We begin looking at the Lord’s Prayer with the very first words, “Our Father.”   This can be tricky, because our relationship to God the Father often relates to our own relationship with our earthly fathers.  Some have a wonderful relationship with their dads and can fully relate to seeing God in this way.  Others are full of tension, thus find it difficult to relate with God in this way.  Either way, God is the fullness of who a father should be, which can help our relationships with our own fathers.  In this, we must ask ourselves why do we call God “Father”, and what do we owe God the Father?

First, why do we call God Father?  The primary reason is that God created us in His image and after His likeness.  We have life because of God, thus He is our father in a creative way.  The second reason is that God governs and rules all things.  This is different from an earthly parent, who does have authority over their children in watching them, caring for them, setting rules and boundaries; but earthly parents share in the governance with God in the family.  Finally, we are God’s adoptive children.  Only Jesus Christ is God’s Son, but through the sacrifice of the Cross, we are made into God’s sons and daughters.  He adopts us as His own.  It is important to note that this is also why we refer to God as father and not mother.  His Son refers to God as Abba, which is Hebrew for father (Mark 14:36).  If the Son of the Trinity refers to the first person as Father and not mother, then we are obligated to refer to the first person as Father and in the masculine “He” as well. 

Next, if we are God’s adoptive children and He is our Father, then what do we owe God in relation to His Fatherhood and our sonship or daughtership?  First, we owe God the Father our honor, which is the praise of God on our lips and in our hearts.  This is the source of the Fifth Commandment, which tells us to honor our father and mother.  Anyone who in any way fulfills the role of parent in the light of God should be honored and respected.  This is also a challenge to a parent to fulfill their parenthood in the light of God the Father.  God’s Fatherhood also calls us to imitate God.  Children tend to want to be like their parents, because they admire them and love them.  For us, we ought to seek to imitate the One who created us – fulfilling the image and likeness of the One who gave it to us.  Finally, we owe God our obedience. This is not an easy word to live, because even with our own parents we struggle with this.  One who has authority over us and uses it justly and morally should have our obedience like our parents, because it is God who placed them in authority over us.  For God, He always commands us to follow His will, which is always moral and just. 

The Fatherhood of God brings much grace and comfort knowing we have an eternal parent who is seeking to take care of us and lead us to salvation.  It is also difficult, because it challenges us to obey Him and seek to be better parents ourselves in His image.  Let us ask our Father for help in this life and let us live by His example.