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A boy,
entirely frustrated with all the rules he had to
"Father! - to God Himself we cannot give a holier name" (William Wordsworth).
Who wants to take a guess at how many times the word "father" appears in Scripture?
The NIV translates it 922 times (600 times in OT; a little over 300 in the NT).
How does that balance seem to you?
The many times that "father" was used in the Pentateuch made me think at first that this was going to be a predominantly OT word. But this is not so. Look at the size of the OT and the NT and see realize that the references are pretty even between OT and NT.
Something else must be factored in. The OT Scriptures only use father to speak of our earthly fathers. Something very powerful takes place in the New Testament times.
It is actually quite dramatic in the lay out of our Bible. I read "father" 600 times in reference to dad in the OT. Suddenly something happens in the Sermon on the Mount.
First reference to Heavenly Father in Matthew:
MT 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Matthew says "father" 68 times (about ½ earthly and ½ heavenly)
Mark says "father" about 20 times (4 Heavenly Father - even an Abba in 14:36).
Luke says "father" about 40 times (just about ½ and ½)
John says "father" over 120 times (8 refer to earthly father)
The epistles start out with praise to the "Heavenly Father" and speak constantly about Him.
We live in the NT Church Age. We worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - Our Triune God.
What great news; especially on a Father's Day!
I. There is a great plan from the Father in Heaven.
The Father gave the Son; the Son gave the Spirit; the Spirit gives us life, so we can give the gift of love . . . And the gift goes on.
There is a heavenly Father!
MT 23:8 "But you are not to be called `Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth `father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
Does that mean that Jack Palmquist should quit calling me Rabbi? No, besides that, I kind of like it. But Jack, you do understand that I am not The Master or The Teacher, right? For that title, there is only One.
He has sent His Only Begotten Son!
RO 15:5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1CO 1:3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 15
2CO 1:2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2CO 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
GAL 1:1 Paul, an apostle--sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead-- 2 and all the brothers with me,
To the churches in Galatia:
GAL 1:3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Am
EPH 1:2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
PHP 1:2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
COL 1:2 To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
1TH 1:1 Paul, Silas and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.
2TH 1:1 Paul, Silas and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2TH 1:2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1TI 1:2 To Timothy my true son in the faith:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
TIT 1:4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
PHM 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who has sent the Holy Spirit!
GAL 4:1 What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
RO 8:12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
"Abba, Father"
Abba and Ima is what you would say if you spoke Aramaic, when you spoke to your Dad and your Mom. Some say the use of this Aramaic word for our Heavenly Father has a very personal touch.
It would be like saying, "Daddy and Mommy".
"Abba and Ima"
Notice that we don't call God "Ima". Contrary to the message of the DaVinci Code, we do not worship God as our mother - the Scripture says that he is our Heavenly Father.
I don't think this is some trick of Scripture to put down the women. The Scripture lifts up women to a place of honor. But we do not worship the sacred feminine - that is as ancient as the fertility goddess Ashteroth, herself. Actually, I think that the fertility goddess is not just a fable either, but rather a very ancient false spirit that continues to wonder throughout the earth. This false spirit calls out, "Worship me."
The Scripture does not tell us why our Lord is called Father. We just know He is.
We don't know why He has The Son. We just know he does.
We don't understand why the Holy Spirit of God helps us to cry out, "Abba, Father". We by faith do it.
There are many things that we believe and receive by faith . . . without knowing fully why or how.
"Written in the Word in the good, good, Word; it's a message from our God gonna tell you all about it, how to get to the Kingdom, the good life."
What a plan!
(THERE IS A GREAT PLAN FROM THE FATHER IN HEAVEN)
II. There is great significance for the fathers on earth.
Ephesians 5:15-6:4
Apparently:
If that isn't enough to convince you, listen to Colossians 3:12-21.
The declaration of the great plan from the Father in Heaven did not eliminate the plan for earthly fathers (and mothers - let the power struggles begin!). Rather, it brings great significance to the earthly fathers.
[Read Mark 9:14-29 . . . All I could say is, great job dad! There earthly father brings his demon possessed son and asks the Heavenly Father through His Only Begotten Son to heal him. Good job dad. I looked again. I read each parallel passage in Matthew and Luke saying certainly mom is in here somewhere. For some reason, and I skipped over it for 30 years, but not today, it was dad.]
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