Who is God the Father?
It is difficult to separate the persons of the Godhead into Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sometimes. In the Old Testament God is never called “The Father.” The universal general terms “God” and “Lord” are used along with the specific name “Yaweh” which would include all three Persons. Only once in a while do we see more than one Person spoken of as God: Isa. 44:6, Genesis 18 and 19, Amos 4:11 for example.
Probably one of the easiest ways to understand Who God the Father is is to look at how He relates to the other two Persons of the Trinity. By agreement with the Son and the Holy Spirit, He is the primary or ruling Person of the godhead. Both the Son and the Holy Spirit are voluntarily submissive to His will.
According to Hebrews 1:5, The Father and Son became known as such when the Son agreed to become subject to the Father and take the submissive role of a Son. According to Phil. 2:5-8, this took place when Jesus emptied Himself, took the form of a man, and became obedient to the point of death. All three Persons were equal in every way including rank before this, and this was done for our benefit. More on that when we look at the Son. John 14:28 tells us the Father is now positionally above the Son. Of course, they are still equal in all other ways.
John 14:16-17 tells us the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father, therefore He is submissive to the Father as well. So, we have a hierarchy in the trinity. All three are called God as we saw in the last blog, but the Father is the Head to the other two Persons of the trinity now (1 Cor. 11:3). Again, this was not always true.
So, how did the Father act in the ministry of Jesus? When Jesus walked the earth, He could do nothing unless the Father empowered Him to do so (John 5:19). It was the Father doing the works through Jesus.
It was the Father who sent the Son and announced Jesus as His Son at His baptism (Matt. 3:17; John 5:37, 8:28-29). So, the Father has set His seal on the Son (John 6:27).
The Father is very active in our salvation. It is the Father Who draws all to the Son (John 6:37; 14:6). No one can come to the Son otherwise (John 6:44). All who have heard and learned from the Father come to Jesus (John 6:45).
Everything Jesus did, He did by the power and in the name of the Father (John 10:25)
The Father charged Jesus to die on the cross and raise Himself from the dead. (John 10:18). Jesus did this willingly, of course, for the joy that was set before Him for doing so while despising the shame (Heb. 12:2).
It is the Father who raises the dead (John 5:21). And, when we stand before Christ’s judgment (2 Cor. 5;10) it is the Father Who will honor us and it is He who has many mansions for us (John 12:26; 14:2).
We often see the Father as a wrathful God, an angry God, waiting for us to step out of line. One reason Jesus came to earth was to dispel that idea. Jesus is the exact representation of the Father (John 14:7-9). So, the Father is just like Jesus, loving, caring, merciful, and just. After all, Paul includes the Father and Jesus in his greetings as the source of peace and grace (Rom. 1:7).
The Father was active in raising Jesus from the dead (Rom. 6:4; Gal. 1:1)
His love is immeasurable. After all, it is the Father Who adopts us as children of God (Rom. 8:15; 1 John 3:1).
Why is this important?
As Christians, we need to know the God we worship as clearly and personally as possible. Anything less is unfair to Him. Understanding just who the Father is is a major step in understanding who God is, why He sent His son, and how He love us.
Next time, we’ll look at the Son and all that involves in a few hundred words. May the Father bless you all this week as we see Him in His glory.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 