The Pilgrim Path

“I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."”

2 Corinthians 6:18 ESV

“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him; But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children”

Psalm 103:13,17 ESV

“Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."”

Deuteronomy 31:7-8 ESV

“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:20 ESV

Several years ago I participated in an ongoing conversation with a thirty-something husband in our church. His father was also a member and had been a respected elder at the church for many years. This guy struggled with doubt about God and his promises being true which primarily made him feel alone. He was lonely. His joys were not joyful because he didn’t feel like he shared joy with his wife. His sufferings were intolerable because he always felt alone and misunderstood.

The Old Testament doesn’t have a ton of referencing to the first Person of the Trinity relating to his people as a father. The New Testament, however, contains over two hundred different references to our Heavenly Father. “That is an astonishing testimony to the new sense of God’s grace that came with the message of the gospel” (Sinclair Ferguson). One of the things that embracing this truth can do for believers is to act as the gateway to the trust demanded by Scripture. Ultimately, that Holy Spirit given trust allows us to the see the truth given to Moses and Joshua as something which is actually a corporate reality for all of those who are found in King Jesus.

The husband mentioned earlier did not want to sully God’s name by calling him a father. Apparently his father had been the type to miss important life events for work, make promises to spend time with his son only to regularly break them, and ultimately be someone his son never got to know. Perhaps your understanding of a father is one who is absent, one who abandons, one who abuses, or one who abdicates responsibility. That is not who our Father is.

Our Father is the one to whom we have endless access because of the person and work of King Jesus (Eph 2). Our Father is the one who runs out after the prodigal who has returned to him. Our Father is the one who neither leaves nor forsakes us. Our Father is the one who gave us his Son to bring us into right relationship with Him, so that he can delight in us. Our Father is the one who gave us his Holy Spirit so that we might become more and more like our Elder Brother. Our Father has granted us freedom to be in his family!

Pray for the Holy Spirit to continue to drive this reality home in our hearts, that it might shape us the way that it shaped Christ.

From the Scottish Psalter:

The tender love a father has for all his children dear,

Such love the Lord bestows on them who worship him in fear.

Unchanging is the love of God, from age to age the same,

Displayed to all who do his will and reverence his name.

Grace and Peace in Jesus Christ our Risen Lord, Pastor Peter