jesus.

Have we by some chance as the church lost touch with God the Father? Have we lost our reverence for the Almighty One? While we worship and praise Jesus and yes, submit to the Holy Spirit, we must also revere our Father who is in heaven. Yes, He is in heaven. The Son is at His right hand, mediating and interceding on our behalf. The Spirit for now is one earth. The Father has never left His abode, for us as humans He is too glorious to behold.

John 1:18 says, No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. One day, in our resurrected form, we shall be with the Father but for now, we know him through the Son and the Spirit. We may not see Him, but we may pray to Him, and He hears and knows us. He is not distant or hidden. While the mystical divine father figure played an important role in mythology for a long time, such as Zeus to the Greeks, the reality is that there is one divine Father who DOES exist and who will forever exist. He is YHVH, the Almighty, and there is none like Him. He has created all, and unto Him, we are called to pray for He is the ultimate source of life.

When Moses stood before God at the Burning Bush inquiring about His name, God understood how important it was that Moses was able to reveal to the Israelites this important piece of information. For if they knew who God was, they would be strengthened in their resolve to seek their freedom. Ehye 'ăšer ehye can also be shortened to Ehye (אֶהְיֶה). The fact that it begins with Aleph (אֶ), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, is indicative of the future tense.  Therefore this name can be translated ‘I Will Be Who I Will Be.’ Our Father was not just there from the beginning, He has always been and will always be! He is faithful and will be whatever we need, not only now, but also in any situation that we will face in the future. In its essence, this name conveys a sense of both the timeliness and timelessness of God—the God who was, and is, and is to come (Revelation 4:8).

God also said to Moses, ‘I am the LORD [YHVH].  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty [El Shaddai], but by My name the LORD [YHVH] I did not make myself known to them."  (Exodus 6:2, 3). In Scripture, God reveals His sacred, four-letter proper name.  However, most Jewish people will not speak this personal name out of reverence for His holiness and fear of transgressing the command that forbids using God’s name in vain (Exodus 20:7).

This sacred name comprises the following Hebrew letters:  yud, hey, vav, hey—YHVH (יהוה). This name is technically known as the Tetragrammaton, which is a combination of two Greek words meaning four letters. Many scholars believe that the Tetragrammaton is derived from the Hebrew word to be (היה) and, therefore, related to I AM, or I Will Be (אֶהְיֶה). So in the Old Testament, YHWH (or YHVH), as the personal name of God of Israel, occurs over 6,800 times; it is usually translated as LORD in the English versions of the Bible. The meaning of the Tetragrammaton, which is the name of God in Hebrew, is: god was, god is, god will be, which means that God our Father is eternal!

The meaning of a personal name in Biblical history always indicates something about the bearer's nature, and God's name denotes the concept that He has always existed and will always exist, He never had a beginning and He will never have an end, God is from eternity to eternity. Psalm 90:2 says, Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God, and also Micah 5:2 You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. Revelation 1:8 says, I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, 'who is and who was and who is to come', the Almighty.

God’s personal name is so closely associated with His very being that He wants every generation to know and remember it: This is My name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.  (Exodus 3:15) When God revealed His proper, personal name to Moses, He transformed the relationship between Himself and His people. Even though God called Abraham His friend (Isaiah 41:8), He didn’t reveal His personal name to him, nor to Issac and Jacob (later named Israel). Instead, He revealed a part of Himself:  El Shaddai (God Almighty). Yes, our Father is s Almighty. He is I AM. Therefore I will teach them—this time I will teach them my power and might.  Then they will know that my name is the LORD [YHVH]. (Jeremiah 16:21) Just as Moses needed to know the name of the Lord to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, we also need to know we serve an awesome God. This is not a small God, This is a God of power and of glory!

Interestingly, after the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE), and especially from the third century BCE on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons. As Judaism became a universal rather than merely a local religion, the more common Hebrew noun Elohim (plural in form but understood in the singular), meaning God, tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel’s God over all others. At the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered; it was thus replaced vocally in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Adonai (My Lord), which was translated as Kyrios (Lord) in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Jesus caused a reaction when He talked about God as His Father. Jesus’s assertion that God was His Father first occurred in a debate about the Sabbath day of rest. Jesus claimed that it was proper for Him to perform healings on the Sabbath because, in his words: My Father is working until now, and I am working (John 5:17). In other words, although God rested on the seventh day from his work of creation, His work of preservation and ultimately of redemption was still ongoing. Moreover, Jesus associated his own ministry with the continuing work of the Father. That was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God (John 5:18).

Isaiah 63:16–17 says, You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from old is your name. God is the Creator of every human being, not just of Israel, but in Isaiah’s time he had not established a covenant relationship with everyone. It is clear from the way that Isaiah addressed God that he regarded Israel’s connection to God as something special, and different from what could be said about the entire human race. For him to call God Father was to acknowledge a particular relationship with Him. In these verses, God is addressed as Father, not because He is Israel’s Creator, but because he is its Redeemer, which reveals the nature of the special relationship that God has with His chosen people.

The covenant context of God’s fatherhood is also expressed in other Old Testament texts such as in Deuteronomy 14: 1 You are the sons of the Lord your God ... For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Psalm 103:13 says, As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. In each of these cases, the underlying theme is that God is the Father of Israel. He has chosen the Israelites as His children, and because He has done so, He will redeem them in spite of their sinfulness.

With the Platonists in New Testament times, the Father was a hidden deity who dwelt above the heavens and had no direct contact with material things. Instead, he had a mind that produced thoughts and ideas, one of which was the Creator (Demiurge), who made the world. The reason for this distinction was that the Platonists knew that the world is imperfect, and so it could not have been made by the Father directly. In the early church, there were people whom we call Gnostics, who took over this way of thinking. They believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of the hidden Father, whom he had sent in order to redeem the world from the work of the (inferior) Creator.

All of this is not true. Our God the Father is not hidden. Jesus revealed Him to us and He is revealed throughout the Scriptures, especially the Old Testament. He is not imperfect. His creation is not imperfect. He is a good and loving God. 1 Chronicles 16:34 says, Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Yes, our Father is a merciful God, for this reason He sent Jesus to die for all mankind so that those who believe in the Son may be saved. Psalm 106:1 says, Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever, and Psalm 111:3 His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever. God is forever. The ways and the Kingdom of the Father will never cease. He is glorious and all-powerful.

Christians call God their Father because that is what Jesus taught His disciples to do. He did this not to emphasize that God was their Creator (though of course He was) but because He was their Redeemer. Jesus had a unique relationship with God the Father that he wanted to share with His followers. During his time on earth, he was quite clear about this. He who has seen me has seen the Father, he said (John 14:9). I and the Father are one (John 10:30). There were some in the early Church who interpreted verses like these to mean that Jesus was himself the Father, merely appearing on earth in disguise. That view cannot be accepted, however, because on many other occasions Jesus either spoke to his Father or referred to him in ways that make it clear that the Father is a different person. This is particularly obvious in his words on the cross. When he said: Father, forgive them for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34) and Father, into your hands I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46) there is no doubt that he was not talking to himself.

Jesus revealed that the Father had decided to redeem the world, not by Himself but through his Son. The New Testament never explains why the Father and the Son are related to each other in this way. All that we can say is that both of them are eternally present in the Trinity, but why one of them is the Father and the other is His Son is a mystery hidden from our eyes (John 1:1–3). What we do know is that it was the Father’s plan to save His chosen people and that the Son voluntarily agreed to become a man in order to carry out the Father’s intentions (Philippians. 2:5–8).

Yes, we serve an awesome God! The Father is revealed to us as the principle of the Godhead, the one who plans the work of salvation and who sends the Son in order to carry it out. The Son pleads for us in the presence of the Father and the Father forgives us because of the Son’s intercession on our behalf. We are encouraged to pray to the Father and enabled to do so because the Son has united us to him in his death and resurrection (Galatians 2:20).

So why is it so important to know the Father? Because He wants us to be His children! We are certainly not begotten like Jesus, but in faith, we are adopted. We may know the Father, and we may know His goodness. Yes, we may speak to Him and share our lives with our heavenly Father. When we cry Abba, He hears. When we mourn, He knows. When we laugh, He sees. He is omnipresent. It is because of this presence of the Spirit in us that we are able to approach the Father and have a relationship with Him. As Paul wrote to the Galatians: Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God (Galatians 4:6–7).

In the Son, we have become heirs of the Father’s kingdom, co-rulers with Him and even judges of the angels (1 Corinthians 6:3). This high calling comes with a price tag, for just as the Son glorified his Father while on earth, so we too are called to glorify Him (John 17:1–26). We cannot do this in our own strength, but only in and through the relationship that the Father has entered into with us, through the Son and the Holy Spirit. Just as everything they do is done in relation to the Father, so everything that we are called to do must also be done in the context of obedience to his will.

God is the actual, literal Father. He is the source of life. Just as earthly fathers have an important part in contributing to the life of children, this is true with God as His spiritual children. He lovingly corrects us. As the true Father, God’s discipline and correction are always done out of love (Hebrews 12:3-11). He provides for our needs. He gives us His wisdom. He is our protector, and He loves to Father us. Yes, He is a good Father. Not cruel or mean. Not abusive. Loving and kind. But also a Father who is not pleased with wickedness, evil or sin. He is a holy God.

It is Jesus who calls God Abba, Father (Mark 14:36). It is Jesus who teaches us to pray to God as our Father (Matthew 6:9). It is the Spirit of the Son who leads us into intimacy with God as our own Abba Father (Galatians 4:6). As our Father, God cares for us and provides for us (Matthew 6:25–34). As our Father, He hears and answers our prayers (Matthew 7:7–11). As our Father, he receives us and forgives us and rejoices over us when in repentance we come home to Him (Luke 15:11–32). That God the Father has made himself God our Father means that he is personally, emotionally, and even sacrificially involved with us. Praise Him!

Take note of the following Scriptures:

1 Corinthians 8:6 Yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live."

Ephesians 4: 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know [b]us, because it did not know Him.For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father!"

And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says  the Lord Almighty.

Scripture makes it very clear that God was the literal father of Jesus - that Jesus was his one and only son. Let's take a look at a few verses that highlight this remarkable relationship and what it means for us. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Ephesians 1:3

2 Corinthians 6:18 I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Yes, our Father is real. He is alive. He has a purpose with us all. After all, Psalm 139 says it clearly, 13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

In the same chapter, we read, 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in [c]hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall fall on me, Even the night shall be light about me; 12 indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.

Our Father is omnipresence, which means all-present. This term means that God is capable of being everywhere at the same time. It means his divine presence encompasses the whole of the universe. There is no location where He does not inhabit. He is omnipotent, which means God is all-powerful. This means God has supreme power and has no limitations. He is also omniscient, which means God is all-knowing. This means God knows everything, including the past and future. Yes, there is nowhere we can go where God is not. He knows all and sees all. He is aware of all of His creation, even if we do not know Him.

Unlike earthly fathers who fluctuate in their emotions and behaviour, God never has a bad day, is never in a sour mood, and is never too busy or distracted for His child. When you are in a relationship with His Son, Christ Jesus, you have complete access to your Heavenly Father’s ear, His heart, His focused attention. Hebrews 4:16 tells us we can draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Furthermore, Psalm 121:3 tells us that God will not let our feet slip because He never slumbers. In Psalm 138:3, David sang, When I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me, letting us know God is never too busy to hear our cries and come to our rescue.

Romans 5:8 tells us that God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The Father reaches out to us even while we are still sinners. While we were still running after this world. While we were oblivious to Him and His love, He sent His Son to die for us. That is unconditional, sacrificial love and it is unlike anything we can experience on this earth. God is a Father who chose to love us and we didn’t do a thing to earn it.

When we sin or fall in life, the answer is not to run away from the Father. He is a God who forgives, who understands and who cares for us. Yes, He calls us to be holy, but He is also merciful and His loving kindness endures forever (Psalms 136:1-9). We need to run to our Father, embrace and love Him. He will not fail His children. God doesn’t make mistakes. Nor does He forget. And unlike human fathers, His timing is always perfect.

Scripture tells us in Psalm 84:11, No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. He is a good Father, but He also makes sure that we walk the right road. God is our creator of heaven and earth. It is only fitting, and it is in right standing, that we refer to Him as our Father if we belong to Him. Parents love their children, and they are responsible for their growth. Even in adulthood, you still have a relationship with your parents. God is love, and He will always be a loving Father. He desires that we have a relationship with Him. It is to our advantage to have a relationship with God. Psalm 103:13 declares that God will pity those who fear Him just as a father pities his children.

God the Father is the perfect example for all earthly fathers. He is holy, just, and fair, but His most outstanding quality is love: Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8, NIV).

God's love motivates everything he does. Through His covenant with Abraham, He chose the Jews as His people, then nurtured and protected them, despite their frequent disobedience. In His greatest act of love, God the Father sent his only Son to be the perfect sacrifice for the sin of all humanity, Jews and Gentiles alike. The Bible is God's love letter to the world, divinely inspired by Him and written by more than 40 human authors. In it, God gives his Ten Commandments for righteous living, instructions on how to pray and obey Him, and shows how to join Him in heaven when we die, by believing in Jesus Christ as our Saviour.

Yes, our God the Father created the universe and everything in it. He is a big God but at the same time is a personal God who knows each person's every need. Jesus said God knows us so well He has numbered every hair on each person's head. God set a plan in place to save humanity from itself. Left to ourselves, we would spend eternity in hell because of our sins. God graciously sent Jesus to die in our place, so that when we choose Him. What an awesome God we serve, far better than the supposed fathers of mythology!

Yes, He must be revered and honoured. Yet so often we rather want a Father Christmas as our god – one who only gives us blessings yet doesn’t discipline us or who frowns upon our sinful and rebellious ways, Yet the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not a mythical figure in a red suit, He is Almighty. He didn’t hand out ‘candy’ and presents because we were good.

Too often we want to treat God like a genie in the bottle, hoping He doesn’t ask too much in terms of service, reading the Word or seeking the Kingdom no matter the cost. Yet He is definitely not a genie. He doesn’t dance according to our tune.

He is absolute holiness. No darkness exists within him. God is just yet merciful. God cares. He intervenes in the lives of people. He answers prayer and reveals Himself through His Word, circumstances, and people. God is sovereign.

He is in complete control, no matter what is happening in the world. May we know our heavenly Father, and may we as children love Him, adore Him and seek to be in His presence all the time.

Jesus reveals the Father

If we consider that everything Jesus did was to reveal the Father, then we need to realise why it is so important to know the Father. If this was so special for Jesus, then surely this must be important to us! This is why so sad that is the Oneness theology has gained so much ground because Jesus specifically came to show us the Father. It should also make us realise the importance of knowing the Father. If knowing the Father wasn’t of critical importance, why then would Jesus make so much effort to reveal Him and glorify Him while on earth?

Any proud son would want to reveal his father to people, just so Jesus wanted to reveal the best of the best to us – His Father. Who wouldn’t be prouder of such a Father? Our Heavenly Father is loving, kind, true, pure, incredible, and wonderful. He is awesome. Yes, Jesus came to die on the cross so that we may be saved. But