Father & Friend

2. Father & Friend

3. One of the most well-known statements of the Christian faith is found in the Lord's Prayer, which begins with the words…

4. "Our Father who art in heaven."

5. Almost every prayer today begins with; ‘Heavenly Father…’

6. That may very well be because Jesus instructed His disciples to pray in that way…

7. In instructing us to pray this way, Jesus has given to us the right and privilege to come into the presence of the majesty of God and address him as Father because he is indeed our Father.

8. God has adopted us into His family and made us coheirs with His one and only Son, Jesus.

9. The concept of God being our Father is fundamental to our faith.

10. This concept is so common that we hardly give it a second thought.

11. Hopefully today, we will be challenged to reconsider the significance of being able to call God, Father.

12. A few years ago, a German scholar was doing research in New Testament literature…

13. …and discovered that in the entire history of Judaism…

14. …in all existing books of the Old Testament and all existing books of extra-biblical Jewish writings dating from the beginning of Judaism until the tenth century A.D.

15. …there is not a single reference of a Jewish person addressing God directly in the first person as Father.

16. You can imagine how shocking it was then when Jesus referred to God as His Father.

17. This would have been the first time that it was recorded that a Jew was referring to God as his/her Father in the first person.

18. Just as shocking, would have been His instruction to His disciples to address God as their Father as well.

19. So shocking the crowds wanted to kill Him for it…

20. My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working. For this reason they tried all the more to kill him…he was even calling God his own Father. John 5:17-18

21. The first recorded words of Jesus are…

22. “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s house?” Luke 2:49

23. Jesus first recorded words, are also the first time recorded that a Jew had referred to God as his/her Father in the first person.

24. Matthew – Mark -Luke quote Jesus referring to God as Father 65 times.

25. John quotes Jesus referring to God as Father over 100 times.

26. We obviously don’t have time to look at the significance and meaning of each of those…

27. But I want to make three brief points about God as Father…

28. #1 There was a time when God could not be considered ‘a Father’.

29. The Old Testament only has 15 direct references to God as Father.

30. These references could be put into three categories.

31. God being referred to as the Father of the Nation of Israel.

32. God referring to himself as a Father.

33. An examples of both of these are in Jeremiah 3:19

34. “I myself said, “ ‘How gladly would I treat you like my children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me. Jeremiah 3:19

35. God referring to himself as a Father of specific individuals.

36. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 2 Samuel 7:14

37. There are a handful of other references, beyond the 15, where the imagery of Father is there, but is not directly stated.

38. Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” Exodus 4:22-23

39. There are different theories or explanations as to why God is so rarely referred to as Father in the Old Testament...

40. The main theory is because neighboring cultures worshipped false gods who were referred to at times as father, and the term many times carried the idea of fertility, virility and sexuality.

41. I would argue that the main reason is theological.

42. To a large extent, Israel was cut-off from God, separated from Him physically and spiritually.

43. Israel was so removed from God that when He descended onto Mount Sinai the people had to stay clearof the mountain, if they were to touch it they would be put to death.

44. The people were afraid to even go near Moses after Moses had spoken with God, and His face was glowing.

45. When God made His dwelling among the people in the tabernacle, He was removed from the presence of the people and a thick curtainwas in place, partitioning the Holy of Holies.

46. The people were amazed that God would speak to Moses as one would speak to a friend. (Ex 33:11)

47. There wasn’t a man like Moses before or after him, who spoke with/interacted with God the way he did. (Deut 34:10)

48. Essentially during that whole period of time, the people were removed from God and could not go near Him. And practically only one man could get closeto Him or speakwith Him.

49. The point here is that for the majority of human history, humanity has largely been unable to relate to God as a personal & intimate Father.

50. There was a time when God could not be considereda Father.