I Believe in God the Father

How do we know that God exists? How do we know what God is like? These are important questions. Sometimes we ask them out of curiosity, at other times we ask them out of perplexity when life has brought big problems into our experience. Maybe we did not ask them until we found ourselves being drawn to ask them after we had heard the gospel described to us, and then discovered that the One doing the drawing was God himself. We became aware that God wanted us to know who he is.

We are familiar with stories of people searching for gold, but the searchers don’t possess a map or a set of guidelines to lead them in their search. All they knew was that some indicators pointed to the possibility of gold being there. If we had to search for God in that way, only having an awareness that some indicators point to his existence, there would be no guarantee that we would find him. Yet we know that when a person has a map or a set of guidelines he will find what he is looking for. God has provided the information that answers the questions at the start of this sermon. The information is in the Bible.

Some dismiss the claims of the Bible. They may give reasons for their dismissal. Yet the basic reason is that they have not used it to lead them to God. They are like people who miss out on discovering gold because they refuse to use a true map that was provided for anyone to use. The Bible is available. It claims to describe who God is and what he has done. In doing so, it says to everyone, ‘Come and see where I can take you.’ So what does it say about God? 

Basically, the Bible reveals that God is a trinity of three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. A great deal is said about each of the persons in the Bible, and it would be impossible to say everything about each of them in a short space of time. The Creed does refer to each of the three persons and in this sermon we will think about what it says about the Father. With regard to him, we are told three things in the Creed: (1) he is the Father, (2) he is almighty and (3) he is the creator of the universe. There is an obvious order in what is said. He could make the universe because he is almighty. So we can think briefly about each of these points.

 

God is the Father

We can consider his position as Father in three ways. First, he is the Father in the Trinity; second, he is the Father of his people; and third, he is the Father of his creatures.

 

In the Trinity, he is the Father. That is his name and it describes how he relates to the other two members of the Trinity. Of course, when we try to understand the Trinity, we soon find ourselves thinking about matters we cannot understand to any great degree. Yet we can say some things about it. 

 

The first detail to observe is that we are considering an eternal relationship – he never became the Father in the Trinity because he always was the Father. When we use the term ‘father’ in an earthly relationship, we know that the person involved became a father at some stage. There was a time in his life when he was not a father. But we cannot speak in such a way about the persons in the Godhead. The Father has been the Father eternally, the Son has been the Son eternally, and the Spirit has been the Spirit eternally. 

 

Moreover, we can observe that there is a loving relationship between the three persons – they love one another perfectly and fully, have always done so and will always do so. The Bible reveals that God is love, a statement that indicates an eternal reality about the Lord. We can say that the Son and the Holy Spirit love the fact that the Father is the Father. That last sentence may seem trite, but it is not. 

 

Third, the three persons are engaged in the working out of an eternal covenant in which each of them has particular roles. In Ephesians 1, we are informed that the role of the Father was to elect his people before time and to adopt them when they believed. 

 

Fourth, the Bible tells us in 1 John that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the World. This action is also described in John 3:16 which says that God gave his only Son so that sinners would trust in him and have eternal life. Where did the Father send his Son? We might reply, to earth. Where on earth did he send him? To the womb of Mary. So he sent him to become a man. And after that, we discover that Jesus was going to the cross where he would bear divine wrath against our sins. The one who expressed wrath was the Father, and he did so, and the Son accepted it, because they loved their people.

 

That brief description leads us to think about him as the Father of his people. When does he become their Father? He becomes their Father when they believe in Jesus after hearing the gospel. The Father does two things at that moment: first, he justifies the believing sinner, which means that he pardons that person and reckons the righteousness of Jesus to that person, meaning that he now has a permanent, perfect standing in the presence of God. At the same time, the Father adopts that justified sinner into his family and gives to him a right to all the family privileges. Those privileges include the indwelling Spirit as the Spirit of adoption, prayer, assurance of salvation, and the hope of heaven.

 

There is another sense in which God is a father and that is his relationship with his human creatures. He is their father in the sense that he is their creator and maintains them in existence, provides for their needs, and equips them to fulfil their callings in life. But this connection to God that they have as his creatures is not as high or as close as the relationship of adoption that his redeemed people have with him. 

 

But we can see that to call God ‘Father’ is to say a lot about him. When we say this name we refer to his place in the Trinity, to his relationship with his people, and to his contact with his creatures.

 

The Father is almighty

What do we mean when we say that the Father is almighty? We mean that there is no limit to his power or his abilities. God is referred to by this name on several occasions in the book of Genesis as well as elsewhere in the Old Testament. In Genesis 17:2, God appears to Abraham when he was ninety-nine years old and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.’ 

 

I would mention two details here. First, it is obvious that Abraham could not do anything to bring about that covenant promise to multiply him. Second, it was obvious that God could do it and he did. What was impossible with men to happen was possible with God.

 

When we think of this description of God, we surely find great encouragement in knowing that he is almighty. For example, take the verse, ‘if God be for us, who can be against us?’ It does not matter how strong our opponents are, or how numerous they are, they are very weak in comparison to the almighty God. And he has promised to help his people at all times. 

 

Or we can take the verse, ‘And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good’ (Rom. 8:28). What kind of person can work all things in such a way? The almighty God. Everything is within his grip. So when we call him the almighty God, we are affirming that he is the God of providence – he must be since he can work all things for the good of his people.

 

This means that we can regard the Father as the covenant God, the comforting God and the controlling God. In each of those areas, he remembers his purpose and his promises. He does not act outside of them. We are often apprehensive of leaders who have more power than others because we wonder if they could misuse it. And we know that many have. But the almighty God, who always has all power, never misuses his power, never makes a mistake regarding his power, and is never threatened by any other form of power. He is the almighty God. We can say, ‘Our Father is almighty.’

 

The Maker of Heaven and Earth

Here we reminded of what took place at the beginning of time as described in Genesis 1. We are familiar with what took place on the days of creation as God progressed through the stages of his plan for creation. It would have been possible for God to have made everything at the same time, yet he did not do so. Or he could have made a different kind of universe if he had wanted to do so. Instead, he created different things on each day of that first week, with each day being a preparation for what would happen on subsequent days.

 

This statement in the Creed is obviously connected to the previous points made about the Father. The greatest visible expression of divine power that we can see is the universe. We have no idea how big it is. That is what God reminded his people about through Isaiah. ‘To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see; who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing’ (Isa. 40:25-26). The stars testify to his greatness, and all we have to do is take a look and see that that is the case. 

 

Later on in the chapter, God also says about himself, ‘Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable’ (Isa. 40:28). God has never been tired, God has never been flummoxed, God has never been unable to do what he planned. 

 

If I was asked to hold a brick for five minutes, it would be easy. Maybe even five hours would be possible. But I could not do it for five days, for five weeks, for five months, for five years, for five centuries, for five millennia. God doesn’t merely hold up a brick for a long time, he holds everything in the universe in existence. What incredible power the Almighty has!  Yet we have to remember that this display of power is only a fraction of his might. He could easily hold a billion universes.

 

What is the connection between him being the Father and him being the Creator of the universe? Asking another question may help us answer that previous question: ‘To whom did he plan to give it?’ The answer to this question is that he gave it to his Son and that he gave it to his sons. His Son is the heir of all things, and his people are joint-heirs with him. We know at the moment that the creation is not what it was designed to be originally, but we also know that one day it will, when it is remade and delivered by God from its bondage to corruption. When that happens, we will see that the Father Almighty was and is the Maker of heaven and earth, and again we will see a fraction of his great power. But it will be marvellous to observe.

 

Application

The application is connected to the words ‘I believe.’ Obviously, there has to be an intellectual awareness of God to some extent before we can believe in him. The information that we need is provided for us in the Bible. When we say, ‘I believe,’ we are saying what we do with the information located there.

 

What should we do with the information? First, we should depend on such a great Father. After all, he is almighty. What more do we need to know? He can make universes, so surely he can take care of us when we trust in him. Of course, we know also that he sent his Son to be the Saviour, and he calls to us to depend on him for our salvation.

 

Second, we should delight in him because he has the ability to show us great things. If I had a favourite artist, I would go and see his paintings. Doing so would give me pleasure because I would be able to spot the various aspects of his style and I would marvel at his skill. We can take a look at any time at the things the Father has done, and what pleasure we can experience by doing so!

 

Third, we should worship the Father like the cherubim do when they declare in Revelation 4:8: ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Or like the elders in Revelation 4:11: ‘Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.’