03/14/2018
How do you refer to God? Do you call Him Holy God, Heavenly God, The Great I Am, or maybe Lord? I’ll bet you also call Him Father. As I was reading my devotional message by Andrew Murray this morning, he revealed something about the Lord’s Prayer that had previously escaped me... This is the first time that the disciples had referred to God as Father. The wonder of this moment had never dawned on me, and it brought tears to my eyes.
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13 KJV
If you are adopted, or have a step parent by remarriage following a divorce or the death of a parent then perhaps you can recall the first time you called that new parent mother, or father. It is an occasion that isn’t trivial, and marks a point in your relationship at which you are acknowledging the role this person plays, and what they mean to you now. Likewise, your being called son or daughter goes hand in hand with it. Of all the name changes in the Bible, our calling God our Father is the most dramatic, and personally moving.
As Christians today, and especially those of us born into Christian households, we refer to God as Father without much thought. We are like natural born children who know Him easily by this title... this name... but for the disciples this was a momentous occasion! It was probably frightening because as Jews they revered God to the point where they wouldn’t even say his name, or write the word G-d. Yet here was Jesus teaching them to not just say His name, but to call Him Father. In our modern comfort with God and His relationship with us we read right past this part of the prayer as if we were reading “Dear Sir” at the beginning of a letter, but how incredibly significant it is that we can call Him Father.
Prior to Jesus there was only one person referred to as the Son of God and that was Adam. In lineages, his father was referred to as God Himself...
“Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.”
Luke 3:38 KJV
But when Jesus was born He became the first and only begotten Son of God.
“Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”
John 1:49 KJV
So when Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer it was a momentous occasion. It was saying out loud that God was the disciple’s Father too. It was the acknowledgement that they were adopted as sons through Jesus Christ. The power of this might escape us today because we have a different understanding of our relationship with God, but to these men just saying this could bring God’s wrath down upon them... unless it was true.
This makes it very important that we understand who Jesus is, and was equally important that the disciples understood as well. Jesus quizzed them regarding who He was, listen...
“And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.”
Mark 8:29 KJV
Mary was told who Jesus was prior to His birth, but the disciples didn’t have an angel appear to them and reaffirm Jesus, so they had to first acknowledge Him as the Christ, and then come to know Him as the Son of God.
“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
Luke 1:35 KJV
Finally all the pieces were in place, and the disciples knew Jesus as the Christ, and the Son of God, but it wasn’t until the Lord’s prayer that they were told to refer to God as their own Father, but even then He was called “Our” Father, the Father of Jesus, and of us... all of us. So we pray appropriately in the plural.
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
Matthew 6:9 KJV
There had certainly been prior biblical references to God as a Father figure, but nothing as specific and personal as this. In this sense we take on the adopted right to call God our Father. How amazing that privilege is, how intense in love and relationship this becomes. We become heirs and joint heirs with Jesus... sons and daughters of God.
So as we recite and pray the Lord’s Prayer, let’s remember the significance of those two opening words “Our Father”.
“The knowledge of God’s Father-love is the first and simplest — but also the last and highest — lesson in the school of prayer. It is in personal relationship to the living God and fellowship with Him that prayer begins.” - Andrew Murray
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for knowing me as your son, and I thank you for allowing me to call you my Father. You have redeemed me through your begotten Son Jesus Christ, and through Him have claimed me too as your child. The thought of this thrills my very soul, and fills me with joy and celebration. Though I have done nothing to deserve this adoption, you have found it within yourself to love me as your child, and Father I too love you with all my heart. There is nothing that can separate us, or negate the fact that I am your child, and you are my Father. By your word, your promise, I am now a child in your house, and you the Father, and Lord of my life. Praised be your name, and as I pray you will hear me call “Our Father”, as I reach out to you in heaven. You will hear me praise you, and call you to me that I might do your will, and ask that you provide for me. Forgive me my sins Father, and lead me away from those things that might tempt me. Help me as I forgive others. As your child, I pray you protect me from all evil, and keep me safe in your arms forever. You are great in my eyes. You are the Lord and Master of my house... you are my Father.
Rich Forbes