God as Father is a welcome concept to some and a challenging one for others. Often, we let our experience of fatherhood shape how we then relate to God as a father, when really we need to completely reverse our approach.
God is the original Father, the creator of all. He created parenthood. It’s His incredibly generous love that defines what a parent can and should be. When we are loved well by our parents, when our fathers nurture, support and champion us, they are reflecting the very nature of God.
So whatever your experience of fathers is so far, try and approach God as Father with a clean slate. Let God, who is the author of family, of love and of belonging, introduce Himself as your father.
Now is the time to step into your identity as a son or daughter of the creator of the world.
Galatians 3:26 says: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.”
This verse is part of a chapter explaining that we’ve been made free by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. That, because of Him, we can live by grace.
From the moment humanity was created, we were part of God’s family. He has been our Father, our companion and our home from the beginning of time.
But, the fall meant a great divide was created between us and our Father. Since then, until the moment Jesus died on the cross, our relationship with God was impacted by the divide sin has caused.
What this pivotal verse in Galatians is saying is that because of what Jesus did on the cross we can once again live as family with God. As Jesus declared that the veil was torn, He was announcing a return of the relationship between us and our Father.
In 2 Corinthians 6: 18, Paul includes a promise from God: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters.”
Take a moment to imagine how dependant a child is on their parent. When we’re young we rely on our parents for everything, from the basics of somewhere to sleep and something to eat, to guiding us in how to live well. Young children’s lives are inseparable from their parents. They are entwined from morning to night.
It’s this relationship that we are designed to have with God.
The more you learn about God and the more time you spend with Him, the more you realise what a good Father He is and how blessed we are to be His children.
“For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.” Psalm 117:2
He is faithful. Psalm 117 describes the incredible faithfulness of God. Having a faithful father means we can trust that we are never alone and that no matter how messed up we get or how hard life is, we will always have God’s support.
Zephaniah 3:17 says: “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
God delights in you. This passage from Zephaniah gives us a glimpse into how much God loves us and how He delights over us. How incredible it is to think that God rejoices over us with singing.
In the gospel of Luke we’re told the story of the prodigal son. This well know parable describes a son who leaves home and squanders his inheritance. Even after disrespecting his father and living foolishly, the son’s father, seeing his son coming home, runs to welcome him.
He will always welcome us home. This parable is a powerful explanation of the sort of Father God is. No matter how many mistakes we’ve made, how foolish we’ve been or how long we’ve been away from home, He will always run to welcome us.
Knowing God as Father can be one of the most transformative relationships of your life. As we embrace our role as His sons and daughters, we are made new by His love, grace and forgiveness. The Bible is filled with verses that teach us about God as Father.
He provides for us:
Being God’s children means we can rely on His provision for us.
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26
This quotation from Matthew encourages us to remember that we can rely on God’s provision for us. We can trust that, just as the birds of the air have everything they need, so will we.
He gives us good gifts:
In Matthew 7 we find a beautiful depiction of God’s character as a Father.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:9-11
There are two important teachings in this passage. Firstly, Jesus teaches us that God loves to give us good gifts. He explains that every parent, even ones filled with their own failings and mess, loves to give their children good things. So then, imagine how much more God, our heavenly Father, loves to give us good gifts.
Secondly, Jesus encourages us to ask God for things. It can be so easy to forget that we can go to God with our hopes, our dreams and our needs and just ask Him.
Just as a child cries out when it needs food or comfort, God wants us, His children, to cry out to Him.
Sometimes we can understand something in our heads, but it can take a while to permeate through to our hearts.
So, while we might understand our identity as God’s children, we might not really feel it.
Feeling able to approach God as Father can take a bit of practice. Here’s a simple exercise you can do to help encourage you to really feel the safety and comfort of being God’s child.
Before you fall asleep at night, sit with a journal for a minute and try this exercise. Thinking back over your day, fill in the blank spaces as you write it down. Then, pray it out loud.
Father,
Today I’m so thankful for Your provision in this area…..
Today I found this … difficult and I would love Your help. Please let tomorrow bring a solution or breakthrough.
God, I need this … in my life now.
Thank You for loving me as Your own child.
Amen.
Photo by Cagatay Orhan on Unsplash Photo by Jason Blackeye on Unsplash.
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