When you pray, with what name do you address God? Although all the exalted titles we have given you are correct, as Christians we have the wonderful privilege of calling God "Father". But we can also know it that way.
The possibility of having such a relationship with God was a revolutionary idea in the first century (Matthew 6: 9). The Old Testament contains only fifteen references to God as "Father", and these refer primarily to Him as the father of the Hebrew people; the idea of the Lord as a personal God of people is not evident until the New Testament.
However, that was exactly the reason why Jesus Christ came to earth, to die on the cross for our sins and reveal the heavenly Father, so that you and I could know Him more intimately.
"Father", who appears 245 times in the New Testament, was Jesus' favorite word to refer to God; He mentioned it fourteen times only in the Sermon on the Mount, and he also used this name to begin to pray (Matthew 5-7). God's purpose is to reveal that God is not only a transcendent force somewhere in the universe, but rather a loving and personal heavenly Father who is deeply interested in the details of our lives.
Many people, even believers, do not think that God is such a close father, especially if they are living in disobedience. But Scripture refers again and again to Him as "Father." Paul's letters, for example, begin that way, and the apostle describes believers as a house or a family of God, calls them children of God and joint heirs with His Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17).
The privilege of knowing God as Father implies more than knowing him as a person or a spirit; it goes beyond the simple familiarity of His incomparable grace, love and kindness, and even surpasses knowing Him in His holiness, equity and justice.
How wonderful it is that we, mere creatures, can personally know Him as our own heavenly Father! In addressing Him as "Father," Jesus revealed His intention that we would understand what the Old Testament saints could not fully understand: that we can be blessed with an intimate relationship with the living God of the universe.
Actually, it is through the person of Jesus Christ that we can know God in this way. Unfortunately, many mistakenly believe that this privilege belongs to all of humanity.
Sometimes we hear phrases like "the fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of men"; These strict words express the mistaken idea that God is the Father of all, and that we are all brothers.
Of course, because God is the Creator of life, we could in a sense identify him as the father of humanity. But the Bible uses the name "Father" to indicate an intimate and personal relationship, which definitely does not apply to all of humanity.
When the Lord Jesus gave his disciples a pattern of prayer, he addressed His words to "our Father who art in heaven" (Matthew 6: 9).
Some people claim that this is a prayer that anyone can do, but note the words that follow: "Hallowed be your name."
It is interesting that, immediately after the reference to our heavenly Father, the sanctity of God is mentioned, precisely the attribute that separates sinful man from Him. Therefore, although it is true that everyone can pronounce this prayer, only those who You can truly call God your Father, you have the right to do it.
On the other hand, Jesus said: "No one comes to the Father, but through me" (John 14: 6). The attempt to approach the Father without the Son is tantamount to calling Jesus a liar. The explanation is that the word "Father" implies a relationship and being part of a family. Christ is the door to enter that family (John 10: 9, Galatians 3:26); Therefore, how can an unbeliever say that he is a "relative" if he rejects the only entrance to the family of God?
Jesus delves into the matter when he says to the unbelieving Pharisees: "My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen near the Father; and you do what you have heard near your father "(John 8:37, 38, italics added). For this reason we know that there are two spiritual fathers in the universe.
One is Jehovah, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. But who is the other? Jesus explained it to them clearly: "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He has been a murderer from the beginning, and he has not remained in the truth, because there is no truth in him ... And to me, because I speak the truth, you do not believe me "(verses 44, 45).
That sounds harsh, but our Savior always speaks the truth (John 14: 6a), and that is why His words are credible. Jesus tells us that if you do not have a relationship of faith with Jehovah, then your spiritual father is Satan.
Jehovah is the spiritual Father only of those who love Jesus and trust Him as Savior. If you have rejected the Son of God, you have denied the sacrifice made on your behalf at Calvary, and however difficult it may be to accept it, your father is the devil.
If you are not sure which family you belong to, take a moment to ask yourself the following: Do I irreverently use the name of God, and a minute later say I believe in Him? I cry out to Him in a crisis, but I do not take it in Does it count at other times? I love Jesus? Remember: the Bible says that if you do not know the Son, you can not know the Father (John 14: 6).
That is why Christ came into the world: to give us a small sample of who the Father is and what He is like. As John 1:18 says (NIV): "No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son ... he has made it known to us. Jesus says to us: "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14: 9).
How did the Son of God reveal his Father? He called the children to come to Him, and He took them in His arms; He healed the sick; he attended to the needs of the people. He did all the things a father would do.
The way God expresses His fatherhood
By observing God's model of fatherhood, we understand our relationship with Him better. By obeying His direction, we will be able to correctly express paternity to our children. Keeping this in mind, let's look at the seven aspects of His fatherhood to us.
First, He wants to have an intimate relationship with us. The Bible tells us to address Him as "Father," not just as "God," "sovereign King," "Holy," or "Judge." Although we must know Him in all aspects, the Lord wants us to approach Him in a transparent manner in everything, including our needs, weaknesses and failures.
Second, God longs to communicate with us. Matthew 6: 6 tells us to look for a secluded place to pray to our Father, "who sees in the secret [and who] will reward you." That is, God listens to us when we speak with Him, and the Lord answers the prayer. He is the kind of Father to whom we can talk to him, and although he may not give us everything we want, the Lord will respond to our requests by giving us what He knows is best for us (Matthew 7: 7-11).
God loves each one of us unconditionally. The nature of God is to love both the saint and the sinner, based exclusively on the fact that He is love (1 John 4: 8). The unbeliever has simply placed himself in a position where he can not experience that love, a situation whose remedy is to trust in Jesus as Savior.
Our heavenly Father supplies all our needs. The Bible assures us that our heavenly Father knows all our needs, even before we ask Him, and that He will supply them "according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Matthew 6: 8, Philippians 4:19). Your resources are unlimited, and we can be sure that none of our needs will stop being satisfied.
God disciplines His children (Hebrews 12: 5-10). He does not punish us out of anger, but with loving correction for our good. This punishment is, an evidence that we are, in truth, His children.
God always guides us to do the right thing. Jesus said that our Counselor the Holy Spirit would guide us to all truth (John 14:26, 16:13). God never leads us in the wrong direction; The Lord will "make our paths straight" if we trust in Him instead of in our own judgment (Proverbs 3: 5, 6).
Our heavenly Father is always with us. While human parents can not guarantee that they will be physically with their children forever, in another sense they can be with them.
For example, to this day I can hear the way my mother pronounced "Charles" when she prayed for me and presented my name before God. I still remember specific prayers that he did for me, I still feel his compassion, his love, and his concern for me.
Although I left my home at 18 years of age to go to college, I never left home, because I still live with the challenges that my mother made me to be the best and to strive in everything. With much greater reason, our Father in heaven promises that He will never forsake us, nor forsake us (Hebrews 13: 5), and His Spirit, who dwells in us, is always present to guide and inspire us.
Do you know God as your heavenly Father? If you do not know, know that He is ready to adopt you in His family (Romans 8:15, Galatians 3:26).
All you have to do is trust in His Son Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. As John 1:12 says: "To all who received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave them the right to become children of God."