In Scripture, God takes on numerous roles so as to illustrate His role in our lives. He is pictured as a Shepherd, a Potter, an Habitation, a Man of war, a Builder, an Husbandman, etc. Each picture is provided with a specific purpose to clue man in to the manifold manner by which God has worked and does work in our lives. However, I am firmly convinced that God is not any more lovingly pictured in our lives than as our Father.
Dan Winkler recorded the story of a farmer and friend:
“The farmer’s weathervane read: ‘God is love.’ What do you mean by that weathervane,’ asked a passerby. ‘Are you suggesting that God’s feelings for us are unstable, like the weather?’ ‘Oh, no,’ said the farmer, ‘that weathervane reminds me that God loves me no matter which way the winds of life might chance to blow.’”
Can a more accurate picture of a true father’s love be portrayed any better? It certainly cannot as it pertains to the heavenly Father. God’s love for His children is unsurpassable, infinite, and eternal. Whatever may betide, we can rest in the calm assurance of God’s love as our Father. And is that not the way fatherhood in general is supposed to work? Any child should never have to question whether or not their father loves them. It should be assumed and expected, just like the love of God. But that love is not an island. It is not something that resides only within the recesses of the heart. It is, rather, something that is living and active. And when you consider the love of a father and the love of the Father, there are something things that naturally accompany those reflections:
God as our Father provides. Fathers are given the Divine responsibility of being providers for their family. In fact, Paul wrote that “if any provideth not for his own, and specially his own household, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). It is not just a request, but an expectation. God as our Father has certainly done His part in providing. God has provided man with life even in accordance to His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). In conjunction with that life, God provided man with another form of life that He knew would be necessary to man’s happiness and success—woman (Genesis 2:20-22). The life God has provided was perfectly designed and created to fit the exact purpose conceived within His own mind. God provided for man all those things that are necessary for living—food, water, raiment, shelter, etc. Granted, these blessings do not appear miraculously on our doorsteps as some would like, but through His providence, God ensures that those seeking the kingdom first have everything they need (Matthew 6:25-34). God has provided the structure that man so desperately needs to not only survive but thrive in this life in preparation for the life to come. Law has always been laid before the feet of the world so that the clear expectations of God are known. How blessed we are to have a God who, as a Father, provides for His people!
God as our Father protects. Is it not true that children often look at their fathers as symbols of strength and defense? Thus when they have a scary dream or believe that a monster is hiding in their closet, they run to their fathers. Man was once in the most frightening position he could possibly fathom. He was guilty of sin and without hope. However, God immediately began working both to promise a Messiah and make provision for a Messiah (Genesis 3:15, etc.). And while God has and does work to provide for His children a measure of physical protection, His foremost concern is with providing us with the spiritual protection our souls need. Therefore, “when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). There is no where else and no one else to whom we could go, but thankfully we need look no further for the protection we seek.
God, pictured as our Father. In Luke 15, Jesus tells of the prodigal son who prematurely took his inheritance, wasted it in a far country, and then sought only to return home as a servant, believing he no longer had the right to be considered his father’s son. When, though, his father saw him returning, his long lost son, he welcomed him home in a royal fashion. That is a picture of God’s love for us, a love that is so broad, long, deep and high that we cannot possible fathom its entirety. While we may sit back and impersonally admire the prodigal for having a father so understanding, we sometimes forget that this is merely a picture of the real love that our real Father has for us!
Certainly, we could not ask for a better Father than our heavenly Father. One day we will receive that royal welcome home, in the home of the soul. Won’t it be wonderful there?!
-Andy Brewer