Rev. Mark H. Creech
The heart of God, the Father
FacebookTwitter
By Rev. Mark H. Creech
June 17, 2018

Before Jesus, God was commonly referred to in impersonal ways. He was largely understood by expressions such as the Creator, the Almighty, the King, the Judge, the Lord, and the Most High. Except for a few times in the Old Testament, where there are vague and halting references for God as Father, it is to Jesus whom we owe so much for bringing out this aspect of God's person.

Jesus showed us that God is personal, like a wise, loving, tender, and watchful father. Jesus always used this form of address when praying. Furthermore, he taught us to pray the same way in the model prayer, saying, "Our Father, who art in heaven...." (Matthew 6:9).

Interestingly, the word that Jesus used for "Father" was the very intimate Aramaic word, "Abba," which means Daddy.

J. Wallace Hamilton writes, "There is no sermon [from Jesus] in which it [the word Father] does not appear. There is no prayer of his in which it is missed. The first record of his speaking is this: 'Know ye not that I must be about my Father's business?' (Luke 2:49). The last word on the Cross was, 'Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.' (Luke 23:46).

Hamilton adds that when Jesus wanted to explain what God is like when men sin and hurt themselves, he took this word "Father" and wove it into an incomparable, unforgettable story about a Prodigal Son – a story found in Luke 15:11-32 that is as much about an ever-loving benevolent Daddy as it is about a wayward son.

That story of the Prodigal Son is very meaningful for me because, in some ways, I lived it.

It was several years ago when I got angry with my father over perceived slights that we separated from each other and didn't speak for a few years.

Then I found myself in unexpected circumstances. I became estranged from my older teenage daughter – sorely estranged – so strained was our relationship that she left home to live somewhere else.

Brokenhearted, I fell to my knees one day in prayer and begged God to bring my daughter home. God's response to my prayer was immediate and the impression on my heart almost audible. God said, "Why should I bring your daughter home to you when you haven't spoken to your father in years?"

Deeply under conviction for my awful wrong, that same day I got into my car and made the forty-five-minute drive to my old hometown. When I reached the house where I grew up, I could see Daddy working in the backyard. He spied me from afar standing in his driveway and started running towards me. I picked up the pace toward him and we both embraced and just stayed there together for a while weeping.

I asked for his forgiveness and there was a full and blessed reconciliation.

My Dad and I had many good remaining years together before his death in 2012. Nevertheless, what still pains me is the sorrow I caused him with my willful disaffection and disrespect. I had to be a parent first to comprehend such grief. There is no mourning quite so deep. So many parents have gone through it, and the children rarely know the hope their parents have for them. They rarely understand the way a parent earnestly waits – pining away – constantly wishing for the time when their child might come to their senses, and, figuratively speaking, finds the path home again.

There is a sense in which God, the Heavenly Father, in his tender mercies, longs for us in the same manner. God is indeed the Omnipotent Creator, King, and Judge of all the earth. He could simply rule as a Dictator and crush us and be justified in doing so because of our sin and intentional estrangement. But instead, He is like a patient Father, limiting himself, not imposing his will, allowing us to choose for ourselves this way or that way. He knows all about our self-inflicted defilements and impoverishments. Yet he yearns for our cleansing, healing, happiness, and prosperity. And all could be made right, if only we would come home.

Perhaps the most reassuring passage in the entire Bible – the one that shows clearly the heart of God, the Father – is that verse in the story of the Prodigal Son which reads, "And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." (Luke 15:20).

Read it again, if you must. Make certain you don't miss the incredible import of that text. It says that when the father saw the son coming, he ran to him.... That's the heart of God, the Father.

Perhaps you need to come home to God by trusting Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Our nation certainly needs to come home to the Father – the One in whom all our liberties stand or fall.

Maybe, even as I did, you also need to make something right with a family member.

Surely, it's been too long. Come home.

May you and your family have a Happy Father's Day!

© Rev. Mark H. Creech

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)

Click to enlarge

Rev. Mark H. Creech

Rev. Mark H. Creech is Executive Director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc. He was a pastor for twenty years before taking this position, having served five different Southern Baptist churches in North Carolina and one Independent Baptist in upstate New York.

Rev. Creech is a prolific speaker and writer, and has served as a radio commentator for Christians In Action, a daily program featuring Rev. Creech's commentary on social issues from a Christian worldview.

In addition to RenewAmerica.com, his weekly editorials are featured on the Christian Action League website and Agape Press, a national Christian newswire.

Subscribe

Receive future articles by Rev. Mark H. Creech: Click here

More by this author

 

Stephen Stone
The most egregious lies Evan McMullin and the media have told about Sen. Mike Lee

Siena Hoefling
Protect the Children: Update with VIDEO

Stephen Stone
Flashback: Dems' fake claim that Trump and Utah congressional hopeful Burgess Owens want 'renewed nuclear testing' blows up when examined

Pete Riehm
Like our Commander-in-Chief, America is clueless, feckless, and powerless

Selwyn Duke
Did anti-white, DEI bias steal a state final spot from a white basketball team?

James Lambert
It’s time to get a Republican (like Steve Garvey) elected to the U.S. Senate in CA. It’s been 30 years!

Linda Goudsmit
Chapter 10: Objective reality is required for a free society

Michael Bresciani
Gay is OK, but trans for kids is on the skids – Have Americans now become judges of evil thoughts?

Linda Kimball
Nihilism…all that exists is matter and energy: The worldview that caused the collapse of Christendom and Protestant Amer

Peter Lemiska
China doesn’t need a Trojan Horse – It has Joe Biden

Rev. Mark H. Creech
Revelation Chapter 22: Getting beyond doubt, Billy Graham’s example

Paul A. Byrne, M.D.
2024 International Gift of Life Walk – NYC

Cliff Kincaid
Biden’s bloody revolution for America

Victor Sharpe
Senator Schumer enters the annals of Shame

Linda Kimball
Prayer against evil, insane Babylon
  More columns

Cartoons


Click for full cartoon
More cartoons

Columnists

Matt C. Abbott
Chris Adamo
Russ J. Alan
Bonnie Alba
Chuck Baldwin
Kevin J. Banet
J. Matt Barber
Fr. Tom Bartolomeo
. . .
[See more]

Sister sites