Recently in a home meeting we were joined by a new one whose concept was that God is his Father through God’s creation of humanity. To answer his question / give a Biblical approach to this, we went to John 8 and we read through the whole chapter. It is quite startling that in this chapter we see two Fathers.
We see this in the the following verses:
- In John 8:26-27 Jesus says I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true, and what I have heard from Him, these things I speak to the world. They did not understand that He was speaking to them of the Father.
- In John 8:38 Jesus says I speak the things which I have seen with My Father, so then, you also do the things which you have heard from your father.
- In John 8:41 Jesus says You do the works of your father…
- In John 8:44 Jesus says You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father….there is no truth in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks it out of his own possessions, for he is a liar and the father of it.
So the question is – biblically speaking – who is my Father? The answer to this question becomes clearer after reading John 3:16 which says:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.
This verse tells us that God has an only begotten Son. So If Jesus being the Son of God is God’s only begotten Son, whose children are we by birth(spiritually speaking)? If we would be in the light we would realise that by birth we are all children of the devil because the devil is the father of all sinners.
The devil is the old serpent, and sinners also are serpents, the generation of vipers. Hence we need the Lord in the form of a serpent to be lifted up for us on the cross to save us not only from sin but also from the source of sin. John 1:12-13 says,
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Praise the Lord here we see that children of the devil can become children of God. Hallelujah! Only through God becoming a man and going through incarnation, human living, death, resurrection and becoming a life-giving Spirit can we now receive Him – by believing into His name! To believe is to receive, and we believe by calling on His name – O Lord Jesus. John 20:17 says:
Jesus said to her, Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.
Here we see God no longer only having an only begotten Son, but through death and resurrection, many sons have been brought forth, hence the Lord saying to Mary “go to My brothers – I ascend to My Father and your Father, My God and your God”.
At the end of the meeting we were all clear that God is not our Father through creation but only through receiving His only begotten Son who was lifted up for us on the cross to shed his blood for us saving us from our sins and the source of sin. This One also went through death and resurrection becoming a life-giving Spirit to breathe Himself into us by us calling on His name.
The issue is marvelous: God now has many sons who He is bringing into glory making them the same as He is in life and nature but not in His Godhead. How much we need to worship the Father for sending His only begotten Son. We love You Father! [guest post, bro. Moh’s enjoyment in a recent home meeting]
