Who is the Father? pt II

In the last post I talked about forgiveness and the role of the Father. Now, I want to talk a little about his roles. (Check out the 1 Peter series for more).

Jesus is talking about the Father in the Sermon on the Mount and is telling the audience the Father is a good provider. Look at creation and see how God provides for the animals. The birds don’t farm yet God feeds them. The flowers don’t make clothes yet Solomon wasn’t dressed as gloriously as any of them. These things weren’t made in His image. Imagine how well the Father takes care of those made in His image! We don’t need to worry about anything. We will be provided for. Then Jesus says this, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32). I can worry about being provided for but the Father one ups me. He wants to give me the kingdom. In fact, He is pleased to give me the kingdom.

Our Father is also a king. A king has unlimited resources and reach beyond that of anyone else in the kingdom. He has authority to declare life and death, to imprison and set free, to bring peace and justice. He runs and is responsible for everything within that kingdom. He can give this authority to anyone he chooses as well. As the child of a king, we have access to the kingdom’s resources. It’s the concept of an ambassador. Never will you see a shabby consulate. Even the poorest countries have lavish consulates. The ambassador has the backing of that country and is a representative of that country.

But guess what, as a child of a king, we have access to his emotions as well. We can know not only the Father’s insight into a situation but we can also know his heart on it. Father God shares His emotions with us. Sometimes, all we have to do is ask.

As a child of the king we can spend time in the throne room anytime we want, not just in select times as a townsperson or even an ambassador can. He loves talking with us. There isn’t anything too small or too big that we cannot talk to him about. He loves talking with us. He has so many good things for us and longs to tell us how He sees us.

One of the things I love to ask Him is How do you see me right now? He sees all good things. There may be things I need to work on but it isn’t a negative thing. The Father isn’t disappointed in me if I doubt that He is faithful to fulfill His promises. He gets to prove himself faithful and through the process grows me in faith. Abraham is a good example of this. In the Old Testament, we see Abraham doubted all the time but in Hebrews it says he never wavered in his faith. God didn’t count the wavering. It was irrelevant. There was a time that Abraham believed God to be true and that is what God looked at. The times he missed it wasn’t what God focused on. It’s like a kid learning to walk. We don’t look down on them for falling down. It’s when they are walking that we count it and focus on it.

We don’t have lack in the Father. 2 Peter 1:3-4 says He has given us everything we need for life. He even gives us promises of what He wants to be for us and who He is making us into. We have the joy of getting to discover these. It’s like a treasure hunt. The promises are already there and our true identity is already there, we get to discover them.