Our Father God
“Elijah, who made the trees?”
Our older son was about three years old when he and Jen were marveling at the size of the Ash and Maples in our back yard.
Jen asked Elijah this question and remembers thinking, “He goes to Sunday School. We read to him from the story bible at bedtime. Surely, he’ll know the answer to this question.” And glory to God, she was doing her job as his mom in teaching him that God is our good Creator.
So, what was his answer to the question? “My Daddy did.”
Now, sometimes I think too highly of myself. But this was not a moment where there was any confusion.
God created those trees—originally, when He created the universe and planted the Garden of Eden, and today, as He sustains the yearly cycle of seed-bearing plants that produce new growth. It is our Father God who is the Creator. And all the beauty and wonder we see around us testify to His eternal power and divine nature (see Romans 1:20).
While the story about my son is quite funny, the reality is that it is easy to have a wrong perception of our heavenly Father because of the parental and authority figures we’ve had in our life. Of course, there comes a point (as every parent knows!) when a child no longer confuses their parents with the most powerful being in the universe.
But in our relationship with God, it’s not nearly so clear. Misperceptions, wrong judgments, and deceptions often cloud our understanding of who our loving heavenly Father truly is. It is critical that we pursue truth in this area.
As A.W. Tozer put it, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
Why is that?
First, our Father God is the King of the Universe. As such, we are accountable to Him as our Judge. All of creation operates based upon a system of authority. Therefore, we are subject to Him, and we will be held accountable for how we live the life He has gifted and entrusted to us.
Second, He loves us and wants us to be intimate with Him. Life, freedom, maturity and blessing come from walking with our Father God. The problem is, when we do not have a right perspective of His character, we are not as likely to draw near to Him to experience life and walk in freedom.
This is the great transition of the gospel. All of us are born dead in sin with God as our Judge (Ephesians 2:1-3), but because of His great love for us, He provides the gift of life and faith in Jesus Christ so that He can continue to “show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7, ESV). Once we are saved by faith and made God’s children, we no longer relate to God as Judge but rather as our loving heavenly Father.
When we are saved, our minds were not immediately reprogrammed. Sometimes we still see God as an angry Judge. Sadly, the lies we’ve believed about Him impact our ability to draw close to Him in love. Those same lies can also cause us to attempt to live independently or even in outright rebellion of Him.
It is critical that we understand our Heavenly Father’s character so that we can draw near to Him in love and joyfully submit to Him as our ultimate Authority. We cannot escape our need to be close to Him, nor can we walk in freedom and the blessing of His protective Hand without willingly submitting to His Lordship.
Love and submission go hand in hand.
Jesus put it this way, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:10, ESV)
Just as we will not love and voluntarily submit to someone who we believe is uncaring, unkind, mean, angry, etc., we will not love and submit to our loving Heavenly Father if we do not have a proper and healthy understanding of His character.
Dear Saints, what comes to your mind when you think about God? Are you aware of the ways in which your parents or authority figures did, or did not, represent God well? What does your readiness to love and submit to God say about your view of His character?
The most important thing about you is what you think about God. In the coming weeks, we will be taking a closer look at some of His character traits.