While trying to share the Good News of Jesus with some of my Muslim neighbors in Amsterdam, I discovered that my understanding of the Gospel was too small. The Gospel of Jesus and Paul had three main themes, but mine only seemed to have one. For the Good News of redemption and forgiveness of sins to make sense to people I knew from Muslim cultures, I began to see that I had to first learn how to tell them the Good News that Jesus has revealed about God as our Father. Looking through the lens of human sin and the cross, I had mainly seen the Gospel message in terms of a holy God, and what Jesus as his Son had done to redeem us. Now suddenly I saw sin and the cross in another way—through the lens of God as our Father, and Jesus as our Family-Redeemer [Hebrew, goël].

My presentation of these two themes in story form was published as Abu Sharif: The Mystery of the Hundredth Name (2000 & 2003). In a second book of stories published in Dutch, Rode Dromer  (‘Red Dreamer’, 2008 & 2011), I added the third theme of the Gospel—about God’s plan to bring all nations together in one multi-ethnic urban family. You can read more about these three themes in Meditation #8. And in the 'articles'  section (under 'more') you can read my paper, Learning to Share the Good News in a Muslim Context, about the Biblical model that aided me in this process.

My discoveries then began challenging me about my own relationship with God, through Jesus and the Spirit. How well did I know him as my Father? So in 2001 I took a sabbatical year to meditate on what God’s Word says about God as my Father. And I again experienced what the lion, Aslan, said to Lucy in one of the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis: “Every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”[i] The following year I began writing up my discoveries and sharing these with family members, friends, colleagues, students and in various church group settings.  

NOTE

[i] C.S.Lewis, Prince Caspian. Chapter 10.

While both images are used in the Bible, the frequency and nature of the divine ‘mother’ and ‘father’ references are different. For one thing, there are very few of the former. The most significant difference, however, is that all the ‘mother’ references are metaphorical. By contrast, only 5 of the 19 ‘father’ references in the Tenakh, or Old Testament (26%), describe God as ‘like a father’. And only 16 of the 276 references to God as ‘father’ in the New Testament (6%) do this. All the other references use ‘Father’ as a title or name for God.

These numbers should also tell us that the Bible is not using ‘father’ as an image for God to support patriarchal social structures. If that were the case, there would more likely be 276 ‘father’ references in the Tenakh, and only 19 in the New Testament! Instead of the Bible using ‘Father’ to tell us something about God’s patriarchal ‘maleness’, this name for God is used to tell us something important about his relationship with all human beings, both men and women. The huge number of ‘father’ references in the New Testament shows us that Jesus came to reveal some new things about this relationship. And this revelation shows us that God is our real Father! Rather than human fatherhood being the real thing, and God’s ‘fatherhood’ being a metaphor, it is actually the other way around. As Paul wrote:

I bow my knees to the Father [Gr. pateer], from whom all fatherhood [Gr. patria]…on earth derives its name. (Eph.3:14-15, Med.#6)

Did you know that less than one third (30%) of the 276 New Testament texts specifically identify God as ‘Father’ to Jesus? Most simply refer to God as ‘the Father’ or as ‘Father God’ (46%), while the other 18% of the references specifically refer to God as ‘our Father’.[i] Interestingly, of the 17 references to the Father in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7: see Meditations 11-16), Jesus only refers to God as ‘my Father’ once. Besides the one time he refers to God as ‘our Father’, he speaks to his listeners of God as ‘your[ii] Father’ 16 times! Likewise, in 20 of the 21 New Testament letters that begin with a reference to God as Father, he is referred to first of all as 'our Father' or as 'Father God', rather than as 'the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ'  (see Med.#9)!

NOTES

[i] When I quote Bible texts I will use 'YOU' or 'YOUR' (in caps) to show where a group of people are being addressed because the 2^nd person pronoun or verb form in the Greek (or Hebrew) is plural. I will use ‘you’ (without caps) when the Greek (or Hebrew) uses the 2^nd person singular. I do this because English does not make this distinction and sometimes this distinction is important.

[ii] The other 6% of New Testament references to God as ‘Father’ are found in texts where God is pictured as like a human father is some way. (See also my answer to the previous question). Do the math: 6% (metaphorical) + 46% (‘the Father’) + 30% (Father to Jesus) + 18% (our Father) = 100% (276 NT references)

Yes, but while meditating on all 276 references to the Father in the New Testament, I discovered that most current teaching only scratches the surface. Or it is based primarily on an Old Testament understanding—namely that God is called ‘Father’:

1. Because he is our all-powerful Creator
2. As a metaphor for how he relates to us as underage children—loving and protecting us, disciplining and correcting us, protecting us and showing compassion for us in our vulnerability, while expecting honor and respect from us in return.
3. In his relationship to a collective group of people: Israel
4. In a special relation to the Messiah as ruler over an eternal kingdom.

These four themes can be seen in 15 of the 19 Old Testament texts where God is called ‘Father’ (see Med.#A-D in the Appendix). Three of the OT texts, however, suggest that God was planning to reveal something new (see Med.#E). This is what Paul and Jesus called ‘the Mystery [Gr. musterion] (Med.#6,#8,#17), and both clearly indicated that neither Jews nor anyone who believed in Jesus could automatically see this new revelation about the Father (Med.#1, Med.#17).  Even many of the Church ‘fathers’ don’t seem to get past this Old Testament understanding of the Father. In the Apostles Creed, for example, there are only two references to God as ‘Father’. And these only reflect the truths of the texts covered by Meditations #A and #D: that God is ‘the Father Almighty, Creator’, and that Jesus—as ‘his only Son, our Lord’—is now ‘seated at the right hand of God the Father’.

This creed, of course, does not deny that God is also ‘our Father’, but its wording has left a huge gap, allowing many theologians to promote the idea that only through Jesus’ death on the cross are we able to become ‘adopted’ sons and daughters. Which only leaves the awkward question, ‘then who is my real father?’

Actually, he doesn’t teach this. The Greek word that is usually translated 'adoption' or  ‘adoption as sons’ [Gr. huiothesia], is not used this way by Paul. Literally, this Greek word means ‘placement of sons’. And Paul does not use this word to refer to the ‘placement’ of someone into a family, from outside it, as an adopted ‘son’. Rather he uses it to refer to the ‘placement’ of an under age ‘son’ as an adult heir within the family. In other words, he uses huiothesia as a term for a child’s 'coming of age' (Med.#4). This word never appears in the Septuagint, and only five times in Paul’s letters (the other four texts are discussed in Med. #5 and Med. #8). Already in the 19^th century, George MacDonald demonstrated several more reasons why using the word ‘adoption’ is not an accurate exegesis of what Paul is saying in these texts (See his sermon, Abba, Father in the articles section). More recently, Dr. Alfred Martin wrote the following about Paul's use of the Greek word huiothesia, in his commentary on Ephesians 1:5[i]:

The word…, used five times in the NT (Gal.4:5; Rom.8:15,23; 9:4; and here), …is not the modern idea of adoption, but rather the placing of a child in the position of adult sonship. God’s purpose is that all believers should be adult sons (and daughters) in his family, in which Christ is the ‘firstborn’ (Rom.8:29).[ii]

Once after I had preached a sermon in our multi-cultural Anglican church on this aspect of Paul's gospel, a parishioner from the Basotho nation in South Africa came up to tell me how my message had helped reassure her that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is our real Father too. She, like most evangelical Christians had been taught that we only come into God's family as ‘adopted’ children. Yet in her culture there is no word for ‘adoption’. “Even if your parents die, another family member takes care of you,” she said. “You still belong to the same family.” So she went to her Sesotho Bible to see how the word huiothesia [the placement as sons] was translated. In the five places where Paul uses the word, she discovered that it is rendered Sesotho as ‘the anointing as sons’! I'm pretty sure that Paul would agree with this translation.

NOTES

[i] For my commentary on the use of huiothesia in Eph.1:5, see Med. #8.

[ii] Alfred Martin, ThD, ‘The Epistle to the Ephesians’, in Everett F. Harrison (Ed.), The New Testament and Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New York & Chicago, Iversen-Norman Associates & Moody Press, 1971, p.726. This commentary by Dr. Martin, a professor at Moody Bible Institute, was first published by this institution in 1962 (page xii and xvii).

Certain English Bible translations, like the New American Standard Version or the more recent English Standard Version tend to stick fairly close to the Greek text. Yet anyone familiar with the nature of language differences knows that all translations, even the best ones, must inevitably do some interpretation. So all translators are subject to the temptation to choose an interpretation that best fits their own theological system, or that of the Christian audience for whom they are writing. For example, in the Gospel of John, the New International Version has Jesus say ‘my Father’ nine times when the Greek clearly has him referring in a more general way to God as ‘the Father’. So the NIV is usually not my favored translation.

Also every language has its own limitations. Modern written English, for example, does not make the distinction found in Greek (and in many other languages) between the singular and plural in the second person. So both, in pronoun form, are rendered as ‘you’; and the reader can’t always tell if an individual or a group is being addressed. The same is true when a command is given—is an individual being told to do something or a group of people? And sometimes this distinction matters—like in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6), when Jesus talks about ‘when you pray’, ‘when you fast’ and ‘when you give alms’. Each time, Jesus gives instructions to his disciples concerning their individual relationship with their Father (‘your Father’, singular), and concerning their relationship with him as a group (‘YOUR Father’, plural). See Med.#16.

The best approach is to consult a variety of Bible translations, even a Greek-English interlinear Bible (See Greek Study Helps in the Resources section). 

In connection with my own intercultural ministry, I used these helps, and the Greek New Testament itself, to make my own translation of a Gospel Harmony and a Paul Harmony. And I have used these translations for most of the meditations, since 90% of the NT references to the Father are found in the Gospels, Acts and Paul’s letters (see also Bible Translations Used).

Meditating on God’s word involves more than just reading it, and many Christians have never learned how to do this. As a result they get bored with reading the Bible because they read it like any other book, and once you have read it, well, you know what is in it. Or do you? And many Christians today are warned against ‘meditation’ because this word is used to describe a spiritual exercise in which you focus on physical and mental mechanics like breathing and emptying your mind. Yet the original meaning of this word, of Latin origin (meditari), was about exercising your mind to think and ponder—not to empty it. In the Old Testament, ‘meditate’ is used to translate two Hebrew words: siyach (H7878[i]) and hagah (H1897). Here are some examples of how these two words are used:

• 'I meditate [hagah] on all that you have done; I ponder [siyach] the work of your hands.' (Psalm 143:5 ESV)
• 'I will meditate [siyach] on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways… Your servant will meditate [siyach] on your statutes.' (Psalm 119:15,23 ESV)
• 'This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate [hagah] on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then… you will have good success.' (Joshua 1:8 ESV)

Both of these Hebrew words carry the idea of pondering or reflecting deeply about God’s Word, his work and his ways. But they also carry the idea of doing this with your ‘mouth’ and not just with your eyes. If our life is to be sustained by feeding on God’s Word (Matt. 4:4; Deut.8:3), we also need to read God’s Word aloud in order to ‘chew on’ what he is saying to us. In fact, this is one of the connotations of these two Hebrew words. Reading God’s Word aloud, or listening to someone else read it aloud, also engages your ears. Meditation, therefore, engages three of your six senses, while silent reading engages only our eyes.

To ponder even more deeply, you can engage one more sense (touch) by keeping a Meditation Journal—writing down a particular phrase or sentence from the Bible text that strikes you and adding your own thoughts about how you now understand it and need to apply it.

So in approaching these meditations, I suggest you do the following

1. Ask God to help you still your heart and mind to hear him speak through his Word.
2. Read the Bible text aloud to yourself in your own language.
3. Write down in your Meditation Journal any phrase or sentence in the text that particularly strikes you.
4. Read silently the ‘meditation notes’ I have written on the Bible text.
5. If you have a question about a particular Bible reference I have given, take time to look it up. But don’t feel you need to look up all the Bible references given.
6. Pray aloud the prayer at the end of the meditation that is taken from the Bible.
7. Take a few moments to listen to anything your Father might want to say to you through his Spirit
8. Write down in your Journal what you have learned from this Bible text about God as your Father, and about what he has done through Jesus or is committed to do by his Spirit from his side of the relationship. Then write down how you need to respond in faith as a daughter or son to take responsibility for your side of the relationship.
9. (Optional) Listen to the audio reading of my English translation of the text.
10. (Optional) Use a tool like E-sword, or an interlinear Greek program to check out any questions you might have about my translation or interpretation of the Bible text
11. (Optional) Make further notes about your discoveries in your Meditation Journal.

Take whatever time you need to chew on each Bible text and my written ‘meditation notes’ before proceeding to the next meditation.

You don’t have to do the meditations in a particular order. You will note that I often refer to a Bible text that has a reference to another Meditation. If you are particularly struck by that thought and want to read more you can look up that meditation (by clicking on it?).

Remember, the purpose of these meditations is about more than just about gaining mental knowledge about the idea of God as Father. My desire in sharing the meditations is that by gaining knowledge through revelation you will go on to grow in relational knowledge—for knowing, trusting, conversing and partnering with your Father in heaven in all that you do, through Jesus the Messiah and by the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Our Christian belief in the Trinity is more about a relationship with God than about explaining him—our response to his ‘Word (Jesus) and the Spirit as the two hands of the Father in the world’, reaching out to us in creation, redemption and the bringing to perfection of everything he has made[ii].

As you embark on a new ‘Bible listening’ adventure with these meditations, I encourage you to be open to let the Spirit reveal new things to you from God’s Word. At the same time, I encourage you to not simply discard the biblical truths you knew before as somehow passé. The challenge is to be like the Bible scholar Jesus spoke of—the ‘scribe’ who as he is ‘discipled’ into the (Father’s) kingdom’, is able to ‘draw out from his treasure things both new and old’ (Matt.13:52). May these meditations both challenge you and encourage you to develop your own deep relationship with the Father—through faith and obedience to Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit.

Also pray with me, that the church of Jesus Christ in the 21^st century will gain a new vision of the Father, much like the 20^th century church gained a fresh vision of the Holy Spirit.

NOTES

[i] This is the number given (by Strong) to this particular Hebrew word in Hebrew lexicons of words in the Old Testament. I give the lexicon numbers in case you want to look them up, like in the E-sword program I mentioned above.

[ii] See 'Explanation of the Logo' for the full citation and reference to this quote from St. Irenaeus of Lyon.