Tuesday 22 July 2014

God’s Familiar NT Title = Father

God’s Familiar NT Title = Father


In the NT, God is mostly known by his familiar or family title, which is ‘The Father’. We find this in some very commonly understood references such as, the Lord’s Prayer.

Matt.6:9. In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

In this reference the connection between the Father in heaven and the Name of God is clearly made. The following references show the usual way that Jesus spoke of God as his Father. Jesus and the angels all had limited knowledge and power, and all that they possessed was derived from the Father, who alone has un-derived immortality and is the source of all life.

Matt.7:21. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Matt.23:9. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.

Mark.13:32. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

John.5:19. Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner…”

Just as Jesus declared God (The Father) to his generation, both by word and by deed (John.1:14, 18), there is coming a greater day when Jesus will come in the full power and authority of God the Father (Matt.16:27, Mark.8:38). On that day, he will reveal God in all His fullness, so that all will acknowledge this truth (Phil2:11, Eph.1:17). The following reference speaks of these things.

I.Tim.6: I3-16. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He (i.e. God) will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

So far we have mainly looked at the way some NT references refer to God as The Father. The reader is also urged to look at most of the NT letters and they will find that they all make a similar declaration. Here are some examples (1.Cor.1:3, 2.Cor.1:2, Eph.1:2-3, Col.1:2, 1.Thes.1:1 etc.), and below is a typical example to ponder.

Eph.1:17. that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him

The quest then is to find the true God as well as the meaning of His revealed words. This knowledge only comes from applying ourselves to the study and meditation of the word of God. This belief in God being the Father (alone) was clearly the common understanding in NT times. Rather than labour the point, for now we will look at some very clear references that show this fact, and how believing this teaching is important.

John.17:3. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (Voiced by Jesus while in prayer to His Father in heaven)

I.Cor.8:6. But to us there is but one God, the Father, of (meaning ‘out of’, speaking of origins) whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by (meaning ‘through’, and contrasted to out of) whom are all things, and we by him.

Eph.4:5-6. There is …. “one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

I.Tim.2:5. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

This concept of the Father alone being God is contrary to the view taught or believed by most of main stream Christianity. This is mostly true for the Clergy and those trained in various Theological Seminaries, although not universally true amongst the common church members.
The church teaching is generally Trinitarian. They teach that God exists as three person in one substance. This concept is taught and held by the Catholic, Orthodox & all the Mainstream Protestant Churches. It has been the dominant doctrine of the Church since the 4th Century. It is explained in the Creeds that came out of that epoch. An example of this is detailed below in a summarized version of the famous Athanasian Creed.

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