God the Father: Three biblical reflections
By Stephen Noll, Contending Anglican.
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, recently issued a press reportabout how he experiences God as father:
The Most Revd Justin Welby said that calling God “father” for him means that “here is one that is perfect, that loves me unconditionally, that reaches out to me and knows me better than I know myself and yet still loves me profoundly.”
But the Archbishop also said that God is not a father in the same way that a human would be – and that descriptions of God are always “to some degree metaphorical” […
…] The Old Testament occasionally uses “father” and less occasionally “mother” to characterize His calling and care of His people (Exodus 4:23; Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 49:15). More pertinently, God announces Himself as father to Israel’s anointed King (2 Samuel 7:14; Psalm 2:7). But no one in the Old Testament ever speaks of God as “my Father” in the way Jesus does. In one telling dispute, Jesus accuses His Jewish opponents of having the devil for their father. They respond awkwardly: “We have one father, even God”; and Jesus replies: “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me” (John 8:41-42).
Uniquely, Jesus prayed to Abba, “dear Father.” This was the Name He taught His disciples to hallow (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2).
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