When one thinks of God as a father, our ability to properly understand the nature of God’s paternal care for us depends in large part on the physical examples we have seen and experienced in our own lives [1]. For better or for worse, we learn about spiritual truths through physical analogies, and where these are absent or unhelpful, our ability to grasp spiritual truths on a heart level is greatly and negatively impacted. There are quite a few scriptures that one can examine when it comes to God as our heavenly Father. For example, for those who are inclined to reflect on the discipline we endure as His sons and daughters, an easy verse to look at is Hebrews 12:5-11, which reads: “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

This passage reminds us of one side of God as a father, a side of God’s personality that may have been overemphasized in the upbringing of some people, and may be underemphasized in the upbringing of others. Although discipline is not the most pleasant thing to endure, or the most pleasant subject to discuss, it is worthwhile to at least briefly note why it is that a parent (or authority figure in general) would provide godly discipline in the first place. As human beings, we all have a bent towards certain weaknesses and certain evils, and discipline is designed as an external check on a proclivity that is not sufficiently restrained internally. Where people are under self-control, they need no external restraint, but where that self-control is lacking, discipline provides an additional curb on unwanted conduct. As God is in the business of reproducing His character within us, for those areas where our conduct falls woefully short of His standard, we can expect to receive discipline in the course of our lives as a reminder of the end to which we seek. We are to see this discipline, as painful and unpleasant as it is, as a sign of God’s continued love for us, a love that does not wish for us to fall short of His Kingdom because of any sort of persistent and obstinate sin. As a result, discipline is necessary so that we may share in His holiness in eternal life in the world to come, for we cannot do so if our lives have not been regenerated and our behavior does not reflect His love and His ways.

While this is the unpleasant side of the nature of God as a parent, if necessary for our well-being, the side my pastor focused on this past Sabbath is no less striking and no less demanding, but a great deal more pleasant to contemplate, even given its context in Exodus 34:5-7: “Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” It is noteworthy that God’s expression of His name and character mirrors the language of the Ten Commandments. In pointing to His identity, and the fact that we should worship Him alone, He points to His own mercy and longsuffering and justice as intrinsic aspects of His nature that cannot change. Those who see God as a heavenly genie need to be reminded of His justice and discipline, but those whose earthly experiences with authority have been unpleasant and filled with harsh and seemingly unjust and arbitrary discipline need the reminder that God is patient, longsuffering, gracious, and full of mercy, even if many people are not.

Even if we are not fathers ourselves, we can reflect on the extent to which we are developing these qualities of God’s character in our own interactions with others. Are we capable of suffering a long time without returning evil for evil? Are we gracious, showing mercy and kindness even to those who have done nothing to deserve it from us? Are we merciful, looking for reasons to extend the benefit of the doubt, to think and act the best towards others? Are we patient, willing to wait a long time for what we are looking for? Are we full of goodness and truth, delighting in showing generosity to others and honest and honorable in our behavior? To the extent that we have cultivated these qualities in our lives, we are becoming like our heavenly Father, so that it may be said of us in spirit as it is sometimes said in the flesh, that we look a lot like our fathers. And regardless of how much ambivalence or even outright hostility we may feel at being told we resemble our earthly fathers, let us all rejoice if we are developing the nature of our heavenly Father, in whose image we are all created.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/12/21/well-begun-is-half-done/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/03/09/be-a-mentor/