Fatherhood of God
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
Since June is the month in which Father’s Day falls, it is a timely month to think about the Fatherhood of God. When we read of God’s self-revelation to persons in the Old Testament we encounter such Hebrew names for God as Elohim and Jehovah (Yahweh), names that introduce God to humankind as the eternal self-existent Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
For English readers of the Old Testament such names for God are frequently rendered simply as “the Lord God.”
God’s introduction to Moses and through him to His chosen nation Israel was simply “I am that I am” or simply “I am” (Ex. 3:14). While these various names served to distinguish the true and living God from the imaginary gods of the nations, these terms tend to come across with an elevated, exalted or distant connotation.
‘My Father in heaven’
Nonetheless the goal was for Israel to understand God as distinct from pagan notions of “so-called gods” or “gods many and lords many” (1 Cor. 8:5).
When we open the New Testament the most common name for God is that of Father. This was the way Jesus most often spoke of God. This way of thinking about God is familiar, close and intimate. Even though the Old Testament evidences some foregleam of God as Father — as when Isaiah voiced a prayer that said, “Doubtless You are our Father” (63:16) — it remained for Jesus to attach the title Father to God.
He did this on numerous occasions as when in the Sermon on the Mount He spoke of doing “the will of my Father in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).
‘I commit my spirit’
We most famously recall how He opened the model prayer saying, “Our Father who art in heaven” (Matt. 6:9) or His words of relinquishment from the cross: “Father, into your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46). The followers of Christ adopted this way of thinking about God by often speaking of Him as “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Referring to God as Father conveys a certain intimacy or family connection in which God is not merely high and lifted up but also is close to those who know and love Him. Jesus caught this note of a loving relationship in the parable of the prodigal son.
The image of that waiting, loving, welcoming and restoring father in the parable speaks volumes to us about God’s nature or attitude toward His imperfect people.
During this month we will explore some of the implications of God’s fatherhood.
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