One God and Father

You’re nothing special? Don’t believe it!

In the summer of 2005, the London Zoo posted a sign in front of their newest exhibit, reading,

“Warning: Humans in their Natural Environment.”

The exhibit featured eight people (aka Homo sapiens) in a sealed enclosure adjacent to another sealed enclosure of various primates.

The human “captives” were chosen from an online contest, and spent their time sunning on a rock ledge, playing board games, and waving to spectators. A signboard informed visitors about the species’ diet, habitat, worldwide distribution, and threats.

The goal of the exhibit, according to Zoo spokesperson Polly Wills, was to downplay the uniqueness of human beings as a species. “Seeing people in a different environment, among other animals,” said Wills, “teaches members of the public that the human is just another primate.”

Tom Mahoney, one of the participants in the exhibit, agreed. “A lot of people think that humans are above other animals,” he said. “When they see humans as animals, here, it kind of reminds them that we’re not that special.”

Such a display and action by the zoo is a denial that human beings are the crown of God’s creation. It is in direct contradiction to the Bible which says that man is fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. (Psalm 139)

To no other creature in the created order does God say... Genesis 1:26–27 (ESV):

26 “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

And that says something about God and the value He places on the human soul. But this message is not about the creation as much as it is about the Creator. And that this Creator is loving; so loving that He is referred to as “Father,” in the pages of Scripture.

This morning, let us learn a number of things about God. First...

God is a Father.

Paul in his letter to the church of Ephesus, encourages his readers to treat each other with humility and gentleness, for the sake of unity in the church. And the grounds for such treatment is found in Ephesians 4:4-6

Ephesians 4:4–6 (ESV)

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Paul did not come up with this. It was ancient knowledge. In the Old Testament, God is understood to be Israel’s Father (Isaiah 63:16-17).

But in the New Testament, we see God verbalized His relationship with Jesus at His baptism in Matthew 3:17: “... and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””

And upon the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:5 “He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.””

And after His resurrection, Jesus said to Mary Magdalene in John 20:17-18

John 20:17–18 ESV

17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

In addition, Jesus refers to God as “your Father,” several times in the Sermon on the Mount. At least 15 times does Jesus refers to God as your Father or instructs you to pray in that way. And so it stands to reason that God is understood as Father to His people.

For instance, in Matthew 5:45 “...so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Or Matthew 5:48 “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Then throughout chapter six as he speaks of prayer, provision, and a few other topics. Regarding prayer, Jesus said in Matthew 7:11 “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

Why this instruction? Because we serve a God who cares, a classic characteristic of a Father! All good fathers care for their children! And so that is the God you serve!

God is Almighty.

The idea of God’s sovereignty is found on every page of Scripture. Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”

Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.””

The word for “almighty,” is παντοκράτωρ, ορος, ὁ which means the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) and is used only of God. (William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 755.)

Paul the Apostle would elaborate on this power, when appearing before the Aeropagus, the leaders of the city of Athens, he stood among them and promoted the idea of a God who was knowable and almighty.

Paul states in Acts 17:24:

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said… .”

According to the Apostle Paul, this “Almighty One”

gives life and breath to all things;

determines the boundaries of their existence;

and invokes us to seek Him because it is in our best interest;

He also calls us to repentance and faith in His Son Jesus Christ, so we can escape the judgment to come!

All those things are wonderfully attractive to my lost and self-centered soul, that looks for meaning and purpose in this life, that is looking for my spiritual father.

Or, if you have been violated and hurt, please know that He will care for you like no other, as the Good Samaritan cared for the man that was beaten and left for dead!

And finally...

God is also the Maker of Heaven and Earth.

The very first statement in all of Scripture is found in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” It is basic theology: God made it all. It all starts with God.

Lexham Theological Wordbook (בָּרָא)

(bārāʾ). vb. to create. Used only of God creating, never of humans making things.This verb is used only of creative acts performed by God. It appears five times in the creation narrative of Gen 1–2: God created (bārāʾ) the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1; 2:4), the creatures of the sea (Gen 1:21), humankind in his image (Gen 1:27), and creation as a whole (Gen 2:3). It also appears in other books, especially Isaiah. Isaiah says that after the exile God will create (bārāʾ) a cloud of smoke during the day and a flame of fire by night over Mount Zion (Isa 4:5). God created (bārāʾ) the ends of the earth (Isa 40:28); the heavens and earth (Isa 42:5; 45:18); human beings in general (Isa 45:12) and Israel in particular (Isa 43:1); light and darkness (Isa 45:7); and righteousness and salvation (Isa 45:8). He promises to create (bārāʾ) the new heaven and new earth (Isa 65:17). Psalms also speaks of God creating (bārāʾ) human beings (Psa 89:47); the heavens, angels, and lights of the sky (Psa 148:5); and north and south (Psa 89:12). David asks God to create (bārāʾ) a clean heart in him (Psa 51:10).

What kind of God is this, that on the one hand, created the heavens and earth, but also cares about you!? The French mathematician who died in 1662, Blaise Pascal, once said: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”

Psalm 121:1–2 ESV

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Recalling God as our Maker is to remind ourselves that He is a God of immense power and that nothing is impossible for Him. It instills awe and worship in our hearts towards God! Psalm 95:6; “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;”

As you can see, “Maker of heaven and earth” is a common ascription to God. The Bible gives much more dignity to mankind than Darwinian evolution or any of the other worldly belief systems.

The Bible speaks of Creator that is ever present in your life and you are accountable to Him! Ecclesiastes 12:1: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth....”

Old Testament Jews believed that the God who created everything, was also the friend of Israel. You have the capacity to know God like nothing else in all of His creation!

So what difference does all of this make? The following are the implications:

It makes sense out of a chaotic world;

It calms the anxious heart;

It gives hope for a brighter future.

The truth is...

It all belongs to God.

None of God’s creatures can call him “God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,” from a relational point of view. None of the created order can know Him like you can through faith.

And so, God expects you to hand things over to Him and not to be consumed with worry. He is a covenant-making God who desires you to trust Him. Nothing more, nothing less.

There was a man who gave his business to God. He had hassled over it for years. He had wrestled with it and fought it for two decades. One day he decided, “I’ve had it; that’s enough!” He had heard from his pastor that Sunday morning about the value of turning his entire business over to God. It was when he drove away from church that he decided he had worried enough. By the time he got home, he had totally and unequivocally committed his business to God.

That very night his place of business caught on fire. He got an emergency call. He rather calmly drove down to the commercial residence and was standing on the street, watching the place go up in flames. He was sort of smiling to himself. One of his colleagues raced to his side and questioned his relaxed attitude about what was happening. “Man, Don’t you know what’s happening to you?…It’s… it’s burning up!”

He replied, “I know it. I know it. No problem, Fred. This morning I gave this company to God, and if He wants to burn it up, that’s His business.”

John Oxenham wrote the following poem entitled “God’s Handwriting.”

He writes with characters too grand

For our short sight to understand;

We watch but broken strokes, and try

To fathom all the mystery

Of withered hopes, of death, of life,

The endless war, the useless strife-

But there, with larger, clearer sight,

We shall see this- His way was right.