You see we cannot know the father without a knowledge of Jesus.
Jesus said in John 14:7-11. In this scripture Jesus reveals the father to His disciples
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
The key here to knowing the father is knowing Jesus.
You cannot separate the relationship of Jesus from that of the father.
In John 14, I realised that the word FATHER or MY FATHER has been used 23 times. Giving us an insight into who the Father is to Jesus and hence our relationship with father.
In the book of Ephesians Paul writes to the Ephesian Church, saying I bow my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ and emphasis the fact that the whole family on this earth is named after Him.
He is the Father from whom all fatherhood is named
Ephesians 3:14- 15 says
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
1 Corinthians 8:6
6 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.
Our existence on this earth is because of God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ who created everything through Jesus Christ and still partners with Him in ONENESS.
SO, WHO IS THIS FATHER?
When we look at John 3:16
It says for God so loved the World that He gave His only begotten son---
So, we can see from John’s writing that Jesus is the Son of God.
So, who is God?
Many have asked this same question and will continue to ask.
Yet Romans 1:20 says this
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
To know who the father is we have to go back to the book of beginnings
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth
The book of Genesis is one when looked at with open mind, we will realise that it is not about creation but about the creator. It does not argue or try to prove the existence of God. It declares the very existence of God.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth
The opening sequence is not about how the world came to be but about who created the world.
As much as many will want to argue about this…
- ETERNAL GOD
God was there before creation. He is eternal. We have to therefore believe by faith.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
He who comes to God must believe that exists - there is something about the word HE IS.
When Moses asked God that who should he say has sent him.
Exodus 3:13-15
13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’
What we can see here is that God existed before existence itself.
Jesus said to the Jews “before Abraham was, I am”
- HE HAS PERSONALITY
He thinks, He feels, He speaks, He loves us, He makes decisions. He is a warrior; He listens to us and response. He is not an it. He is a person; He is a spirit We are created in His image and His likeness.
- HE IS UNCREATED
He is the uncreated creator. He has always been and will always be. He is the creator.
- HE IS CREATIVE
God is very creative, His imagination has no equal - There is not a single human being that has the same finger prints, of the 7 billion people on this universe we have all been created in a unique way.
Psalm 139:13-15
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvellous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skilfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
The billions of stars, the planets, the sun, the moon, the trees, the mountains, these are all the handwork of God.
- GOD IS ORDERLY
Some years ago, as I was reading the bible the Lord began to open my eyes to the orderliness of God. There is nothing that was created that was created out of place, everything God created has order. When we look at the beginning of the book of Genesis, we notice it says there was darkness everywhere. What is interesting is that God did not create man first, but began in verse 3
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So, the evening and the morning were the first day.
Even the distance of the sun from the earth has all been calculated with precision - the Sun is 93 million miles away from the earth for a reason.
- GOD IS A COMMUNICATOR
The more we look at scripture the more we hear these statements…” God said” “God Spoke to them” and God said where are you Adam
You can never know Him as a father based on your intellect
It has to be an inner personal relationship because you believe in Him. It is a walk of faith. You have to believe in His existence and that He is who He says He is
ABBA FATHER
Paul now makes this fatherly relationship clear to us in the book of Galatians
Galatians 4:6-7
6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God.…
Romans 8:15-16
15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
You cannot know Him as a Father if your mind is clouded by disappointments
Fear of failure
Fear of the unknown
Fear of disappointments
As we develop spiritually in our faith, we will realize the deep, diverse relationships we have with God, our Father.
Abba goes beyond just the word “DADDY” it is the Aramaic word for father depicting the deepest intimacy of paternal relationship with a heavenly father.
Our Father who is heaven
He is our Creator, Saviour, Judge, Lord, King, father and so on. But the most important appellation to Him is Abba Father. As our heavenly father, he knows us completely. So much is His Love that He has a hope and future for us.
