Many Names but still Father…

In my mind, my dad has only one title — dad or father. I’d never call him ‘the old man’ or by any other term, derogatory or affectionately. However, today’s devotional asks: But what about the other names of God; do they not convey other and more terrifying ideas?

Yesterday it mentioned three: judge, king, and lawgiver. I cannot remember my father every judging me, putting me in a rare group. He evaluated things, but never made me feel as if I was under his scrutiny.
Of course my heavenly Father is a judge, yet in judging me He finds me totally wanting. As with everyone else, I fall short of the glory of God, missing the mark and having no merit or legal right to stand before Him. Yet all is not lost.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17–21)

This is an incredible reality. God judged me, found me guilty, put my guilt on Christ trading it for His righteousness that I might be justified. No guilt. No condemnation. This is the love and grace of my Father the Judge.

He is also my King. That is, He rules over me. My life is not my own. Yet He is not a despot king nor one who rules with an iron fist. He rules the universe yet somehow governs it so all things are for me, not against me.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28–29)

How does God do that? We often say in our church, “Only God” for we know the power of this King who is also our Father.

As for Lawgiver, I remember this word by Watchman Nee. He said, “The Lawgiver on the throne has become the Law-keeper in our hearts.” Again, this is the mighty love of my Heavenly Father. He does for me what I could never do apart from Him.

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. (Psalm 103:13)

I’m to always think of Him as my Heavenly Father. All He does is what a good, good Father would do. Christ declares Him that I might know God’s love and never have any anxious or rebellious thoughts. The NT puts it this way:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31–39)

PRAY: Jesus, You took my sin and shame that I might know the wonder of being loved by God. Indeed, what can I say to these things! All that I have needed, You have provided. How wonderful is Your love for me.

I belong to Jesus . . .

Life is full of disappointments, yet because I believe in the sovereignty of God, and that I belong to Him, I know that whatever happens is for my good, even if it does not seem like it at the time. He may show me His reasons for those disappointments, but even if He does not, I can still call Him a good, good Father. I can still . . .

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:1–5)

All people belong to God by creation, but we who believe belong in a more intimate way, like a child belongs to its father. We enjoy a loving family relationship with our heavenly Father and His human family.

This is God’s idea. He said, ‘I will be their God; and they shall be my people.’ All Christians belongs to God because God choose them . . .

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16)

“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14)

Not only did God choose me to be His child, He bought me out of slavery at an incredible cost. I am redeemed from the curse of sin because of Jesus . . .

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13)

It is one thing to be chosen, one thing to be redeemed, but God also changed me, made me a new person. As a sinner, all I could choose was sin, but as a new creation, I am able to willingly choose to serve Him, not sin.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved . . . .” (Ephesians 2:1-5)

All this is more than a change of mind. It is a change in the direction of life, a turn-about made possible by identification with Jesus. Just as He died for my sin, I have died to my sin — and this was visibly declared when I was publicly baptized.

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” (Romans 6:4–6)

This is real stuff. At times, the temptation to sin is strong. At times, I want to quit this way of life for it can be very difficult, but I cannot — because I belong to God. He does not quit. He lives in me and carries out His will in me.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, baptism was my public confession of faith that identified me as belonging to You. Because that is true, glorifying You with my body in the way I live is not only reasonable, but possible. I’m amazed at how Your Spirit warns and protects me, keeping me from doing things that do not honor You. Because I belong to You, I am set free from the bondage of not being able to choose anything else but sin — and in the glorious place of knowing and loving You.

Disobedience, punishment, and amazing grace

Daniel 9:1–10:21, 2 Thessalonians 2:1–17, Job 42:1–9

Most parents want their children to obey them. When the child rebels, those parents warn them of the consequences. If disobedience continues, the wise parent may even use those consequences to build an attitude of willing submission. This is not tyranny, abuse, or because the child is annoying them, but a wise decision made by a loving parent.

Why then do many people resist and are even angry about the idea that God is a heavenly Father who wants obedience from His children? He also might use the consequences of disobedience to train His children. This is for our good and not because He is riled.

Daniel was one of the few heroes of the Old Testament who understood that discipline is not a mean retaliation but a mercy.

In Daniel’s prayer of confession, he says: “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.” (Daniel 9:9–14)

Repeated disobedience brought a calamity. After seventy years in captivity, Israel did learn one thing; they abandoned idolatry and obediently worshiped God only.

Job was not rebellious but he did challenge the wisdom of God. After the Lord spoke to him about what He alone can do, Job answered and said: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1–6)

Then the Lord turned to Eliphaz, one of Job’s ‘friends’ who accused him of sin. He said, “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” (Job 42:7–8)

It is God’s prerogative to judge and punish sin. He tells parents to bring up their children in that same “nurture and admonition” but does warn the rest of us to be careful about making judgments. If what we say is not true, then we are in league with “the accuser” of God’s people, the lawless one.

Paul warned about unrighteous judgment also. He said, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7–12)

There are people who love their sin more than God, and don’t care about the consequences. Daniel and Job were not in that group. Neither are those who have yielded their lives to Jesus Christ. Of them, Paul writes, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17)

The well-known song, Amazing Grace, says, “Once I was lost, but now am found, blind but now I see . . . .” the way to this blessing is to follow Daniel and Job in their prayers of repentance and submission, knowing and believing the truth and desiring to be obedient to our Heavenly Father, yet the only reason we are able to think or act this way is because of the amazing grace of our God.

My father and my Father

Often I tell others that our view of our earthly father will affect our understanding of our heavenly Father, yet I must heed my own words. My earthly father was told I would not live past age 16, so he hardly ever said no. Most of what I wanted was not evil but self-indulgent, like a couple of horses and the use of the family car. However, it put the notion in my head that if I ask God, He will eventually give me whatever I want.

Theoretically, it is easy enough to distinguish between asking for something good and evil. Verses like these even encourage Christians to keep asking . . .

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7–11)

But in practice, I’m blessed by the “good gifts” only in the sense of how God defines good, not how my old self defines it. If I set my mind on some selfish “good” thing, that old nature can be like a bulldog with a bone, even when my Christian faith and new nature in Christ says I’m being selfish.

I can see how this could go the other way too. Those who had abusive fathers could sometimes think God is mean, or those who had irresponsible and uncaring fathers could fear that God did not love them or care about their lives. The Word of God says otherwise, and the rational mind argues that those ideas are not true, but deep inside, doubt and unbelief sometimes cloud reality.

Blaming dad isn’t the route to take. When I fall into a false view of God, I need to review what my heavenly Father has done in my life and what He says about Himself. I also need to confess my blame-shifting too. I cannot hang on to those sinful and selfish “I wants” using those childish misconceptions as an excuse to stay locked in to them. God is my Father, and as good as my father was to me, my heavenly Father has far more in mind than pleasing me for a mere sixteen years. His goals are eternal and life-changing . . .   

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. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:1–3)

He protects and cares for me, but does not want me to be a slave to my old way of life. “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:17–19)

Those “futile ways” may have seemed fine at the time, but whenever I step backward into them, I find myself in a trap that I cannot get out of by my own efforts. Whenever any “I wants” take over, instead of rejoicing that Christ is my Lord and Savior, I am enslaved to selfishness and begin to lose confidence in God. At that point, He bids me to bring it all to Him and leave it all with Him.

I also need to focus on the fact that the blood of Christ was shed so I can be free of such things. If the loss of those “I wants” is difficult, I need to remember that Jesus said, “Not my will but Thine be done” and also that I now belong to His family and His Father.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:15–17)

Our Heavenly Father will not indulge selfishness, but He does make His children heirs of all things. Besides, if God said yes to everything I ask for now, I would soon be a slave to self-indulgence. By saying no, I might feel a temporary loss, but the gain is eternal.

God is my Father

From Genesis to Malachi there is no instance of an individual speaking of God as Father. Moses, Abraham, David or Isaiah did not use this name for God. It was the Son of God who told us we could say, “Father” when we turn to Him in our prayers and in our need.

And he said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come…’” (Luke 11:2)

I’ve been thinking about my earthly father this week, mostly about his sense of humor. He seemed always happy and quick to share funny stories with others. When I read this verse, I wondered if my heavenly Father enjoys laughter in the same way. I also thought how easy it is to attribute to God the same qualities of our earthly fathers, sometimes in grave error.

My dad was a good man who worked hard and loved people. He was generous to me, even spoiled me. For a long time, I thought God would do the same. My father was a smart person, but my heavenly Father is wiser and knows that what I want is not always the best choice for me, a lesson that took some time to learn!

Others struggle with thoughts of a father who was less kind, even cruel or abusive. How can a heavenly Father be thought of as loving and perfect when the word ‘father’ is filled with horrid connotations?  For some, this is an insurmountable learning curve.

Still, Jesus Christ told us to call God, “Father” because He wanted to bring sunshine into our souls and hope into our lives. He wanted us to know that God is more than wisdom, power, and justice, He is also relational, caring, protective, all things that a good father should be.

The devotional writer adds that God is Father to everybody, but not all are His children. Those created by His loving hand have gone astray. All became alienated from their true heritage by sin, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) 

Christ came into the world to reveal God as Father, but also to seek His lost children and bring us back home again in a new relationship. That is, whoever receives Jesus into their hearts also receives the Spirit of adoption and becomes a child of God by a new birth. In those, Christ lives, gives His life, becomes a brother. We speak the name Father with a new sense of relationship, one not the same as when He is acknowledged as Creator.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God… (Romans 8:14–16)

He is now “Abba” an ancient term that means “Daddy.” By calling Him Father, I acknowledge Him as my Creator, sustainer and source of both this life and the life to come. By calling Him Abba, I declare that He is far more than that.