God is our Father; God is the Father. But how? “Father” is a title relating to function.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9). Isaiah 63:16 declares, “But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.” When we use the term “Our Father” in relation to God, we must remember that this is not so much a name as it is a title resulting from a function.
How God Is Our Father?
We can say that God is our Father in two primary ways: through creation and through redemption.
1. Father as the Source of Creation
First, God is the Source and Sustainer of everything He created, which makes Him the Father of all things; He is the Father of creation. Malachi 2:10 says, “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?” God is called Father rather than Mother. Why? It has to do with function. He is the Source and Sustainer. Everything came from Him, but He Himself did not come from any other source. The word God means self-sustaining, self-sufficient One.
God is life and gives everything life. Hebrews 12:9 reveals that God is “the Father of spirits.” Why? “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24). He is the Source of all spirits because He created them all. Whatever God creates comes out of Him. Whether it is material or spirit, God is still the Father of it.
He is Father by virtue of His creative will. James 1:17 reveals that God is “the Father of the heavenly lights.” That means stars, suns, moons, and everything that exists in the universe came out of God. He is the Father of all that is.
What many people don’t understand is God’s nature. His very essence is “Father.” Why? He’s the Source of creation. He’s the Creator of all things; therefore, He’s Father.
Father comes with having the seed. If you produce the seed, you are the father. So the term Father is not just something bestowed upon God; it’s the natural result of Him creating everything. All of us came out of God, the Father.
Father as the Source of Redemption
2. God is also our Father through the redemption we have in Jesus Christ.
As the Son of God, Jesus consistently referred to God as His Father. Through His sinless life and sacrifice on the cross, He restored fallen mankind — who had rebelled against their Creator and had been cut off from fellowship with Him — to their heavenly Father. After Jesus’ resurrection, He said to His disciples, “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17).
We can call the Creator our Father again because of the redemption provided through Christ. Now, Jesus Himself is called “Father.” Look again at the powerful revelation given about Jesus: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, EVERLASTING FATHER, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
How is it that the child went from being the Son to being the Father? It is because Jesus and the Father are one. (John 10:30.) Ephesians 1:3 declares that God is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When the Son showed up on Earth, He came from the Father, yet they are one. The Father and the Son are one! In John 1:1, we read concerning Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” For His atonement purposes, Jesus is the Son, but when it comes to His function and responsibility, He’s “Everlasting Father.”
For example, when the religious leaders began talking to Jesus about their forefather Abraham, they essentially said, “We know who our father is.” They attempted to belittle Jesus by stating He didn’t know who His Father was. They were implying, “You’re illegitimate. You were conceived out of wedlock. You don’t know who Your father is. We know who our father is; our father is Abraham.” Jesus replied, “Don’t you know that before Abraham was, I am?” In other words, “Abraham came out of Me; I am Abraham’s Father.” (John 8.) It’s difficult to inform God about fatherhood; after all, He is Abba — the Source of all created things. The Son embodies the essence, the very being, of the Father. The early Christians recognized this. At the Council of Nicea (325 A.D.), they affirmed, We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things, visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten from the Father, only-begotten, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father, through Whom all things came into being, things in heaven and things on earth.
You cannot be a true father unless you are willing to uphold that which comes from you. God sustains everything that has come from Him. Through the Son, God the Father created all the worlds and upholds all things by the power of His Word. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:2–3)
A Male Is a Father
Now, with this understanding of father as source and sustainer, let us begin to see how God created the male to be a father on earth. Acts 17:26 reads, “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth.” Adam was created first (Genesis 2:7–8, 18–23), and it was from him that all humanity, including Eve, came. That is why, in the genealogy of Jesus recorded in Luke 3, the lineage concludes with, “…the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (v. 38). Adam came from God. In essence, the source is also the abba, the father.
Note that in the creation record in Genesis, God created only one human being from the soil. He never went back to the soil to create Eve or any other human being. He placed all of mankind in that first man, Adam. This is a mystery. Everything God wanted for the human race was in that one man. God went to the soil, carved out one male, breathed life into him, created from that male a female, and then said, “Now be fruitful.” (Genesis 1:28.) In that one man, Adam, was the potential for every other male and female in history. Why? Because God wanted Adam to be the source of all people, and He designed the male to be the father. The male is father, not by vote or cultural positioning, but by virtue of his disposition in the process of creation. This is because he — the human father — was to represent God.
Ideal Model, Example, and Mentor for Fathers
God is our Father. He is the one from whom all fatherhood on earth and in heaven stems. Apostle Paul said: “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” (Ephesians 3:14–15)
God is the Father of all things. We, as men and human beings, exist for Him. In 1 Corinthians 8:6, the Bible says, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”
Now, if we live through God the Father, then He is the perfect model, example, and mentor for all men who desire to be true fathers. Just as God is the Father of all living things, He made man to be the father of the human family. Every man is created with the responsibility of fatherhood. Every male carries with him millions of sperm because he is the “source.” Men have been prepared by God to be fathers. This is why every man, whether married or not, has the inherent identity and purpose of fatherhood.
Fatherhood is not necessarily linked to having a baby. You’re destined to be a father by the simple fact that you’re male. If you are male, then you are responsible for anything that comes from you. Since Eve was created from Adam, you are accountable for the female and any offspring that comes from her.
Paul referred to this principle and responsibility of the male as the primary source of the human family: “Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.…For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.” (1 Corinthians 11:3, 8, 11) God created man to be the father of the family. That’s why He made the male first.
Hallelujah! Fathers, you must know that God is a perfect Model, Example, and Mentor for any and all true fathers. Then, the question is, “Are you a true father?”
Contributor: Pastor Gilbert Magomere Ayieko
