I’ve been really stirred by how God is our perfect Father in recent days.
Jesus called the Father, ‘Abba’ – the Aramaic word for daddy which you could use as the intimate term for your dad from the cradle to the grave. Intriguingly Jesus called God Father in every one of his prayers, except on the cross when God’s wrath for our sin was poured on Him. At that point, when Jesus became sin for us, Jesus cried out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
For many our view of God the Father is coloured by our experience of earthly dads. Being a dad is an amazing calling – we are meant to be like Jesus and point to God in the way we parent. That’s pretty hard, so I’m grateful to God for his grace and forgiveness and covering of my efforts to be a good dad.
Soon we will look at the Fatherhood of God in a few sermons – be expectant for God to change you by His love, grace and power as we preach. Knowing God as Father is amazing liberating and is possible because Jesus died for our sin that separated us from God on the cross. Jesus opened up access to God – we can come to the Father any time through the Holy Spirit. Wow!
Here’s some truths to meditate on about God as Father – do look up the verses

• Our Father God is intimate and involved (Psalm 139:1-18)
• Our Father God is kind and compassionate (Psalm 103:8-14)
• Our Father God is accepting and filled with joy and love (Romans 15:17, Zephaniah 3:17)
• Our Father God is warm and affectionate (Isaiah 40:11; Hosea 11:3-4)
• Our Father God is always with me and eager to be with me (Hebrews 13:5; Jeremiah 31:20; Ezekiel 34:11-16)
• Our Father God is patient and slow to anger and delights in those who put their hope in His unfailing love ( Exodus 34:6; 2 Peter3:9; Psalms 147:11)
• Our Father God is loving and gentle and protective ( Jeremiah 31:3; Isaiah 42:3; Psalm 18:2)
• Our Father God is trustworthy and wants to give me a full ife; His will is good, perfect and acceptable for me (Lamentations 3:22-23; John 10:10; Romans 12:1-2)
• Our Father God is full of grace and mercy and gives me freedom to fail (Hebrews 4:15-16; Luke 15:11-16; Luke 22:24)
• Our Father God is tender-hearted and forgiving in His heart and arms are always open to me (Psalm 130:1-4; Luke 15:17-24))
• Our Father God is committed to my growth and proud of me as His growing child (Romans 8:28-29; Hebrews 12:5-11; 2 Corinthians 7:14))

Thanks to Neil Anderson’s Steps to freedom in Christ” for that list.