Many people embrace a personal relationship with Jesus. Some relate to the Holy Spirit in a close, intimate way. I believe fewer people relate to Father God as He desires and as we so desperately need. Moving from knowing about a heavenly Father to an intimate relationship with our loving Papa requires abandoning performance-based religion. We don’t get to know God as a loving Father by performing Christian duties and obeying all the rules. Instead, we get to know our loving Father by embracing, experiencing, and expressing His love.
In the Old Testament, God wanted the people to know him as Father. Deuteronomy 32:6 (NIV) says, “Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?” People then and now often prefer rules and religion over a personal relationship with Father God. It may look like this: Tell me what I can and can’t do. I’ll do my best to obey, and everything will be okay. Only it won’t.
We humans tend to rely on our ability to get things right. God wants us to rely on His ability to get things right. There comes a significant change when we turn our eyes from our success or failure and look to Jesus as the provider of righteousness for humanity. Romans 5:17 (NLT) says, “But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.” We live in triumph by embracing God’s gift of righteousness, not by trying to create our own.
Embracing God’s righteousness frees us from rules and performance-based Christianity. It is a significant stepping stone toward relating to God as our loving Father. Why? Because it is hard to relate to God as our loving Father when we often fail Him. We never measure up to God’s standard, but Jesus does. Everything changes when we abandon our religious efforts and trust in who Jesus is and what He did for us. Not only do we call God our Father, but we also experience His loving arms wrapped around us.
As children of God, we need to focus on God’s righteousness infused into our inner being through the finished work of Jesus Christ. When we focus on Jesus’ righteousness deposited within us, we can stop condemning ourselves, stop thinking God is condemning us, and start living loved.
Jeremiah 3:19 (NIV) says, “I thought you would call me Father and not turn away from me.” Knowing God as our loving Father will help keep us from turning away from Him. Isaiah 63:16 informs us that the people didn’t know or acknowledge God as their Father. They knew God as the Father of the nation of Israel, but they didn’t have a personal relationship with Him.
Humanity’s indifference or ignorance towards God doesn’t weaken His plan to rescue us from our short-sightedness. God reveals His solution for people who haven’t fully embraced His great love as He introduces Jesus, the Son of God. In the Old Testament, God reveals the Father-Son relationship in Psalm 2:7, 89:26-27 and Isaiah 9:7. This foreshadows Jesus’ time on the earth, which helps humanity understand how God the Father relates to His Son and to His sons and daughters who come to Him in faith. If you want insight into your Father-child relationship with God, look at the relationship between the Father and His Son, Jesus.
In the Old Testament, the people could not relate to God as their loving Father. Jesus began his earthly ministry, emphasizing that God is our Father. We read in Matthew 6:9 that when teaching His disciples (and us) how to pray, Jesus begins with, “Our Father…”. In Matthew 5:16 and 6:26, Jesus refers to God as “your Father.” Matthew chapters 5-7 reveal that Jesus uses the words your Father 15 times. A significant emphasis in Jesus’ first public address was introducing the people to the Father. The people of Jesus’ day did not relate to God as a loving Father. Jesus was determined to change that.
The religious leaders challenged Jesus because He called God His Father. Those leaders focused on religious duties and missed out on a close personal relationship with God. Religious people will emphasize our Christian responsibilities and our need to sacrifice.
People close to Father God will emphasize His love and grace. They will focus your attention on who God is and what He has provided for you. Freedom to live loved and give love will abound as you embrace His love, experience it, and express it to those around you.
After Jesus rose from the dead, He told His followers, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” (John 20:17 NIV). Before Jesus returned to heaven, He made it a top priority to tell His followers that God is their Father. Romans 8:15 (NLT) states, “Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father.’” Abba is a term of endearment spoken by a grateful child who adores their Papa, Daddy, Father God.
Call Him Father, and you will live loved and give love.