Christian Faith: The Basics, Part 22

God has revealed Himself first of all, as our Father.

Of course, in saying this, neither the Bible or Christians means that God the Father is of the male gender. Jesus says that God is spirit, for one thing. For another, when God created the first human beings, we're told that they were made in the image of God and that God created them male and female. Both the man and the woman reflected God's image in some way; God is really beyond gender.

The Father is the first Person of the Trinity I described in my last post. It was really Jesus Who used this term of the Creator with any frequency. References to God as Father were rare in Old Testament times.

Jesus' designation of God the Father was revolutionary. It conveys something of the relationship of God to those He created. When you have an appreciation of God as your Father, it makes the answer to the Old Testament psalmist's question a bit less mysterious:

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? (Psalm 8:3-4, New Revised Standard Version)

God is mindful of us because He loves us a bit like a human father loves his children.

In fact, Jesus says that our heavenly Father loves us even more than our parents ever could. Once, when explaining God's receptivity to the prayers of His children, Jesus said:

"Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13, New Revised Standard Version)

The Father wants to be with us in every part of our lives.

Jesus conveys how close the Father wants to be to us by the particular Aramaic word He uses for Father. He calls the Father, Abba, a term that can be translated as Daddy.

If you've come from a family where the adult male in your household wasn't much of a father, this image of the first Person of the Trinity may be difficult to latch onto. It may even turn you off. Hang in there with me, please. In the next installment of this series we'll look at what this Father is like.

God has revealed Himself first of all, as our Father.