The Father

Romans 4:17 describes God the Father as the one “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.”

John of Damascus described the fatherhood of God the Father when he said the Father is the one “having neither being nor anything else that is from any other; the very source of being for all things that are, of life to the living” De Fide Orthodox 1.8

“Though God, improperly speaking, is Father of many things, by nature and in truth He is Father of One only, the Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. He did not attain Fatherhood in the course of time, but He is eternally Father of the Only-begotten. Not that He was Sonless before and afterwards became a Father by a change of purpose, but before all substance and all intelligence, before times and all the ages, God has the prerogative of Father, exalting Himself in this dignity before all others. He did not become a Father by passion, or from union, or in ignorance,16 or by emanation, or diminution or alteration; for “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration.” A perfect Father, He begot a perfect Son, delivering all things to Him whom He begot; for He says: “All things have been delivered to me by my Father.” And the Father is honored by the Only-begotten: “But I honor my Father,”19 says the Son; and again: “As I also have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” Therefore we too say with the Apostle: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort”; and: “I bend my knees to the Father … from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth receives its name.”22 glorifying Him with the Only-begotten; for he who denies the Father, denies the Son also, and again: “He who confesses the Son, has the Father also,” knowing that “the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.”” (Cyril of Jerusalem Hier., Cat. Lect. 7.5).

God the Father reveals his Fatherly nature as he is the source of all life and the one who displays his love for all who depend upon him.

The Father to Worship

Ephesians 3:14 “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,”

Philippians 4:20 “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

The Father Who Names

Ephesians 3:15 “from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.”

To name, is to give being

The Father stands in a unique position when it comes to being and giving being.

“God’s trinitarian name of Father, God’s eternal fatherhood, denotes the mode of being of God in which He is the Author of His other modes of being” (Barth KD I.1.411).

Ephesians 4:6 “one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”

Romans 11:36 “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.”

“Name-giving is thus associated with creation and to possess a name implies existence” (Ernest Best ICC).

Psalm 147:4 “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.”

Isaiah 40:26 “Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.”

Ecclesiastes 6:10 “Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what human beings are, and that they are not able to dispute with those who are stronger.”

God is; he does not receive a name Exodus 3:14 “God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’ ”

The Father gives being to life.

Eternal Trinitarian Life:

The Father granted a se life to the Son:

John 5:26 “For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself;”

2 Corinthians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation,”

The Spirit proceeds from the Father—John 15:26 ““When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.”

Summarized by John of Damascus, “We believe in one Father, the principle and cause of all things, begotten of no one, who alone is uncaused and unbegotten, the maker of all things and by nature Father of His one and only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and Emitter of the All-Holy Spirit.” De Fide Orthodox 1.8.

Created Life:

The Inhabitants of Heaven

Job 38:7 “when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?”

Luke 20:36 “Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.”

Earth and its Inhabitants

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,”

Job 38:4–11 ““Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?— when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?”

The Father Who Saves

“The assertion of God’s fatherhood is not merely an intellectual statement or dogmatic conviction; it is also an experiential reality—doctrine truly believed—that affects every moment of human life, and which in the life of the penitent sinner restored to divine sonship prompts daily praise and prayer” C. F. H. Henry, God Revelation and Authority 6:319

“God can be our Father because He is Father in Himself, because fatherhood is an eternal mode of being of the divine essence” (Barth, KD I.1: 411)

Strengthened By His Spirit

Ephesians 3:16 “I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit,”

At Home With Christ

Ephesians 3:17 “and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.”

Loved by God

Ephesians 3:18 “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,”

To Love God

Ephesians 3:19 “and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

1 Peter 1:17 CSB

If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during your time living as strangers.