Fatherhood
of God
Benevolent Patriarch. In all the fullness of its meaning, it belongs only to God. When Jesus called God His Father, He was not borrowing an earthly name to teach a heavenly truth, but rather lent men a heavenly name to indicate to them an earthly responsibility. There are only 14 references to God as father .... That will show that occasionally in Old Testament times the truth shone out upon the minds of prophets and singers; but it is perfectly certain that, on the whole, the Hebrew people had no conception of God as Father in the full sense of the word, which was brought to light through the Son. The New Testament has 254 references to the Fatherhood of God. Of those, 211 are in the Gospels. In the writings of John are 146. The rest are scattered over the other writers. The word Father itself does not at all suggest what we mean by the word father today in America. It does not suggest the origin of life. The Greek word as well as the Latin word which came from the Greek as well as our American word which came from the Latin does not suggest the origin of life or the fountain of life but rather a sustainer, a nourisher, one who cares for his children. The Father then is One Who nourishes, One Who cares for, One Who makes His sun to shine upon both the evil and the good; One Whose relationship to those to Whom He is Father is the relationship of providence, of love, of care, of thought, blessing and guidance. See John 1:18; John 5:18-19.
The full implication of God’s
fatherhood for the daily life of the disciples is not stated categorically, nor
would one expect them to be. If, however, the Fatherhood of God is basic to the
entire revelation of His Person in Christ as the Son, the nature of that
Fatherhood should be apparent in His dealings with men through Christ.
First, as the potential Father of
every believer, God is revealing the normal relationship of men to Him. By normal
is meant the standard of what the relationship should be, not a consensus of
what it is. Jesus told His adversaries that they were descended from their
father, the devil, and that they reproduced his nature (John 8:44; Eph. 5:1).
Their obvious opposition to God was evidence they they did not belong to His
family, and their rebellion was an abnormality. Jesus was desirous that all
should believe on Him and be brought into family relationship.
This introduction could only be
accomplished by the new birth. The confession of faith evinced by baptism and
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit would mark the implantation of a new nature
that would recognize and respond positively to the Person of God the Father.
This response involves confidence in God's promises. He becomes the focus of
interest and of devotion. He is no longer a distant Person whose power and
holiness must be acknowledged without any further concern for relationship with
Him. He becomes at once an intimate Friend, a personal Comforter and Counselor,
and the gracious Arbiter of life. God is no longer a name or power, but a
Person with Whom the believer maintains daily contact.
Such a relationship means that God
becomes knowable. Jesus claim was a perfect experiential knowledge of God. He
said to the Samaritan woman, "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what
we worship, for salvation is of the Jews" (4:22). The Samaritans'
religion had suffered corruption by an admixture of pagan rites and attitudes
at the time of the exile, and in subsequent times had accepted a syncretism
that united their deity with Zeus. In such worship there could be no contact
with a personal God. Jesus said also to the recalcitrant Jews, whose worship
was not diluted by paganism, "He that sent Me is true (real), whom ye
know not. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He hath sent Me" (7:28-29).
On another occasion He repeated almost the same words: "Ye neither know
Me nor My Father: if ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also"
(8:19). At the conclusion of this interview with the Jews He said: "Ye
have not know (egonkate) him, but I know (oida) Him; and if I should say, I
know (oida) Him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know (oida) Him and
keep His saying (word) (8:55). Both verbs employed in this context indicate
knowledge: oida is generally used of knowledge concerning facts; ginosko, of
the knowledge which comes from experience. In either case Jesus indicated that
not even a factual understanding of God is possible to unbelief.
Jesus' knowledge of the Father
involved also a comprehension of the Father's purpose for Him. On the occasion
of the Last Supper, when the disciples exhibited a remarkable obtuseness to the
significance of the situation, Jesus knew (eidos) that His hour had come, and
that the Father had committed to Him all responsibility (13:1, 3). Not only was
He aware of impending death, but also He was absolutely confident of His
destiny. The contrast between His calmness and the anxiety of the disciples is
striking.
An illuminating difference between
these two verbs is illustrated in Jesus' reply to Thomas after the latter had
said, "Lord, we know (oidamen) not whither Thou goest; and how can we
know (oidamen) the way?" (14:5) Jesus replied, "If ye had
known (egonkate) Me, ye should have known (odeite) My Father also"
(14:7). Although the significance of the interchange of verbs in this passage
may be argued either way, either that there is a subtle difference or that they
are completely synonymous, it is probably better to assume a distinction. Jesus
is saying that if the disciples had become fully acquainted with Him by
experience, they would have had a correct concept of the nature of the Father.
The sin of men can be attributed to
experiential ignorance of God. Jesus, in describing His persecutors, said, "These
things will they do unto you, because they have not known (egosoan) the Father
nor Me:" (16:3). Sin is not caused simply by intellectual ignorance or
bewilderment, but by an alienation of will that precludes acquaintance with the
holiness and protection of the Father.
Another corollary of the Fatherhood
of God is protection. He guards the destinies of the members of His family.
John states that when Jesus fell into disfavor with the Jews no man took Him,
because "His hour had not come" (8:20). On another occasion "they
sought Him...but He escaped out of their hand" (10:39). His life was
preserved until His destined work was completed. Jesus relation with the Father
explains His prayer for the disciples: "The world hath hated them,
because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not
that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them
from the evil one" (17:14-15). The protection of God does not mean
immunity from danger, but it does mean protection from the power of evil and
from ultimate disaster.
The Fatherhood of God is a motive
for life. In explaining the figure of the vine and the branches, Jesus
impressed upon the disciples that they were obligated to bring forth fruit
(15:2, 5). The motive for fruitbearing is the glorification of the Father. The
ultimate purpose of all life is to honor the wisdom and power of God, who has
created man and placed him in the world for a constructive purpose. To fulfill
this purpose is the way to the fullest realization of the Fatherhood of God.
The Fatherhood of God implies also a
destiny. Jesus' parting promise was that He would go to prepare a place for His
disciples in the Father's house (14:2-3). He certainly would not prepare for
those whom He never expected to arrive. Jesus knew that He was going to God via
the suffering of the cross (13:1; 17:11), and He was promising to them what He
expected on the basis of His knowledge of God's Fatherhood (17:24).
SUMMARY
From the beginning of the believer's
spiritual life to his final glorification, the fatherhood of God is the basis
for the believer's experience. It is not surprising Paul speaks of "the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family [every fatherhood,
pateria] in heaven and earth is named" (Eph 3:14-15). This
relationship of God to men, perfectly exemplified in the life of our Lord Jesus
Christ, is both the highest expression of His consciousness of His relation to
God and the fullest attainment that man can reach through union with Him. In
this way Jesus' prayer reaches its full fruition: "That they may all be
one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in
Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me" (John 17:21).
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