Today doubles as Father’s Day and Trinity Sunday. Why not triple it to make it Heavenly Father’s Day? This post synthesizes the two days to reflect on the Heavenly Father with reflections from The Epistle to the Hebrews.
God the Heavenly Father Speaks to Us through His Son
The Epistle to the Hebrews in the New Testament makes clear at the outset that God the Heavenly Father speaks in various ways, but supremely in and through his Son. No doubt, this is why the author of Hebrews starts out emphasizing God speaking to us. The writer directs our attention throughout the epistle to where we will find God the Father speaking in the superlative sense—in his Son: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2; NIV). A few verses later, we find God declaring that Jesus is his Son when first speaking in Hebrews:
For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father”?Or again,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”?And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.” (Hebrews 1:5-6; NIV)
Interestingly enough, the very first time God directly speaks to the readers, he addresses them as his sons:
And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” (Hebrews 12:5-6; NIV)
God the Heavenly Father Disciplines Us as His Children So We Might Grow to Maturity
The writer of Hebrews connects us as children, as sons and daughters, through Jesus his eternal Son who endured incredible suffering in his incarnate existence. We can experience great comfort through understanding God as our Heavenly Father through Jesus in the Spirit to help us endure and grow through suffering, even tragedy.
With this point in mind, I will be doing a series of posts on this theme of God as Father with recourse to the Epistle to the Hebrews and what it means for our personal lives and the church amid suffering and trauma to cultivate resilient and mature faith. (Before I proceed, I also wish to highlight for the reader a wonderful monograph on the theme of God’s fatherhood in Hebrews written by Amy L. B. Peeler titled You Are My Son: the Family of God in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Here is the link to Prof. Peeler’s work.)
In this first post, I briefly wish to highlight the importance of God as Father in view of the doctrine of the Trinity, our understanding of God the Father for our understanding of the Godhead, and what it means for us, including on Father’s Day.
Jesus Increases Our Confidence in the Heavenly Father
First, in a world where so many people struggle with thinking of God as Father given their conceptions of God as well as their own biological fathers, it is important to take to heart that we see God supremely revealed in Jesus. For those who experience comfort from the presentation of Jesus in the New Testament, this Christocentric interpretive lens to reflecting on God as Father will increase our confidence in God.
Someone very close to me, who struggles with God, takes comfort in the person and character of Jesus disclosed in the New Testament. I gently seek to encourage this loved one that what we see in Jesus is what we get with God. After all, as Hebrews claims, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:3; NIV)
If one finds confidence and takes comfort in the person of Jesus, we should take to heart his own confidence and comfort in relation to knowing God as his Heavenly Father. While on the cross, he did undergo extreme doubt in the moments preceding his death (See Matthew 27:46), his last words reflect his resilient trust and dependence on God: “‘Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:46; NIV)
The Heavenly Father and Jesus His Son Experience Intimacy at the Deepest Level
Never do we sense from Jesus a pitting of him against God, but rather total filial bonding and intimacy of the deepest and most mysterious kind. Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to his passion reveals his struggle and yet also his complete solidarity with God’s will for his life. (See Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, and Luke 22:42) Hebrews also reflects upon Jesus bond with the Father, even amid great pain and travail:
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” (Hebrews 5:7; NIV)
As the New Testament makes clear, God heard this cry in raising Jesus from the dead.
Before moving forward, we should also take note that the Spirit reveals to our hearts that God is our “Abba Father.” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6) So, too, Hebrews highlights the work of the Spirit in softening our hearts, increasing our trust in God, and directing us to enter God’s presence through Jesus. (See Hebrews 3:7 and 9:8)
God the Heavenly Father Is the Source of Personal Communion through the Eternal Son and Spirit
Second, not only is it important to account for the entire Trinity in reflecting on God the Father, but also it is important to account for God the Heavenly Father in considering the doctrine of the Trinity. While it is important to reflect on the three persons having the same divine nature, it is also vital that we realize that the Father is the ultimate relational ground of the Son and Spirit in the eternal Trinity rather than a seemingly nameless essence. We do not have a relationship with a divine nature, but God the Father through the Son and Spirit who share this divine nature with him. This supremely personal reality frames the universe and makes it possible to operate fully as persons in communion with God and others.
God the Heavenly Father Provides Secure Attachment as the Basis for All Human Relationships
Third, I take to heart this twofold understanding on Father’s Day. Just as I know who God the Father is through Jesus in the Spirit and realize that I can trust in him as my “Abba Father,” so, too, I can personalize all my relations in view of this secure attachment to a God who is supremely personal and fatherly.
This confidence extends to my care for my son at his bedside today. Christopher endured a catastrophic brain injury over four and a half years ago and remains in a minimally conscious state. It has brought inexpressible trauma and pain to Christopher and our entire family. And yet, we see Christopher emerging, albeit ever so slowly. This week, I witnessed him responding to prompts and moving his outstretched arms in a manner I have never seen. Our medical advisors were impressed, encouraged, and excited. You can read about the occurrence(s) here at the update titled “A Father’s Day Reflection: Resumes and Awards”.
Amidst the trauma and pain, interspersed with signs of hope involving emergence, I reflect on God’s embrace through his Son’s outstretched arms on the cross. In a world where all too often familial and societal relationships are transactional in nature, we find a God whom Jesus reveals to us in unconditionally loving fatherly terms as his Son. We find a God who engages us personally and dwells among us, even at my son’s bed-stricken side, through his Son and Spirit.
With these reflections in heart and mind, I pay tribute to the Heavenly Father on Trinity Sunday.
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