What does it mean to have God as our Father?
Oftentimes we begin our prayers with the words, “Our Father . . .” But I wonder how real these words are to us? I wonder how far they have altered our identities—our sense or ourselves.
By what right do Christians call God their Father?
In the moment that we give our lives to Christ, the Bible says we are born again. John 3:3 says, “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” This who section of John 3 is most revealing.
Here are some scriptures that speak of this rebirth:
John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Romans 8:14-17 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:23 Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
1 John 3:9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.
1 John 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
These scriptures speak of the most profound change that happened to us when we accepted Christ. We were born again. These are not just words. They are words that describe reality. The author of Hebrews says, “Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!” (Hebrews 12:9). This is the contrast we must all get settled in our minds. We all have earthly fathers. Some were good fathers, some not. But notice the difference that happens in Christ. Our fathers are no longer our source of authority. Now, it is God. Does this mean we no longer love and respect our fathers? Absolutely not. We honor them more, because now we honor them in obedience to our true father, God (see the fifth commandment).
What will change when we know God as our father?
In a word, everything. It changes our identity, our outlook, our personal life mission, our afterlife, our relationships, and our faith. J. I. Packard said it very well:
“You sum up the whole New Testament teaching in a single phrase, if you speak of it as a revelation of the fatherhood of the holy Creator. In the same way, you sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. ‘Father’ is the Christian name for God.” Evangelical Magazine, 7, pg. 19f. in, Knowing God, pg. 182.
Conclusion:
We need to meditate on the fact that when we gave our lives to Christ we were really born again, re-born with God’s seed, making Him our true father and us his sons and daughters for all eternity.
Oftentimes we begin our prayers with the words, “Our Father . . .” But I wonder how real these words are to us? I wonder how far they have altered our identities—our sense or ourselves.
By what right do Christians call God their Father?
In the moment that we give our lives to Christ, the Bible says we are born again. John 3:3 says, “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” This who section of John 3 is most revealing.
Here are some scriptures that speak of this rebirth:
John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Romans 8:14-17 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:23 Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
1 John 3:9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.
1 John 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
These scriptures speak of the most profound change that happened to us when we accepted Christ. We were born again. These are not just words. They are words that describe reality. The author of Hebrews says, “Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!” (Hebrews 12:9). This is the contrast we must all get settled in our minds. We all have earthly fathers. Some were good fathers, some not. But notice the difference that happens in Christ. Our fathers are no longer our source of authority. Now, it is God. Does this mean we no longer love and respect our fathers? Absolutely not. We honor them more, because now we honor them in obedience to our true father, God (see the fifth commandment).
What will change when we know God as our father?
In a word, everything. It changes our identity, our outlook, our personal life mission, our afterlife, our relationships, and our faith. J. I. Packard said it very well:
“You sum up the whole New Testament teaching in a single phrase, if you speak of it as a revelation of the fatherhood of the holy Creator. In the same way, you sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. ‘Father’ is the Christian name for God.” Evangelical Magazine, 7, pg. 19f. in, Knowing God, pg. 182.
Conclusion:
We need to meditate on the fact that when we gave our lives to Christ we were really born again, re-born with God’s seed, making Him our true father and us his sons and daughters for all eternity.
