God is known throughout the Bible by many names. The
Everlasting God, God Almighty, Yahweh, Lord, Master, Creator, Sustainer are
just a few. In His divine nature and ultimate power He could have chosen to
have us call Him anything, but God, in His desire for intimacy, chose to let us
know Him as Father. We call Him Father and He calls us His children.
What does this mean? God the Father, in His perfection, knew
we would not be able to grasp who He is or fully understand His love for us. He
knew our humanness we could never comprehend the vast love of a divine Creator
so God chose to use human relationships and experiences as an illustration of
His divine attributes. Throughout the Bible, God uses this imagery and
storytelling as He paints a picture of His deep desire to restore mankind and
establish a relationship with them.
To fully understand the significance of this truth, we must
understand what a father is meant to be. Some were not portrayed a Biblical
earthly example of a father. Either through absence, neglect, or abuse your
earthly father’s memory does not evoke feelings of love and devotion. The word “father”
brings memories of pain, strife, and abandonment that create a warped and
tainted view of this relationship. Friends, let me first say I am deeply sorry
for the pain you experienced. It was not God’s intention but a product of a
world mutated by sin and infested with its affect. The deep desires you have to
be loved, cared for, and accepted by your earthly father can still be met when
we run to the arms of our Heavenly Father.
Let’s examine this imagery of God being our Father. First,
He is our Creator. In Genesis 1 the Bible tells the story of creation. Mankind
originated from God as an expression of His desire to care for His creation. He
made us in His image and gave mankind everything He created to look after and
enjoy. He desired mankind to be prosperous and successful and He blessed them.
Up unto this point, creation is only looked upon as good. After God creates
man, He refers to His creation as VERY good. He created us willingly and
lovingly to be a blessing as we care for His creation. We also receive His blessing of prosperity
and provision.
Secondly, God the Father is a provider. God knew before He
created mankind provision would be needed. As sin entered the world and
division between God and mankind was established, His plan to provide payment
for sin was made known. We see God providing for His children as they wait for
payment to be made on the cross through the covenant God made with Abraham and
the laws He gave to Moses. The justice God the Father required was provided in
the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. All history built up to this event where
God the Father guaranteed His children eternal provision through Christ. His
love was so deep that He literally went to Hell and back so we could call Him,
father.
God the Father is not only an eternal provider but an
earthly provider as well. The Bible says God provides for the righteous and the
unrighteous. He sustains creation and provides a world where mankind can grow
and thrive. This provision is not based on mankind’s acknowledgment; rather it
is based on God’s desire to make Himself known so all may have an opportunity
to come to Him.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his
riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
~ Philippians 4:19
Lastly, God the Father loves unconditionally. We see a
beautiful image of His love for us in the story of the prodigal son. As the
father waits and watches, he sees the son coming in the distance and he runs to
greet him. Despite his grime and stench, the father throws his arms around him
in a tender embrace and kisses him. He wraps him in a robe and places the
family ring on his finger. The son knows exactly what he is going to say as he
begs the father for forgiveness, but the father does not listen. He orders his
servants to throw a party and the household rejoices in the lost son coming
home again.
Never does the Bible record the father wanting to know what
the son had done in his rebellion. Never does the father demand the son repay
what he has squandered. On the contrary, the father rejoices in finding his son
as he is. With an unconditional love and acceptance for who the son is right
now and not what the son could be tomorrow the father lavishly pours out his
love on his son. That’s the love God the Father has for us. A love that says
come as you are, broken and dirty, and I give you rest. It does not matter to
God what we have done. God only cares that we came home. Friends, His love
doesn’t have any strings attached. His love created us to be who we are and
when embrace and accept His love it mends the broken relationship and we close
to the Father once more.
You are His child. God the Father created you, provides for
you, and loves you unconditionally. I think of my sweet Stella as I rock her
and caress her tiny fingers. She cannot repay me for the provision we give. She
is vulnerable and if we did not provide her with food and care, she would die
because she cannot provide for herself. Stella is utterly dependent upon us for
her care and because we unconditionally love her, we take joy in this
provision. It is our greatest delight to provide for Stella and do whatever we
must to nurture and build our relationship with her. We love her no matter what
she does or will do. Her actions are irrelevant because our love will not
change no matter if it is desired, deserved, or reciprocated.
God the Father loves us the same way but with a stronger
more intense love only given by the Heavenly Father. He is passionate about us
with an all-encompassing love that never fails His children. Is that not what
we desire? To be loved no strings attached. Just loved because we are His
children and nothing we do or have done will ever change that. This love is
pure and simplistic but complex and profound at the same time.
You are His child. Even though you are vulnerable and unable
to care for yourself, He delights in your provision. He loves you even if His
love is not desired, deserved, or reciprocated. His love is never ending and
never changing because it is not based on who we are but on who He is. You are
His child, embrace it and run to the arms of God the Father.