Read: Ephesians 4:5-6  One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Which human being in history had no parent? The (tongue-in-cheek) answer—Joshua, son of Nun.

More seriously, the answer can be Adam and Eve, because they had no human parents and were not born like the rest of us. But were they really parentless?

One interesting clue from the Bible is found in the genealogy of Jesus provided in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 3:23–38). Working backwards from Jesus to Joseph and so on, we trace a long list of names. Everyone is a son of someone else—and a father of someone else. The list ends with Adam who is described as “the son of God”. Adam (and Eve) were not fatherless because God was their Father.

… relationship in the Trinity is an eternal one …

Indeed, God is the Father of us all (Ephesians 4:6) because He is our Creator and He seeks to relate to us as our heavenly Father. Many think that the fatherhood of God is a truth found only in the New Testament, but there are places in the Old Testament that recognise God’s fatherhood, though this idea was not adequately grasped by Israel and the Jews in Jesus’ day. Consider the following verses:

Is he not your Father, your Creator. (Moses’ song, Deuteronomy 32:6)

I thought you would call me “Father”. (God speaking to unfaithful Israel, Jeremiah 3:19)

… divine fatherhood … essential characteristics of God.

The fatherhood of God becomes clear in the New Testament. In the Gospels, Jesus frequently referred to God as His Father. It was His habit to pray addressing God as “Abba”, an endearing local Aramaic term for one’s father. He even taught His disciples to begin their prayer with “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9), and when teaching them about God the Father, Jesus referred to Him as “your Father” (vv. 1, 4, 6, 8, 15, 18). It is an important truth that we who believe in Christ learn about God—He is our Father.

The relationship between Jesus and His Father is a unique one. There is no other relationship in this universe between an eternal Father and an eternal Son. The Bible teaches the truth about God as a Being who exists in three Persons: the Father Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are reminded of this when we are baptised (Matthew 28:19) and given the biblical benediction (2 Corinthians 13:14).

… never a moment when Jesus was not the Son of God …

Jesus did not begin His existence in His incarnation. No, He told His listeners, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). He was not only claiming that He was older than Abraham but that He is God, whose name is “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). As God, Jesus has an eternal existence, just like the Father.

The Father-Son relationship in the Trinity is an eternal one, without ending or beginning. Thus, in our Nicene Creed, we refer to Jesus as “eternally begotten of the Father”. There was never a moment when Jesus was not the Son of God, and likewise, there was never a moment when God the Father was not the Father.

… God was their Father.

This tells us that divine fatherhood is one of the essential characteristics of God. We discover this truth as we read the Bible and as we relate to Jesus as the Son of God. When He told the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus pointed to our condition as sinners (whether we stray far away from God or whether we think we are close to Him but deceive ourselves), and our need to be reconciled to God our Father, who longs to embrace us and welcome us to His home.

It is in recognising this truth that we are led to a profound experience of God, and of seeing Him as our Father. Jesus, God’s eternal Son, in His teachings, life, and ministry points us to His eternal Father.

Consider this:
God is the eternal Father and the eternal Son. How does that impact your understanding of God and your experience of Him?

Excerpted and adapted from Raising the Next Generation by Robert Solomon. © 2019 by Robert Solomon. Used by permission of Discovery House. All rights reserved.

 

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