God The Father
The Author of the Plan
God, the Father
• The Father as the First Person
The Holy Trinity
the Father
the Son
the Holy Spirit
the First Person is designated as the Father
2
God, the Father
• The Father is presented as
loving
electing
bestowing
• The Son is presented as
suffering
redeeming
upholding the universe
• The Holy Spirit is presented as
regenerating
baptizing
indwelling
energizing
sanctifying
3
God, the Father
• New Testament revelation centers in revealing
Jesus Christ, but in presenting the Christ as the
Son of God, the truth of God, the Father is
likewise revealed.
•
•
•
•
God as the Father of all creation;
God the Father by intimate relationship;
God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; and
God as the Father of all who believe in Jesus
Christ as Savior and Lord.
4
God, the Father
• The Father as the First Person
• Fatherhood Over Creation
5
God, the Father
• The First Person, or God the Father, in a special way
is the Father of all creation. Ephesians 3:14-15
• Here the whole family of moral creatures including
angels and men is declared to constitute a family of
which God is the Father.
• In Hebrews 12:9 the First Person is referred to as
“the Father of spirits,” which would seem again to
include all moral beings such as angels and men.
• According to James 1:17, the First Person is "the
Father of lights“ a peculiar expression which seems to
indicate that He is the originator of all spiritual light.6
God, the Father
• In Job 1:6, 2:1 and 38:7 angels are described as
sons of God.
• Adam is referred to as of God by creation in
Luke 3:38, by implication, a son of God.
• Malachi 2:10 asks the question, "Have we not all
one father? Hath not one God created us?"
• Paul in addressing the Athenians on Mars Hill
included in his argument, "Forasmuch then as we
are the offspring of God" (Acts 17:29).
• In 1 Corinthians 8:6, the declaration is made,
"But to us there is but one God, the Father, of
whom are all things."
7
God, the Father
• In this sense only, it is proper to refer to the
universal fatherhood of God.
• All creatures in this sense participate in the
universal brotherhood of creation.
• This does not justify, however, the misuse of this
doctrine by liberal theologians to teach universal
salvation
• or for anyone to teach that every man has God as
his Father in the spiritual sense.
8
God, the Father
• The Father as the First Person
• Fatherhood Over Creation
• Fatherhood by Intimate Relationship
9
God, the Father
• The concept and relationship of father and son are
used in the Old Testament in several instances to
relate God to Israel.
– According to Exodus 4:22, Moses instructed
Pharaoh
– God revealed to David that His relationship to
Solomon would be like a father to a son.
2 Samuel 7:14
• In general God declares that His care as a Father
will be over all who trust in Him as their God.
Psalm 103:13
10
God, the Father
• The Father as the First Person
• Fatherhood Over Creation
• Fatherhood by Intimate Relationship
• The Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ
11
God, the Father
• The First Person is described as “the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.“ EPHESIANS 1:3
• The most comprehensive theological revelation of the
New Testament is that God the Father, the First Person,
is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Second
Person.
• The fact that Jesus Christ is referred to frequently in
the New Testament as the Son of God and that the
attributes and works of God are constantly assigned to
Him constitutes at once the proof of the deity of Jesus
Christ and the doctrine of the Trinity as a whole, with
Christ as the Second Person in relationship to the First
12
Person as a son is related to a father.
God, the Father
• Theologians ever since the first century have wrestled
with a precise definition of how God is the Father of the
Second Person.
• Obviously the terms "father" and "son" are used of
God to describe the intimate relationship of the First
and Second Persons without necessarily fulfilling all the
aspects that would be true in a human relationship of
father and son.
• This is especially evident in the fact that both the
Father and the Son are eternal.
• The early error of Arius in the fourth century, that the
Son was the first of all created beings, was denounced
by the early church as heresy in view of the fact that the
Second Person is just as eternal as the First Person. 13
God, the Father
• Some theologians have attempted to begin the role of
the Second Person as a Son at some point in time either
at the Creation,
at the Incarnation,
or at some subsequent point of special recognition of the
Second Person such as
– His baptism,
– His death,
– His resurrection,
– or His ascension.
• All these alternate views, however, are faulty, as
Scripture seems clearly to indicate that the Second
Person has been a Son in relation to the First Person14
from all eternity past.
God, the Father
• As such He is the “only begotten Son“ whom God
“gave“ as a Son to the world when the Son became
incarnate. John 3:16
• Scripture seems to indicate that He was given as a Son not given in order to become a Son.
• Isaiah 9:6 states, "For unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given."
• This is especially brought out in Colossians 1:15
where Christ is declared to be "the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature."
• If Christ was the firstborn of every creature, that is, a
Son before any other creature was created, then it is
15
clear that He was a Son from all eternity past.
God, the Father
• The relationship of Father and Son relates to the deity and
unity of the Holy Trinity from all eternity, in contrast to the
Incarnation, in which the Father was related to the humanity of
Christ which began in time.
• Within orthodoxy, accordingly, the words of the Nicene Creed (
A.D. 325 ) - in answer to the Arian heresy of the fourth century
- states, "the only-begotten son of God, begotten of the Father
before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very
God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the
Father."
• In like manner, the Athanasian Creed states, "The Son is of the
Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten . . . generated
from eternity from the substance of the Father."
16
God, the Father
• In using the terms "Father" and "Son" to describe the
First and Second Persons, the terms are elevated to
their highest level,
– indicating oneness of life,
– oneness of character and attributes,
– and yet a relationship in which the Father can give
and send the Son,
– even though this involves ultimately the obedience of
the Son in dying on the cross.
• The obedience of Christ is based upon His sonship, not
on any inequality with God the Father in the unity of
the Trinity.
17
God, the Father
• While the relationship between the First and the Second
Persons of the Trinity is actually that of a father to a
son, and a son to a father, the fact of this relationship is
an illustration of vital truth, which accommodates itself
to the mode of thought of a finite mind.
Hebrews 1:2
2 Corinthians 1:3
Galatians 4:4
• The truth that the Father is the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, though mentioned infrequently in the Old
Testament, is one of the most general teachings of the
New Testament.
Psalm 2:7
Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah 9:6-7
18
God, the Father
The Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ
• The Son of God is said to have been begotten of the Father.
John 1:18
John 3:16
John 1:14
John 3:18
1 John 4:9
• The Father acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ to be His Son.
Matthew 3:17 Matthew 17:5
Luke 9:35
• The Father is acknowledged by the Son.
Matthew 26:63-64
Matthew 11:27
Luke 22:29
John 8:16-29
John 8:33-44
John 17:1
19
God, the Father
The Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ
• The fact that God the Father is the Father of the Lord
Jesus Christ is acknowledged by men.
Mark 15:39
Matthew 16:16
John 1:34
John 1:49
Acts 3:13
• The Son acknowledges the Father by being subject to
Him.
John 8:29
John 8:49
• Even the demons recognize this relationship between the
Father and the Son.
Matthew 8:29
20
God, the Father
• The Father as the First Person
• Fatherhood Over Creation
• Fatherhood by Intimate Relationship
• The Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ
• The Father of All Who Believe in Christ
21
God, the Father
• God is the Father, in a special sense, of those who
believe in Christ, and have received eternal life.
• The fact that God is the Father of all creation does
not assure the salvation of all men, or give them
eternal life.
• Scripture is clear that there is salvation only for those
who have received Christ by faith as their Savior.
• The claim that God the Father is the Father of all
mankind, and that there is therefore a universal
brotherhood among men, does not mean that all are
saved and will go to heaven.
• Scripture teaches instead that only those who believe
in Christ unto salvation are the sons of God in a
spiritual sense.
22
God, the Father
• This is based upon their second, or spiritual, birth
into the family of God.
John 1:12
Galatians 3:26
Ephesians 5:1
Ephesians 2:19 Ephesians 3:15
• By the regenerating work of the Spirit the believer is
made a legitimate child of God.
– God being actually his Father, he is impelled by the
Spirit to say, "Abba, Father."
– Being born of God, he is a partaker of the divine
nature, and on the ground of that birth, he is heir
of God and a joint-heir with Christ.
John 1:12-13
John 3:3-6
Titus 3:4-7
Romans 8:16-17
1 Peter 1:4
23
God, the Father
• The impartation of the divine nature is an operation
so effective that the nature thus imparted is never
removed for any cause whatsoever.
• When the teachings of Scripture relative to the
present power and authority of Satan are considered,
added proof is given that all men are not children of
God by their natural birth.
• In this connection the most direct and faithful sayings
of Christ are in evidence.
• Speaking of those who disbelieved He said, "You are
of {your} father the devil, and you want to do the
desires of your father. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he
speaks from his own {nature;} for he is a liar, and the
father of lies.
(John 8:44).
24
God, the Father
• Likewise, when describing the unregenerate, He
said, "The tares are the children of the
wicked one" (Matthew 13:38).
• The Apostle Paul wrote of the unsaved as "the
children of disobedience" and "the children of
wrath" Ephesians 2:2-3
• Emphasis should be placed on the fact that it is
not in the power of anyone to make himself a child
of God.
• God alone can undertake such a transformation,
and He undertakes it only on the one condition
which He Himself has imposed, that Christ shall
be believed upon and received as Savior.
John 1:12
25
God, the Father
• The fatherhood of God is an important doctrine of
the New Testament.
Ephesians 2:18
1 John 2:11
Ephesians
1:3
1 John 1:3
1 John 3:1
Colossians 1:12-13
John 20:17
1 Peter 1:3
Ephesians 4:6
1 John 2:1
1 Corinthians 15:24
• The assurance of the love and care of our Heavenly
Father is a great comfort to Christians and an
encouragement to faith and prayer.
26
1. How are the works of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit contrasted in the New Testament?
The Father is presented as electing, loving, and
bestowing.
The Son is presented as suffering, redeeming,
and upholding the universe.
The Holy Spirit is presented as regenerating,
indwelling, baptizing, energizing, and
sanctifying.
2. What are the four distinct aspects of the fatherhood
of God?
(1) God as the Father of all creation;
(2) God the Father by intimate relationship;
(3) God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ;
(4) God as the Father of all who believe in Jesus
Christ as Savior and Lord.
27
3. Summarize the evidence that God is the father of all
creation.
On the basis of several texts in Scripture, there is
sufficient ground to conclude that the First Person
of the Trinity as the Creator is the Father of all
creation and that all creatures, having physical life,
owe their origin to Him.
4. What is meant by the fatherhood of God by intimate
relationship?
The concept and relationship of father and son.
28
5. Discuss the question of the eternity of the relationship
of father and son between God the Father and Jesus
Christ.
Scripture seems clearly to indicate that the Second
Person has been a Son in relation to the First
Person from all eternity past. As such He is the
"only begotten Son" whom God "gave" as a Son to
the world when the Son became incarnate.
Scripture seems to indicate that He was given as a
Son - not given in order to become a Son. Isaiah
9:6 states, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given." This is especially brought out in
Colossians 1:15 where Christ is declared to be "the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every
creature." If Christ was the firstborn of every
creature, that is, a Son before any other creature
was created, then it is clear that He was a Son from
all eternity past.
29
6. What are some of the evidences supporting the
concept of God the Father in relation to Jesus Christ
the Son?
– The Son of God is said to have been begotten of the
Father.
– The Father acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ to
be His Son.
– The Father is acknowledged by the Son.
– The fact that God, the Father is the Father of the
Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledged by men.
– The Son acknowledges the Father by being subject
to Him.
– Even the demons recognize this relationship
between the Father and the Son.
30
7. What is meant by God being the Father of all who
believe in Christ?
God the Father, as the First Person of the Godhead as
Creator extends to all creatures. However, the
relationship of God being the Father of His children
only extends to those who have believed in Christ?
8. How does a man become a son of God?
A man becomes a son of God on the bases of their
second, or spiritual, birth into the family of God. That
spiritual birth can only be accomplished by faith alone
in Christ alone.
9. What are some of the results of becoming a son of God?
By the regenerating work of the Spirit the believer is
made a legitimate child of God. God being actually his
Father, he is impelled by the Spirit to say, "Abba,
Father." Being born of God, he is a partaker of the
divine nature, and on the ground of that birth, he is
31
heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ.
10. What is the error involved in stating that all men
are the children of God?
The fact that God is the Father of all creation
does not assure the salvation of all men or give
them eternal life. Scripture is clear that there is
salvation only for those who have received
Christ by faith as their Savior. The claim that
God, the Father is the Father of all mankind
and that there is therefore a universal
brotherhood among men does not mean that all
are saved and will go to heaven.
11. How does the fatherhood of God provide comfort
to a believer in Christ?
The assurance of the love and care of our
Heavenly Father.
32