God the Father

 To say that relationships are important is a gross understatement. God created us to live in relationship with each other and with Him. We value our families. We honour our godly mothers and fathers. We cherish our spouses. We love our children. We’re wired for relationships.

God created us to be relationship oriented because He, too, is a relational God. He has existed in relationship forever, the relationship that exists within His triune nature, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three persons are co-equal, co-eternal, and one in essence, yet distinct.

The Bible describes God the Father as having a functional headship within the Trinity. First Corinthians 11.3 says, “Now I want you to realise that the head of every man is Christ. . . and the head of Christ is God.” Jesus Christ is designated the Son of God, not in the sense that Jesus came into existence at some point in time but in the sense that He shares the same nature as God the Father.

This relationship is sometimes called eternal generation. John 3.16 describes Jesus as God’s “only begotten Son.” Likewise, the Holy Spirit exists in a functional relationship with God the Father. That relationship is called eternal procession. In John 15.26 Jesus said, “When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” The Holy Spirit goes out from the Father or proceeds from the Father. God the Father possesses functional headship with the Trinity. According to 1 John 4.14, “the Father has sent his Son,” and John 14.16 says that the Father would “give” us the Holy Spirit. The Father directs the activities within the triune godhead. 

As the Father within the Trinity, God the Father also has a relational role in our lives. Over and over again the Bible describes God in relational terms, referring to Him as our heavenly Father and to us as His children. God loves us dearly. He cherished us as His own sons and daughters. Of course, our relationship with God the Father is different from that of the Father’s relationship with God the Son. But our relationship with God the Father is possible only through God the Son. Jesus came into this world to reveal the Father to us. In John 14.9 Jesus told His disciples, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” Jesus also came to restore us to a right relationship with the Father. First John 2.23 tells us, “Whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

When we receive Jesus into our hearts by faith we have the privilege, according to Romans 8.15, to call on God as “Abba, Father.” Take time today to thank God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for this relationship.