God is our Father

God is our Father
Future Hope
Terry R. Baughman

“Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change” (James 1:17 TPT).

God could have chosen to reveal himself in many ways. He could have appeared as a towering giant, arrived as an incredible force like the winds of a storm, adopted the shape as an unusual animal, or descended on the earth as an alien in a spacecraft. Of all the various images or adaptations He could have chosen to make Himself known in the world, He chose rather to be a Father, our Heavenly Father. 

At times throughout history God revealed Himself as an angel of the Lord, a burning bush, or the fourth man in the furnace of fire with the three Hebrews. However, when He came to reveal His plan of redemption for fallen humanity, He adopted the appearance of a newborn and grew up among us. To personally identify with all people He became one of us, the Almighty God veiled in flesh. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 NKJ).

The incarnation brought a distant deity in contact with humanity. Paul said, “God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16 NKJ). Paul also wrote, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19 NKJ). This manifestation of God was near, real, and personal. He came with a purpose, “To seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 9:10 NKJ), but He also came to establish a familial relationship with His created ones. He didn’t come to be our superhero; He came to be our Father. We are His children!

The most endearing relationship God could devise was that of a father and family. As our Heavenly Father, He embodies every quality that He envisioned in a relationship with us. All of heaven’s resources are available to Him and to us through our requests. Jesus said, “Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22 NKJ).

Jesus reminded us that our, “Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8 NKJ). However, prayer is a privilege and Jesus gave us this example for prayer. He said, “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name …” (Matthew 6:9 NKJ). In our first address of prayer we recognize that everything flows from “Our Father.” 

Not all earthly fathers have the sterling characteristics that God desires to exhibit in fatherhood. Some fathers have been abusive, selfish, overbearing, and even cruel, but that is not what God intended for fathers to be. He modeled the perfect father. He modeled the characteristics of being loving, self-sacrificing, kind, approachable, considerate, merciful, forgiving, and on and on.  Indeed He is a “good, good father!”

Jesus said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13 NKJ).
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Theme passage:
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJ).