"FATHER"

 

“FATHER”

Luke 23:34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive these people, because they don’t know what they are doing.”

In this short verse, we can learn so much about forgiveness and our relationship with God. Today I want to focus on our relationship with God.

We notice that Jesus prayed, “Father.” What significance does this have for us? One of the things that it tells us is that Jesus knew God intimately. God was not impersonal, unknowable, or so far removed from us that He wasn’t a real factor in our lives. When you read the Gospel witness, you find where Jesus often called upon God as His father. We read the Scriptures and we soon discover that Jesus was with God and knew God before even anything existed apart from God. Gen. 1:1; John 1:1. Jesus and God were one and the same. Jesus was God in human form.

Jesus knew God internally. John 8:19, 38, 54-55 You cannot read the Scriptures without knowing just how close Jesus was to God. They spent a lot of time together and God made it very clear that He was well-pleased with Him.

We have to ask ourselves about our on relationship with God. Do we know Him intimately and internally? When we refer to God as our Father in heaven, do we do so with a sense of reverence and endearment? Can we honestly say that we know God so well that He is truly our Father? Do we see God as someone who is loving and caring with only our good in mind for us? Do we trust Him for our daily needs with full confidence that He will indeed supply? Does calling God your father mean something special to you, or is it just a word you toss out because of His claim to be your father?

You can never really know God as your father unless you spend adequate and quality time alone with Him. God makes himself known as our Heavenly Father through the Word. If you are not faithful and consistent in reading and applying God’s Word to your life, you will not know Him as intimately as you should. You must also spend time regularly in prayer. If you aren’t talking to Him and listening to Him, He will not mean to you what He could and should be.