Trinity Trilogy – God The Father

Intro

Welcome to The Trinity Trilogy. In this series, I aim to discuss who each person of the Trinity is in three separate posts – one per member. I can only do so much in a single blog post per member of the Godhead, so none of them will be comprehensive. As an aside, I recognize that the concept of the Trinity is deserving of its own post and will explore that after the trilogy. But for this first post of the trilogy, I will be examining the first member of the Trinity, God the Father.

Who is God?

Asking the question “Who is God?” will get you a myriad of answers. It’s not easy to explain who He is, not when He is beyond our comprehension – existing outside of time and space will do that. But I am going to do my best to lay out a few of the most pertinent attributes of God in this post.

God is Creator

One of the most important attributes of God, is that God is the creator of the universe. The universe did not come into existence accidentally, planets did not randomly form, and plants, animals, and humans did not evolve from simpler live forms. Genesis chapters 1-2 make it clear that God created everything – the stars, the Earth, the plants, animals, and mankind. If we ignore this important part of who God is, then we might as well forget about the rest. If God didn’t create everything as Genesis states, then we can’t trust the rest of the Bible and we should find a different religion.

Why would I say something that strongly? Simple. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV) says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Since Genesis is a part of Scripture, it was God-breathed. In other words, God inspired the words that were written down. So, if God did not in fact create the universe in the manner that Genesis describes, that would either make God a liar or non-existent. In either case, the Bible would no longer be trustworthy. Which makes Christianity a worthless religion.

So, assuming the Bible is trustworthy, is Genesis the only Biblical reference to God being the creator? Nope. To list just a couple: Revelation 4:11 (NIV) states, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” and Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV) declares, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Doing an internet search will yield many more.

Shameless Plugs (Gasp!)

I don’t have the time or space to go over the massive amount of evidence that exists to support the creation of the universe by God, and I encourage you to do your own research. A couple of fantastic documentaries I encourage you to check out are Is Genesis History? and TrueU (Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the creators nor am I going to get paid if you visit these sites and buy anything. I am also not responsible for the amount of time and money you put into those).

God is Good

“The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” Psalm 145:9 (NIV). The Lord is a good God. The Bible states that there is no darkness in Him. He is pure light and love. Our God is a God we can trust to give us good gifts. Many of the polytheistic religions of the ancient world had gods that would punish people for seemingly no reason. In those days, people trembled in fear of displeasing them and would assume that whenever something went wrong in their lives, it was a punishment from one of their gods. The Lord, Jehovah, is not like that. We do not have to be afraid of Him. For He loves us with an everlasting love.

If you’re looking for verses about how good God is, the Psalms are a fantastic place to start. I opened this section with a Psalm and here’s another one: Psalm 145:7 (NIV) “They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.” But don’t worry, for those of you who prefer diversity, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34 (NIV). And for those who live in the New Testament more often, “No one is good – except God alone.” Mark 10:18b (NIV).

Similar to the last section, I could go on with the number of verses that talk about God’s goodness. Instead, I will make brief mention about the importance of God’s goodness. God’s goodness is the reason we have the option of salvation and having a relationship with the creator of the universe. It’s because of that goodness that humanity is still around – instead of being wiped out and replaced. Without His goodness, we would have legitimate reason to be worried about the future.

God is Sovereign

“The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.” Psalm 103:19 (NIV). God created the universe. And He continues to rule it. The Lord sits on His throne above the universe and there is none like Him and none who can challenge Him. “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” Daniel 4:35 (NIV). The Bible is clear that God reigns and can do whatever He wants, when He wants. It’s impossible to challenge His sovereignty.

Now, the sovereignty of God leaves many people confused. People question how a good God, if He is truly sovereign, could allow evil in the world. And the main reason I think people question this is because they don’t have a solid understanding of what sovereignty is. To put it simply, sovereignty does not mean that everything that God desires to happen will happen. The Bible states that God desires “everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 NIV) yet this isn’t happening. People die every day without repenting. What His sovereignty does mean is that, regardless of what happens, His plans will ultimately come to pass (see Isaiah 46:9-10).

A quick analogy, the monarchs of old Europe were sovereign over their kingdoms. But not all their subjects obeyed the laws or did what the monarch would’ve like them to. Criminals ran around doing as they pleased disregarding what the king desired. It’s the same with God and our world. God is sovereign over all, but not everyone chooses to live their lives by His standards or do what He desires them to.

God is Father

The Almighty, holy, all-powerful God chooses to relate to us as a Father does to his children. However, He is the perfect father as no earthly father can be. James 1:17 (NIV), “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” What’s great about this verse is that it demonstrates a couple different attributes. It serves as a reminder that God gives good and perfect gifts – this relates to the earlier point of God is Good. And it also shows us that God is a Father. However, it doesn’t state that He is our father. But that’s okay! You can find other verses that state that more clearly. Such as “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” (Isaiah 64:8, NIV).

Some might say that the previous verse is from Isaiah and referencing the Jewish people. And that’s true. However, as Christians (even us Gentiles), we are grafted in (Romans 11:11-24), so this verse applies to us as well. But if you need further evidence that God is our Father, look at Ephesians 4:6, “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (NIV, emphasis mine). God is everyone’s Father. And He loves us as His dear children.

‘Father’ is not a Trivial Aspect of God

This is a very important part of God. He dearly loves us and wants the absolute best for us. So much so, that He gave His only Son up to death in order to have a relationship with us. So, we could spend eternity with Him (see John 3:16). This means that we can trust Him to give us good things and to do right by us. Matthew 7:11 (NIV) states, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” His loving Fatherhood coupled with His goodness means that we don’t have to worry about receiving bad things from Him, e.g. sickness, injury, identity theft, bankruptcy, etc. These things are a result of living in a fallen world with a real enemy looking to destroy our lives.

God’s gifts to His children are more along the lines of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. In addition to these (called the Fruit of the Spirit), He gives a variety of Spiritual gifts that He calls us to use to minister to others – both within the church and outside the church. Only a good and loving Father would do that.

Wrapping Up

As stated at the beginning, this isn’t comprehensive by any means. The vastness of who God is can’t be measured in one post. The Trinity Trilogy merely plants the seeds for those who are seeking. And to water and nurture the seeds for others who are more mature. If this stirs you to dig deeper into the Word of God or gives you greater confidence in who God is, then I have done my job (Did you like the plant metaphors? There’s a reason I called the blog Tilling and Planting).

Well, that’s all for this post. Join me next time for part two of The Trinity Trilogy – God The Son.