Happy Father’s Day!
Father’s Day was first observed on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. It was celebrated by Sonora Smart Dodd, who wanted to honor her single father, a Civil War veteran. It took more than 6 decades for the event to become a permanent U.S. national holiday in 1972.
President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea in 1924, and President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation in 1966, designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. It wasn’t until 1972 that President Richard Nixon signed it into law as a permanent national holiday.
The Word of God speaks much about children honoring their mothers and fathers, and this is a good thing to do. But I would like to focus our attention on our Father in Heaven. We can trace this theme of God as our Father throughout the New Testament (Matthew 5:45; 6:9, 32; 7:7-11; Romans 1:7; 15:6; 1 Corinthians 8:6).
I heard a quote the other day, but I didn’t catch the author’s name. He said:
“All that we know about genuine human fatherhood at its best is but a pale reflection of what God the Father is. First, to His Son, and then to all who become His spiritual children.”
According to John 1:18, the Lord Jesus, as the eternal Son of God, is not a reflection of the Father; He is the revelation of the Father:
“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18).
Hebrews 1:1-3 would add,
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
“All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” Matthew 11:27
The name of God as Father comes from God and comes down to us, not from our experience here, going up to Him. We should not base our view of God on what our fathers were like, for some, that might not be such a great comparison. But what we know of God as Father has been revealed and declared in and through the Son!
How has the Son Revealed the Father?
I want to suggest five ways the Son has revealed the Father and what that means for each of us who has believed in the Son and put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. These five examples come from the Gospel of John, which is the Gospel that presents the Lord Jesus as the eternal Son of God. I might mention also that in John’s Gospel we read of “the Father” in John 1-12, and then of “My Father” in John 13-17, but in John 20:17, of “My Father and your Father.”
First, He has revealed the Father’s Bosom to us. Who could reveal what was in the heart of the Father but the One who is in the bosom of the Father (Jn. 1:18)? This speaks to the intimacy of the Son with the Father. It indicates nearness and deep attachment. Here in John 1:18, it could also be read, “on the bosom of the Father,” indicating the place or state. It tells us of the communion between God the Father and God the Son before time ever was. All the Father’s thoughts are reciprocated perfectly in and through the Son. Someone has put it this way:
“The Son has His face turned inward, enjoying the fullness of the Father’s love.”
There is no veil, no limited access, no measured intimacy, but the fullness of perfect knowledge and perfect joy. This is what the Son has revealed to us. We can enjoy this same type of intimacy with the Father; 1 John 1:2-4 says,
“the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”
Second, the Son has revealed the Father’s Name to us. Look at John 5:43,
“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.”
Names in Scripture often speaks of character, who the person is, and what he is like. In coming into this world, the Son has revealed to us what the Father is like. Listen to this exchange between Philip and the Lord Jesus in John 14:7-10:
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.”
In John 17:6 and 26, when praying to the Father, the Lord Jesus said,
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word… And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
You and I are now identified with the name of the Father!
Third, the Lord Jesus has also revealed to us the joy of the Father’s will. Look at John 6:38-39,
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.”
He found strength and refreshment, joy, and satisfaction in doing the Father’s will. Listen to these verses:
“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.'” John 4:34
“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” John 17:4
“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” John 19:30
Seeing this revelation helps us then to understand that God also has a will for each of us to fulfill. At least five times in the New Testament, we read of the will of God for believers (2 Pet. 3:9; 1 Pet. 2:15; Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Thess. 4:3-5; 1 Pet. 4:19).
Fourth, the Son has revealed the Father’s Hand to us.
“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (Jn. 10:29).
This is a place of assurance and security. It is a place of rest and reliance. Listen to the last words of the Lord Jesus,
“Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Lk. 23:46).
Fifth, the Lord Jesus revealed to us the Father’s House.
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:1-3
What a wonderful revelation and a wonderful promise from the lips of the Son of God. He has promised to take every believer home in the Father’s House!
Heaven is our home, and the Father’s House is our destiny! The Father’s house and heaven are often used interchangeably as metaphors for the same eternal destination. The Father’s house emphasizes the place of God’s presence and our intimate, familial relationship with Him. Heaven points us to the spiritual and heavenly nature of that place. The Father’s House is the eternal and heavenly home of the saints.
I’m sure there are many other things the Lord Jesus has revealed to us concerning our relationship with the Father. But these few might help stir our affections and interests to further develop our relationship with the Father and His Son.