Not many people meditate on the greetings and introductory sentences in the 22 New Testament letters that follow the gospels and Acts. Nineteen of these begin with references to God as ‘Father’, either as part of the greeting or by way of introduction. Two letters begin with an opening reference to ‘the Father’ (James) or to 'Father God' (2 Peter) shortly after the opening. Only 3 John contains no reference to God as ‘Father’. The nineteen mentioned speak about the Father in six different ways in their introductions, and so have some very important things to say to us about God as ‘Father’. As represented by the six sample texts above, they speak of:

1. God as ‘Father God’, with ‘our Father’ in a succeeding sentence – 2 times (1 Thessalonians & Galatians);
2. God simply as ‘our Father’ – 5 times (1 Corinthians, Romans, Philippians, 2 Thessalonians & Philemon);
3. God as ‘our Father’ and then as ‘the Father of…Jesus’ – 3 times (Colossians, Ephesians, 2 Corinthians);
4. God only as ‘Father God’ – 4 times (Jude, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus);
5. God as ‘Father God’ (or ‘the Father’), followed by a reference to God as Jesus' Father – 3 times (1 & 2 John, & 1 Peter);
6. God as Jesus' Father – 2 times: (Revelation, & in Hebrews where a Messianic text is quoted).

Notice how the New Testament letters open with a primary reference to God as either ‘our Father’ or as ‘Father God’ (1-5) seventeen times! Only in the opening sentences of Revelation is God referred to exclusively as the Father of Jesus (6); for in the introduction to Hebrews the author goes on to speak of how, in Jesus, all believers ‘inherit’ a position with Jesus ‘the heir’ that is higher than angels (Med.#7).

Why then did so many New Testament writers—especially Paul—start their letters with this primary emphasis on God as ‘our Father’ and as ‘Father God’. I believe that the Holy Spirit led them to do this first of all to counter a natural human tendency. Remember Jesus' parable of the 'prodigal son' (Lk.15, Med.#20). When the 'bad' son finally came to his senses and decided to return to his father, he felt totally unworthy to be treated any longer as a son. After the shame he had brought to his father, he could only envision his father receiving him back as a day laborer. Yet even before he could confess his unworthiness, his father embraced him as his son. And before he could verbalize his envisioned terms for a return, his father interrupted him. Though the father had mourned his son as ‘lost’ and ‘dead’, he had never disowned him. Now he not only threw a party to celebrate, but he gave his returning son a ‘ring’ of authority as an adult son. How sad for the father would it have been if his son had stayed focused on himself—on his own unworthiness— instead of on his father's joy. Yet this is exactly what many Christians do. It is easier for us to think of God as Jesus' Father, than it is for us to think of him as ‘our Father’ and call him ‘Father God’

A second reason why Christians do this can be found in the same parable—in the critical attitude of the older brother. Even though this sour brother had never before brought public shame to his father, he did so now in front of his father's guests. For him, being a good son was all about performance, not about a close partnership relationship. And he had never understood his father's generous and merciful heart. With this aspect of the parable, Jesus was targeting the theologians and religious leaders of his day.

Down through the centuries, many church leaders have used their influence to downplay the joyful and prominent emphasis in the New Testament Scriptures on God as ‘our Father’ by emphasizing the second point in the above texts—that he is ‘the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’. Now in the early centuries of church history there was an important reason for this. Many false teachers were leading people astray by claiming that Jesus' humanity meant that he was only a man. So I am grateful for all the early church leaders who stood for the truth of Scripture that Jesus was not only sent by God, but that he is God. Yet this defense of Jesus' special relationship with the Father has had an unforeseen consequence. Many church leaders still act like the brother in Jesus' parable and think it necessary to constantly remind all Christians of their own ‘unworthiness’ to be called sons and daughters of God. And those leaders who do speak of God as ‘our Father’ in Christ, mostly reduce the impact of this truth by representing us only as his ‘little children’ in God's household. One late-first century Church leader emphasized in a number of his letters that Jesus' obedience to God as Father is a model for how Christians should obey their church leaders![iii]

It is my hope that these expositions of the 276 references to the Father in the New Testament will help you gain a new revelation of the Father's joy in you as a real son or a real daughter in his family. The truth of the Scriptures is that God is both your Father and, in a unique way, the Father of Jesus. In the Scriptures, neither truth is presented in a way that diminishes the other. And we need a clear revelation of both truths through his Word—as we look at Jesus the living Word and as we read the New Testament apostles and prophets—to help us get our focus onto God as our real Father. Are you allowing yourself to be intimidated: either by your own sinful past, or by the sour older brother and sister theologians and leaders in the church?