God’s Character

NOTES

• Take Home Points

  Don’t confuse the many indescribably glorious blessings that are ours because of what Jesus accomplished, such as salvation, forgiveness and heaven, with the reason Jesus came.

  Jesus came to restore us to the Father: a reunion of love that restores humanity’s identity as children of God and restores humanity’s destiny as custodians of God’s creation.

  Our relationship with God depends on our view of God.

  Jesus re-revealed God’s nature; specifically, His loving father-heart. This single revelation of God’s fatherhood frames our faith, informs our identity, shapes our values and fuels our mission.

  While God is certainly a Creator, a Provider, a Lord, a Saviour and a Friend, a picture of God that plugs into any one of these at the expense or exclusion of the others can become a distortion of God’s nature.

  Faith is essentially about a relationship with the Father made possible through Jesus’ completed work and enabled by the indwelling Spirit.

  We are only as secure and strong as our picture of God.

• What about God's fatherhood in the Old Testament?

  Although the Old Testament uses multiple names to reveal the multifaceted nature of God, the primary revelation of God in the Old Testament is the word Yahweh (transliterated as Jehovah).

  Yahweh is the covenant name of God and it is used over 6,820 times. To get a feel for how prevalent and primary this word is, consider that the second most frequent word is the more general word for “God” (Hebrew: Elohim), which is used around 2,340 times. In third place, the word for “Lord” (Hebrew: Adonai) is used around 450 times.

  A number of Bible translations, including the NKJV, NASB, NIV and NLT, use the word “LORD” in uppercase to distinguish when Yahweh appears in the Scriptures. In doing so, the translators acted consistently with Jewish practice that held, for reverenance sake, Yahweh should not be spoken out loud but instead read as Adonai (Lord). While their devotion was indeed admirable, it was misplaced. God surely revealed His personal name to be known personally.

  While using “LORD” to translate Yahweh might be helpful, it can lead one to conclude that God’s primary revelation in the Old Testament was “Lord” not Yahweh.

  Yes, God is certainly our Lord (Adonai), the “Supreme Ruler, Absolute Controller”. However, Yahweh was God’s primary revelation of Himself in the Old Testament, a revelation God’s people obscured through entrenched religion (and admirable but misplaced practices).

  Jesus’ coming cut through this religious veil to once again clarify the nature of God.

  Not only is Yahweh the personal name of God, it is also the covenantal name of God. In my opinion, “Covenant Father” is a reasonable definition of it based on at least three things:

  1. Jesus Himself. As we’ve seen, Jesus didn’t put a new face on God. Rather, He peeled back the curtain of heaven to remind His audience of God’s essential fatherhood, a foundational reality obscured through centuries of soul-crushing religion.
  2. God’s self-unveiling: the open and personal disclosure of His heart to His people, as we’ll discuss below.
  3. Fatherhood and family were the primary values that God’s people, the Hebrews, embraced. These core values shaped their culture, education, community, leadership and government. This is only possible based on the revelation of God’s Fatherhood. (See Hebrew Thinking Vs. Greek Thinking).

  God’s Self-Unveiling

  An incredible example of God’s unabashed self-unveiling in the Old Testament is found in two passages in Isaiah. Through this prophet, God speaks to His backslidden people. They had forsaken and rejected Him, but how does God choose to respond?

  God says,

  Come now, and let us reason together … though your sins are like scarlet…”

  (Isaiah 1:18)

  Here is the Almighty Creator, the Supreme Being, talking to backslidden subjects who have brazenly rebelled against Him … and He invites them; He appeals to them: “Come now … let us reason together”.

  The Supreme Being could have destroyed them for treason. Instead, Father God invites them to fellowship with Him, to talk to Him, to reason together, to re-enter communication with Him. The picture is of a father who still believes the best of his children, trying to assure and affirm His relationship with them.

  Later, God is accused of neglecting these rebels. Did you get that? They betrayed Him but lash out with false accusations. In reply, God says,

  Can a woman forget her nursing child? Surely they may forget. Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands.”

  (Isaiah 49:15)

  When the Supreme Being could have smote them in wrath, Father God opens His heart and makes Himself vulnerable. He appeals to them using a metaphor of a nursing mother. Could a mother forget her newborn infant nursing from her breast? The overwhelming response is, of course, Never! Yet God says it’s more likely that a nursing mother would forget her baby than He is of forgetting them. The picture is of a broken-hearted parent weeping, tears stream down her face—falling into the open hands in which she pictures her child secure and safe.

  We could recount passage after passage revealing the Father’s heart towards His people.

  But consider just two more.

  Through the prophet Jeremiah, God again appeals to His “backsliding children” (Jeremiah 3:14) and envisages a day when He will be reunited with them:

  And I said: ‘You shall call Me, “My Father,” And not turn away from Me’.”

  (Jeremiah 3:19)

  Through the prophet Hosea, God reveals His Father’s heart, again appealing to backslidden Israel. He says,

  “When Israel was a child, I loved him. And out of Egypt I called My son. But the more I called them, the further they went from Me … I taught [them] to walk, taking them by their arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them… [But] My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt [Me]. How can I give you up…? How can I hand you over…? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger.”

  (Hosea 11:1-9)

  God reminds Israel that He was intimately involved in parenting them, even though they did not recognise or honour Him for doing so:

  “When Israel was a child, I loved him … I taught [them] to walk, taking them by their arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them…”

  When Israel consistently rebelled against God, exhausting His grace and provoking His justice, God still appealed to them, this time revealing His broken-heartedness and the intense emotions of pain and grief:

  “My people are bent on backsliding from Me … How can I give you up…? How can I hand you over…? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred…”

   The Almighty, Sovereign Creator of the Universe reveals Himself to us essentially as Father.

  No other religion does this. The gods of other religions are not personal; they are either raging tyrants demanding religious effort to appease them … or they are distant creators always too busy or simply disinterested.

• What about the Godhead, the Trinity?

  How does a revelation of God’s Fatherhood balance with an understanding of the Trinity?

  Good question.

  We worship and serve the Three-in-One God, the Trinity, or as Paul reveals Him: “the Godhead” (Colossians 2:9). While the concept of the Trinity is often a struggle for our finite minds, grasping the Father-heart of God not only reminds us of the distinctive beauty of each member of the Godhead but it also brings revelatory clarity to understanding God the Son and God the Spirit.

  First of all, let’s remind ourselves that God is not “three-separate-gods”, nor is He “one-god-who-disguises-himself-in-three-masks.” He is the awesome “Three-In-One” God.

  In fact, the Trinity is yet one more piece of evidence for the validity and authenticity of the Scriptures. If human beings invented God (or if the Bible is merely the product of human imagination), the concept of God would be simple to grasp. He would fit neatly into our finite capacity to comprehend Him.

  Instead, we find what we expect given God is beyond us, given that He transcends our human capacity to think and imagine. The Source and Sustainer of the universe is indeed gloriously complex and wonderfully captivating. On the one hand, a simple child can know Him. On the other hand, a life-long journey of knowing Him still but scratches the surface of His wondrous Personality.

  “The Lord God is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Yet He is three Persons in One: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The same in essence, distinct in personality, but equal in power and glory (see Matthew 3:16, 17; Ephesians 2:18).

  The Son Reveals the Father

  As mentioned, when Jesus Himself spoke to God, He used the word father. In what is often called Jesus’ High Priestly prayer, Jesus “lifted up His eyes to heaven and said: ‘Father…’” (John 17:1ff). And throughout the prayer, we marvel at His intimacy with His Father as He repeatedly uses father-speak.

  When He taught us to commune with God, He encouraged us to focus on the Father: “In this manner, therefore, pray: ‘Our Father in heaven…’” (Matthew 6:9). Whenever He spoke of God in His teachings, He revealed God as a father. For example, in what is called the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus frequently uses the phrase: “your father” (Matthew 5-7). For instance, He says: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (5:16).

  The disciples evidently got the message. Well, sort of. All the father-talk eventually compelled an exasperated Philip to say, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us” (John 14:8). Jesus replied: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

  As already mentioned, Jesus expressly declared that He came to reveal the Father: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). He did not say, “No one comes to heaven…” or “No one gets saved…”, nor did He say, “No one gets a better life…”. God the Son reveals God the Father: “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

  Yes, Jesus has saved us. Thank God! Yet John explains it best when he writes: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God!” (1 John 3:1). Being restored to Father God is the goal of salvation.

  Yes, heaven is a blessing of the redeemed. But heaven is only heaven because of who is going to be there! Without Father God, heaven would simply not be heaven. Jesus defined “eternal life” as knowing the Father intimately, personally, deeply (John 17:1-3). Jesus did not come to merely promise us a place in the afterlife; he came to invite us into a relationship with Father.

  And yes, following God’s will does yield a better life. However, our life is only enriched because of Who we now know. The better life is only possible when it is lived from the Father’s perspective and in His counsel. Jesus did not merely promise us a better life, He came to welcome us into the loving arms of Father God.

  Over and over again Jesus stated emphatically that He came in response to His Father’s desire, that He only did what brought His Father pleasure and that He came to reveal what His Father was like.

  We cannot fully grasp God the Son until we grasp God the Father who sent Him to restore us into a relationship with Himself as His children.

  The Spirit Reveals the Father

  Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the “Promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4, 5). Did you ever make that connection before? I mean, was Jesus Himself not the Promised Messiah?

  Yes … in part. God promised the Messiah throughout the Old Testament but made it clear that His full intention was to indwell His children with His very being. Thus, the promised Messiah was in part “God in the flesh” because only as a Man could He accomplish what He did. But the promised Messiah was fully received when “God by the Spirit” indwells us in the miracle of salvation. God as a Man could not indwell us; He could and did die on our behalf, paving the way for God the Spirit to indwell our blood-washed lives.

  You may recall that Jesus first spoke of the Holy Spirit back in John 14:16-20 when He assured the disciples that He will “pray the Father and He will give you another Helper, the Spirit of truth”. Listen to His words: “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you … At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:18).

  Orphans. The picture is poignant. By the indwelling Spirit, an orphaned creation is reunited with their Father.

  Paul then wonderfully describes this miracle, amplifying on this picture.

  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”

  (Romans 8:14-17)

  Interestingly, the word Paul uses for “sons” refers to a “mature son” rather a “young child.” He is speaking about mature believers contributing to God’s purpose for creation in this eighth chapter of Romans. The implication of course is that maturity is only possible as we yield to the indwelling Spirit. But just as enlightening, maturity results in a deepening understanding of God’s nature, specifically manifested in a heart-revelation of His Fatherhood as we embrace “Abba, Father”. Spiritual maturity yields a deeper intimacy with the Father.

  The word Abba is Aramaic for “Daddy”. It stems from the simple word Ab which, according to the Hebrews, is the first sound an infant child makes in reference to their father or mother. Hence, it is the purest and greatest expression of dependence on parental love. The Holy Spirit awakens the deepest recesses of our soul to the love and affection of Father God. As we mature in our faith, He reveals greater depths of intimacy with God as Father.

  Paul actually refers to the “Spirit of adoption”. However, the adoption he refers to is not the concept of adoption we know today. In Hebrew culture, a father would adopt his own son or daughter at the age of thirteen, an act that would affirm his pleasure in his child, an expression of the father’s blessing: “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased”. In this concept of adoption, the father invites his son or daughter into adulthood; a more mature relationship in fellowship and a recognition of their inheritance in the family business. Hence, Paul’s use of the phrase, “if children, then heirs.”

  God the Spirit continues to reveal God the Father.

  Again, we cannot fully grasp God the Spirit until we grasp God the Father who sent His Spirit to indwell us, to make His home in us, and to fully restore us as His children into His inheritance.

  The Godhead

  Paul taught the function of each member of the Godhead in sublime simplicity in one verse to the Ephesian church:

  For through [Jesus], we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:18)

  Hence, we come “to” the Father, “through” the Son, “by” the Spirit. The focus of our devotion is the Father and we have access to Him through what Jesus has done and by the Spirit who indwells us.

  In one of the most amazing passages of Scripture, Paul outlines God’s eternal plan and how the Godhead works together to restore all of creation back to God’s Fatherhood.

  First, Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Notice how he directs his praise and gratitude to the Father. Then He outlines what these blessings are and how they fit into His overall purpose: Father God has chosen us, predestined us and redeemed us (vv. 4-7) in order to “gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth” (v. 10).

  In other words, Father God is restoring all creation to Himself in Jesus. Paul then goes on to mention that the “Holy Spirit of promise” is the seal and guarantee of God’s plan (vv. 13, 14). No wonder Paul bursts into prayer in the next few verses praising the “Father of glory” (vv. 15ff).

  So, who should we pray to?

  Essentially, we are to pray to the Father, led by the Spirit, in the Name (and nature) of Jesus. All the prayers in the New Testament are directed to the Father—some of them also include Jesus (see Acts 4:24-30; Romans 1:8-10; 1 Corinthians 1:4-9; 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4; Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:14-21; Philippians 1:3-11; Colossians 1:9-12; 1 Thessalonians 1:2-5; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12; Philemon 4-6; Hebrews 13:20, 21).

  This does not mean we cannot address Jesus and the Holy Spirit directly or exclusively. We can and should … enjoying a liberty in our worshipful prayer and enjoying the Personhood of the Son and the Spirit, not just the Father. As God, the Son and the Spirit deserve and receive our worship and prayer. However, generally speaking, we are to direct our prayers to the Father, while we ensure that we maintain an awareness of and a relationship with each member of the Godhead.

  Too often, words are just jumbled together, like “O Father Jesus…” This tends to happen when we pray without thought or when we pray religiously. Yes, prayer should be from the heart but this does not mean that it should be mindless. As we commune with God from our heart to His, focusing our mind on each member of the Godhead enables intimate worship, supplication and intercession in response to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

• What about the Parable of the Father's Love?

  Luke, Chapter 15 is famous for what is called The Parable of the Prodigal Son. I’d like to suggest that it is not primarily about the prodigal. It is the third of three parables, and it builds pointedly on the first two to reveal The Father’s Heart.

  Luke opens the setting for these three parables by revealing Jesus’ audience (vv. 1-3). The religious establishment of the day was aggravated beyond comprehension at Jesus’ open-hearted and generous acceptance of the dregs of society: the lost, the last and the least. “This man receives sinners, and even eats with them!” complained the indignant religious leaders.

  Jesus then tells them, not one, but three parables. Jesus seldom did this. It was not His habit to underline a point He was making. Yet the fact that Jesus tells three parables to hammer one point and concludes with one of the longest parables He ever told, seems to add significance to it.

  First, Jesus tells the parable of the faithful shepherd who hunts high and low to find his lost sheep (vv. 4-7). Then he tells the parable of the faithful woman who goes on a search and discovery mission to find her missing coin (vv. 8-10). The words that He uses to express the elation of heaven—“rejoicing” (v. 5), “rejoice” (v. 6) and “more joy” (v. 7)—are in stark contrast to His audience’s cold and gloomy attitude towards those they considered sinners.

  As if Jesus had not made His point, He then goes for the jugular. In a kind of jab, jab and knock-out, Jesus then tells the parable of the faithful Father, revealing the love of the Father not just for lost sheep, not just for a lost coin, but for His beloved children.

  This is not primarily a parable about the prodigal son, even though he is the primary beneficiary in the story. The parable essentially reveals the Fatherhood of God, and the message is, in fact, directed to the religious leaders represented by the older brother in the story. The younger, prodigal son only features to expose the older, religious brother’s hard heart and to reveal the extravagance of the Father’s lavish, unconditional love.

  According to the Jewish law on inheritance, the older son would receive two-thirds of the inheritance and the younger son would receive one-third. A Jewish father brought his children into their inheritance while he was still alive, and in this story, the father clearly released both sons into their inheritance at this time (v. 12).

  The next few verses highlight the popular, well-known account of how the younger, prodigal son wasted his inheritance in wild living, only coming to his senses after being forced to scrap for a meal with a pig … not exactly a kosher moment (vv. 13-19).

  But let’s pick up the less popular account of what the older son did not do with his inheritance.

  Notice the way Jesus describes the oldest son’s actions and reactions. First, we learn that “the older son was in the field” working (v. 25). The man is hardworking and dutiful.

  However, when confused by the sounds of celebration, who does he inquire of? “He called one of the servants and asked what these things meant” (v. 26). What? He asked the servants rather than his father?

  On hearing that his younger, troubled and disgraced brother had finally returned home safely, what is his reaction? Joy? No. Relief? No.

  “But he was angry and would not go in” (v. 28).

  His immediate reaction was anger … and then to pout and sulk!

  Was he angry that his brother had broken his father’s heart? Sadly, no. Was he righteously angry that his brother had brought shame upon their family? Again, no. He whined and complained bitterly, saying, “you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends” (v. 29).

  The older son lived in the same home as his father, he enjoyed the blessings of his father … but he never knew the heart of his father.

  How many times would he have seen his grieving father pacing up and down the porch, scanning the horizon with longing for even a glimpse of the prodigal son? How many times would he have seen his broken-hearted father bent over in sorrow, weeping for his lost son? Did he share his father’s grief? No. Did he carry his father’s burden? Sadly, no.

  The older brother, symbolic of the religious leaders, focused on his own efforts and rewards— his self-interests, his stake, on what he had and what he did not have—rather than on relationship with his father: “Lo, these many years I have been serving you” (v. 29). Never once did he share his father’s heart. He missed the point: relationship with his father.

  We too can be good, dutiful, faithful believers and miss the point entirely. A revelation of the Father-heart of God is crucial to intimacy with God and a fruitful walk with Jesus.

  Herein lies another core issue: the older brother found his identity in what he did; rather than in who he was. The sad truth is that he was more a servant than a son, even though he had already been given his inheritance. Unless we live in a clear revelation of God as our Father, and thus derive our identity from that revelation, we too may miss the point.

  Just as God hangs His identity on fatherhood, our destiny hinges on a clear sense of identity borne in the revelation of the Father-heart of God.

  Until we understand whose we are; who we belong to; who our source is; who we derive our identity from … we will never know who we are. We may spend our lives trying to find something we already have in Him!

• What about the time Jesus didn't talk about heaven?

  Remember the time Jesus didn’t talk about heaven? Yes, He didn’t talk much about the subject directly at all, but I’m referring to the time we all assume He did (John 14:1-21).

  Okay, here’s the setting.

  The disciples were terrified. And rightly so. The religious and political vultures were circling with malice and Jesus was talking about His impending death too much for their liking. Their Teacher had just spoken of a traitor within their own camp, hinted at his own death and predicted the denial of their boldest leader in the group, Peter (John 13:18-38).

  They had literally given up everything with great hopes and aspirations for a better world and it now seemed to all be crumbling down around them.

  In the next breath, Jesus said,

  Let not your heart be troubled.”

  (John 14:1)

  He then proceeded to say, “in My Father’s house are many mansions” and “I go to prepare a place for you” (v. 2).

  Most people make these opening verses in John 14 all about heaven; it’s a text regularly heard at funerals.

  So, Jesus comforted his frightened friends telling them, what? Telling them they were about to die, too? “Don’t be afraid, chaps, you’re going to heaven.”

  That’s neither realistic nor is it what Jesus meant, as we’ll see in a moment. Plus, if you factor in that Jesus knew none of the disciples present were going to die any time soon, aside from Judas who was not present in this discussion (John 13:30), it would be a little perverse.

  So, what was Jesus talking about if not heaven? In John 14:6, Jesus revealed the point He was making and then unpacked that point in the subsequent verses.

  What was His point?

  I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

  (John 14:6)

  Notice He didn’t say, “No one gets to heaven except through Me.”

  The entire chapter, however, is a stunning revelation of God’s Fatherhood.

  In fact, Jesus mentions the Father fifteen times in twenty-one verses, while not making one single reference to heaven. Not one!

  Let that sink in deep. Father: 15 times. Heaven: 0 times.

  Jesus’ focus is on the Father-heart of God, not heaven.

  So, what did Jesus mean by “in My Father’s house are many mansions” and “I go to prepare a place for you”?

  Under Judaism, only one person had direct audience with God: the high priest went before God on behalf of the nation once a year. One man. Once a year.

  There was a place for only one before God under the Old Covenant template and even he served merely as a substitute for everyone else.

  Of course, this was a foreshadow of Jesus Himself who would serve as the High Priest once and for all, making a way for all of humanity in God’s heart. Thus, in contrast to the Old Covenant, Jesus was ushering in a New Covenant where there was “place” for everyone to come to the Father. Indeed, in the Father’s heart there “are many mansions”—we are all invited: there is now room for all!

  In other words, Jesus referred not to heaven, but to the Father’s Presence available now. He was talking about a Person not a place, a relationship not a destination.

  He assured these terrified disciples that they would enjoy the same serenity He Himself experienced in the Father’s embrace despite the ordeal He faced. And He was right. Secure in the Father’s love, these timid souls would soon become bold lions overcoming their own seemingly insurmountable challenges.

  Waxing eloquent about heaven (aka: you’re all going to die!) would not have mustered any comfort or encouragement in these frightened men.

  As mentioned, in the rest of the passage, Jesus continued to reassure the disciples by unpacking His meaning further. He told them that He would not leave them as “orphans”; rather, the Father would bestow a gift upon them:

  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth … He dwells with you and will be in you.”

  (John 14:16-18)

  Notice the use of the words “abide” and “dwell”. These words contextualise and explain His earlier comments about His Father’s house, about mansions and about preparing a place for them. Because of Jesus’s completed work, we are no longer orphans. We are restored to the Father, who now indwells us by His very own Spirit.

  Jesus wrapped up His explanation by saying,

  A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will also live. At that day, you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” 

  (John 14:20)

  Jesus promised them the same blessed assurance of intimacy and security in God’s Fatherhood. Not after death. Now. In this life.

  In other words, knowing His disciples weren’t going to die (or go to heaven any time soon), Jesus’ entire focus in this passage was on the Father. Not heaven. He was inviting His disciples into an intimate relationship with Father God made possible in this life through His victory and His indwelling Spirit.

  This same invitation is extended to you and me.

  We are invited into a personal, intimate, life-transforming relationship with Father God.

  In this life. Here. Now.

• Other Resources

  Watch a video series on The Existence of God from Reasonable Faith exploring the logical and intelligent reasons for confidence in God’s existence.

  Watch a video series on The Character of God from the BibleProject exploring the characteristics of God revealed in the Old Testament’s most quoted passage.