November 1, 2025.
Father! Imagine calling the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Lord and King of all, the Supreme Judge of the world – imagine calling Him “Father.” Yet that is exactly what the NT teaches us to do. That’s not just a title; it’s a relationship.
For those who have had bad fathers or maybe absentee fathers, considering God as Father may be difficult. Nevertheless, let’s consider some of the characteristics of a good father.
A Compassionate Father
I really appreciate Psalm 103. It is beautiful. It speaks of God’s forgiveness, redemption, mercy, grace, righteousness, and justice. Plus it says, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins… As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Like a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:10-14). Wonderful!
A Gift-Giving Father
The world began with gifts. What a multitude of good things were in God’s beautiful Garden! Yet Eve and Adam wanted the one and only thing they could not have. Even though God cursed the creation because of their disobedience, He still provides wonderful gifts. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow” (James 1:17).
Jesus told us, “Ask, and it will be given you… Or who is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:7-11).
A Father Who Disciplines for Our Good
But a good father is not one who gives in to all our whims and shields us from all difficulties or praises us when we only do a job halfway. We all sometimes need admonishment and correction. An undisciplined child becomes a difficult adult. Whatever trial comes our way (discipline, Satan’s attack, or chance), the important thing is that we take every trial as a call to prayer for patience and improvement.
“We had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?… All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:9-11).
Our Father and Not Our Father
Are all humans children of God? Physically by creation, certainly. However, if we want God to be our Father spiritually, we must act like it. Jesus plainly told some Jewish leaders, “If God were your father, you would love me… You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father” (John 8:42-44). Ouch!
To become children of God spiritually, He must adopt us. “When the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son… that we might receive the adoption as children. And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, ‘Abba Father!'” (Gal. 4:4-7). “See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1).
The Father adopts those who yield to Him. “‘Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you. I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters’” (2 Cor. 6:17-18). “For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26).
Then there is The Son: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son… (John 3:16). If we are children of God, that makes Jesus our brother. Wow! Indeed, Jesus said so: “‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ He stretched out his hand toward his disciples, and said, ‘Behold, my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother'” (Matt. 12:48-50). These are not just titles; they express loving relationships.