discussion notes

Theology for Daily Living: A Class for Women

Session Two: God is Our Father
About the Class:
Classes meet the third Saturday of each month at 9am, through the month of May. In between sessions we will post articles, insights and answers to questions at http://theologyfordailyliving.blogspot.com. This will allow you all to keep up and be a help to applying theology in your day-to-day.

Who is God?
Last month we looked at how the knowledge of theology (who God is) reflects itself in our daily lives. This month we will look at the first person of the trinity, God the Father, and His character.

1. The Character of God
The bible provides us with God’s actions, words, thoughts and feelings from which we can derive (limited) insight into God’s Character. We have God’s own words about who He is from Himself (Exodus 34:6), His prophets (Zeph 3:17), and His people (Psalm 100). Our starting point is going to be Psalm 73 (again!!), verses 23-28.

2. Loving-
A. Hebrew
Our God loves us. But it looks so very different then what we define as “love.” In the Hebrew, there are two words for “love.” One is the same as the English word, the other, chesed, means something more. This love is “loving-kindness,” it also means “steadfast love, grace, mercy, faithfulness, goodness and devotion.” Chesed is always used to describe God’s love (i.e. Exodus 34:6, Deut 7:9, Psalm 136, Neh 9:17, Jonah 4:2). God’s love for us encompasses all the qualities of the definition of chesed, and this is just using our limited language.

B. Greek
Paul talks of the complexity of God’s love in Ephesians 3:17-19. The Greek word for love is agapao, and like the Hebrew word chesed, expresses a deep and constant love. Think about the famous passage on love in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul uses 16 descriptions trying to paint us a picture of what God’s love, untainted by sin, looks like.

C. One Last Definition
Wayne Grudem, in his Systematic Theology, defines God’s love this way- “God’s love means that God eternally gives of Himself to others.” 1 John 4:8 says “God is love.” God does not just love, He is love. Everything God does, decrees, says, etc. flows from that love. Love’s culmination is seen in Jesus’ sacrifice and redemption of our sin (see John 3:16).

3. Wise
Our God is wise (Job 12:13). Everything God does and decrees is done out of perfect wisdom. James 3:17 describes God’s wisdom as “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” Everything God does is done in light of His eternal purpose. He has the best plan and knows best actions to achieve His plan (Romans 16:27, 1 Cor 1:17-31, Eph 3:7-12).

4. Sovereign
Our God is sovereign. He is in control, all-powerful. He can accomplish all His purposes. “Our God is in Heaven, He does all that He pleases,” Psalm 115:3. God’s power is infinite, He is not limited in any way, rather, He “accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His will,” Ephesians 1:11, cf. Matt 19:26, Luke 1:37. No event occurs outside of God’s sovereignty, but He is over all things (Acts 17:24-31):

-good (James 1:17, Phil 4:19)

-bad (Gen 50:20, Prov 16:4)

-“accidental” (Job 37:6-13, Prov 16:33)

God is Our Father
1. God is a Father
Another attribute of God we see within the word is that of “father.” In the Old Testament God is called the “Father of Israel” (Deut 32:6, Jer 3:4, Mal 2:10), “Father of the people” (Psalm 68:5, Psalm 89:26), and biblical imagery depicts Him as having the qualities of a father (Psalm 103:13, Hos 11:1-4).

2. God Has a Son
In His earthly ministry Jesus stressed that He was the Son of God (e.g. “I and the Father are one,” John 10:32; see also Matt 11:27, John 15:24. etc…). One of the words Jesus used to address God is “Abba” (i.e. Mark 14:36). The word was a common one for people to use in addressing their dad; however, because of the intimacy of the term, it was not something anyone would have used when speaking of or to God. In teaching His disciples to use this word (Matt 6), and in His teachings on the Father (John 14), Jesus promoted a more intimate connection between us and God. Jesus made the idea of God as a Father our reality, as His death and subsequent resurrection brought us into adoption as God’s kids (John 1:12, 17:21).

3. Adoption
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God; and so we are…” (1 John 3:1). Adoption results when we possess saving faith, Romans 8:11-17. In Christ we are adopted as children into God’s kingdom. John 1:12 says “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

God choose us from the beginning to be His kids (Rom 8:29-32), and sealed us with His Spirit, a guarantee of our status; “the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God…” Romans 8:16. God’s love is so great, He didn’t save us out of our sin to be His slaves- He saved us and made us His kids. “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out Abba! Father!” Rom 8:15.

God, in his perfect wisdom, planned to make children of us (who were previously “children of wrath” Eph 2:3), in His love He chose to adopt us into His family and by His sovereignty it was done.

It’s important that we recognize what God has done through adopting us:

• Relationship with God- We relate to God as a Father, we come to Him as His kids, which is so much more precious then just a distant savior (Gal 4:4-7, Eph 1:4-14).
• Relationship with each other- Being God’s kids means we are brothers and sisters, members of one Family. Christianity is not merely something we have in common with each other; it is an intimacy of perfect family (John 13:35, Eph 4:1-7)
• We are co-heirs with Christ (Gal 3:26-29, 1 Pet 1:4, Rev 2:26-27, 3:21).

Discussion Questions:

1. Read Hebrews 12:5-11. Discipline can be defined as “training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior.” God’s discipline is a benefit of being adopted into God’s family, but we often see it as a burden or something to be avoided.

Proverbs 3:11-12 says, “My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, or loathe His reproof, for whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.” Do we accept the discipline of Our Father our do we run from it? In times of discipline how can we fall back on what we know about God’s character to carry us through in times of discipline?

NB: The word used to describe God’s discipline in Hebrews 12:6 is scourge. This word is hard, but it isn’t meant to refer to a penalty we are receiving but to the passion and sometimes intensity of God’s discipline. God’s discipline can be severe, but it is not to be confused with punishment. Punishment is reactive whereas discipline is proactive.

2. We looked at some of the characteristics of God which make Him utterly unique. How do we tend to take away from God’s might, wisdom and love by allowing the character of our earthly fathers to interpret the character of our Heavenly Father? Is there a character trait about your earthly father that prevents you from giving complete trust to God who is your Father?

3. In light of the fact that we our God’s kids, how then should we relate to one another? We are in fact one family- is it difficult for you to view other Christians as your brothers and sister? Do you treat the church body as intimately as you do your immediate family?

Questions for Personal Reflection

1. In light of the definition, “God’s love means that God eternally gives of Himself to others,” how does this alter your view of what it means to be part of a family (earthly family and/or church family)?

2. James and Proverbs speak extensively on wisdom. What does it mean in your daily life to trust and know that God’s wisdom is above your own earthly “wisdom?”

3. God is sovereign and all the circumstances of your life, past, present, and future, flow through His hands. How should you react (or repent) in light of this truth?

4. Study on your own more of God’s character (i.e. mercy, grace, Holiness, patience, truthfulness, etc…) and consider how knowing truths about His character influence your daily living.