God the Father – GRACE COMMUNION JAMAICA

Who is God the Father?

God the Father is the first Person of the Trinity, of whom the Son is eternally begotten and from whom the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds through the Son.
(John 1:1, 14; John 14:16-17, 26; John 15:26)

Why is the first of the three divine Persons of the Trinity called “Father”?

Our Lord Jesus called God his eternal Father and identified himself as his only eternal Son. Thus, the Father is, first of all, the Father of the Son. The Son also taught his disciples to address God as Father in prayer. The apostle Paul teaches that God adopts believers as his children, sending the Spirit of the Son into their hearts so they cry out, “Abba, Father.” As adopted children in the Son, we may address the Father as Jesus does.
(Matthew 6:9; John 1:18; John 14:9-10; Romans 1:7; Romans 8:15-17; Romans 15:6; Galatians 4:4-7)

What is meant by calling God “Father”?

In calling God “Father,” we acknowledge that God exists in personal relationship, and that we were created by God for personal relationship with him. God made humankind according to his image, which is revealed in his eternal Son. We were created to trust in God as our Creator, Sustainer, Protector and Provider, putting our hope in God as his children who, in Jesus Christ, are God’s heirs.
(Genesis 1:26, Matthew 6:25-33; Acts 17:28; Romans 8:16-17, 28-29)

Does calling the first Person of the Trinity “Father” mean that God is male?

Only creatures, having bodies, can be either male or female. But God has no body, since by nature God is Spirit. The Holy Scriptures reveal God as a living God beyond all sexual distinctions. Scripture uses diverse images for God, female as well as male.
(Isaiah 49:15; Isaiah 66:13; Matthew 23:37)

Why does the Creed say that God the Father is “Almighty”?

God the Father is “Almighty” as the God who is love—a holy love that is powerful beyond measure. God is omnipotent—he can do anything he wants to do.
(Lamentations 3:22; Song 8:7; 1 John 4:8-9)

How do Christians understand the love and power of God?

We understand the love and power of God most clearly through Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ life of compassion, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead, we see how vast God’s love for the world is—a love that is ready to suffer for our sakes, yet so strong that nothing will prevail against it. In the power of his love, God is for us and is eternally against all that is against us and his loving purposes for us.
(John 3:16; Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 4:9; Matthew 9:36; Psalm 106:8)

What comfort do Christians receive from this truth?

This powerful and loving God is the one we may trust in all the circumstances of our lives, and to whom we belong both in life and death.
(Psalms 12:6; Romans 8:38-39)

What do Christians mean by God’s “providence”?

That God not only preserves his creation, but also continually provides for it, attends to it, ruling and sustaining it with wise and benevolent care. God is concerned for every creature and, in the end, will eradicate all evil and deliver all of creation from it.
(Psalm 145:15, 17; Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28; Ephesians 1:9-10; 1 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1)

What comfort do Christians receive by trusting in God’s providence?

The eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ watches over us continuously, blessing, guiding and compassionately correcting us wherever we may be. God strengthens us when we are faithful, comforts us when discouraged or sorrowful, raises us up when we stumble, and brings us at last to the fullness of eternal life. Entrusting ourselves wholly to God’s care, we receive the grace to be patient in adversity, thankful in the midst of blessing, courageous against injustice, and confident that no evil afflicts us that God will not turn to our ultimate good.
(Psalm 146:9; Isaiah 58:11; Isaiah 41:10; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5; Psalm 30:5)

What does the Creed mean in saying that God is “Maker of heaven and earth”?

First, that God called heaven and earth, with all that is in them, into being out of nothing by the power of his Word. Second, that by that same power all things are upheld and governed in perfect goodness, righteousness and wisdom, according to God’s eternal purpose.
(Revelation 4:11; Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 11:3)

Did God need the world in order to be God?

No. God would still be God, eternally perfect and inexhaustibly rich, even if no creatures had ever been created. Yet, without God, all created beings would fail to exist. Creatures can neither come into existence, nor continue, nor find fulfillment apart from God. God alone is self-existent and self-sufficient.
(Acts 17:24-25; John 1:16; John 5:26; Ephesians 1:22)

Why then did God create the world?

God’s decision to create the world was an act of grace. God chose to grant existence to the world simply to bless it. God created the world as a place to make known God’s glory, to share the love and freedom at the heart of God’s triune being, and to give us eternal life in communion with God, all demonstrating the goodness and glory of God.
(Psalm 19:1; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Psalm 67:6-7; Ephesians 1:3-4; John 3:36)

From The GCI Statement of Beliefs:

God the Father is the first Person of the triune God, of whom the Son is eternally begotten and from whom the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds through the Son.
The Father, who made all things seen and unseen through the Son, sends the Son for our salvation and gives the Holy Spirit for our regeneration and adoption as children of God.