GOD IS OUR FATHER A Meditation on the origin of life
BELIEF IN GOD
Belief in the existence of God is commonplace. But belief in the existence of God is impersonal and not much different than belief in the United States of America. Since we don’t live there, save Americans, we are not under their laws, nor do we live like Americans. So if we consider God like any other existence, America, Mars, Venus or Saturn, God is not someone who matters to us. And it is certain that just as we are not citizens of America or Japan and could not enter those countries without a passport, we can never enter the kingdom of heaven, now or ever by simply believing in God.
GOD IS OUR FATHER
The Scriptures assert that God is our Father in heaven and Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Our Father which art in heaven...’ (Matthew 6:9) because we are God’s children, his sons and daughters, his creation. Immediately we recognise that God is our Father and that means we are his children, God begins to be much more than an existence. It raises many questions about what he wants us to be and do, how he wants us to live and where he wants us to go when we die.
GOD’S PROVIDENCE
God not only exists but he exists for us. He created the whole universe for us. He created the sun, the moon and the stars from which we receive light, heat and time without which we could not survive or have a past, present and a future. God made us in his image and that is why we are his children. Just as a baby takes after its parents in looks and other features, we take after God with one difference, we are not gods but prodigals who leave our Father’s loving care to live our own lives.
GOD’S KNOWLEDGE
No one knows us more than God. King David said, ‘For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well’ (Psalm 139:13-14) So God knows all about us. From the beginning to the end of our lives, God sees and knows us. He knows our name and our hearts, what we want to be and do.
To be born without knowing a father or a mother is a great loss, for as we grow up we long to belong to a family that is our own. To discover that those who take care of us in a foster home or an institution, are not our real family, especially if we are not told the truth, is devastating. The search for our real mum or dad becomes a mission and a passion. We want to know our mum. We want to know our dad. If we have brothers and sisters we want to know them. We want to know why we have been left in the dark.
Well, this is just as true if we have not been told that God is our heavenly Father and created us in our mother’s womb. To discover and learn that God is our real Father and will never forsake us and that he has sent his Son Jesus Christ from heaven to show us just how much he loves us is a wonderful experience. For he gives us the assurance and care that we need as we journey through life and promises us eternal life in our heavenly home. This God, our Father’s longing that we should know and love him as he knows and loves us. He longs to have our trust and to walk with God.
BELIEF IN GOD
Belief in the existence of God is commonplace. But belief in the existence of God is impersonal and not much different than belief in the United States of America. Since we don’t live there, save Americans, we are not under their laws, nor do we live like Americans. So if we consider God like any other existence, America, Mars, Venus or Saturn, God is not someone who matters to us. And it is certain that just as we are not citizens of America or Japan and could not enter those countries without a passport, we can never enter the kingdom of heaven, now or ever by simply believing in God.
GOD IS OUR FATHER
The Scriptures assert that God is our Father in heaven and Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Our Father which art in heaven...’ (Matthew 6:9) because we are God’s children, his sons and daughters, his creation. Immediately we recognise that God is our Father and that means we are his children, God begins to be much more than an existence. It raises many questions about what he wants us to be and do, how he wants us to live and where he wants us to go when we die.
GOD’S PROVIDENCE
God not only exists but he exists for us. He created the whole universe for us. He created the sun, the moon and the stars from which we receive light, heat and time without which we could not survive or have a past, present and a future. God made us in his image and that is why we are his children. Just as a baby takes after its parents in looks and other features, we take after God with one difference, we are not gods but prodigals who leave our Father’s loving care to live our own lives.
GOD’S KNOWLEDGE
No one knows us more than God. King David said, ‘For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well’ (Psalm 139:13-14) So God knows all about us. From the beginning to the end of our lives, God sees and knows us. He knows our name and our hearts, what we want to be and do.
To be born without knowing a father or a mother is a great loss, for as we grow up we long to belong to a family that is our own. To discover that those who take care of us in a foster home or an institution, are not our real family, especially if we are not told the truth, is devastating. The search for our real mum or dad becomes a mission and a passion. We want to know our mum. We want to know our dad. If we have brothers and sisters we want to know them. We want to know why we have been left in the dark.
Well, this is just as true if we have not been told that God is our heavenly Father and created us in our mother’s womb. To discover and learn that God is our real Father and will never forsake us and that he has sent his Son Jesus Christ from heaven to show us just how much he loves us is a wonderful experience. For he gives us the assurance and care that we need as we journey through life and promises us eternal life in our heavenly home. This God, our Father’s longing that we should know and love him as he knows and loves us. He longs to have our trust and to walk with God.