Of all His names and titles; YHWH, Elohim, Adonai, Elohim, I Am, Creator, Lord, Savior, God, I am convinced the one most pleasing to his ear and heart is when we call Him Father.
Let us find the foundations on which to build our understanding.
Where is our Father?
Most of us who think upon, or pray to our Father do so as if He is somewhere outside residing in Heaven or above the heavens needing to be called upon. Please look down upon me and hear me Father.
Thinking of our Father being distant and separate from us is understandable. As it is written:
He is before all things, Col 1:17 NIV
Which by definition says our Father existed before we were a twinkle in His eye and beyond His creation that we see and know. There is no place more 'out there' than that. Our Father existed before anything else came to be.
How distant is He from us?
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Gen. 1:1 NIV
To think our Father created us separate from Him is not correct either. The question is from what did our Father have to create and form us from?
There are two main thoughts regarding our origin. A common idea is our Father created us from nothing being separate from him. I have found no support of this idea in the Bible while I do find many verses supporting the alternative view that our Father created us from Himself.
For in Him all things were created. Col. 1:16 NIV, ASV, ERV, Weymouth NT
Through Him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through Him. Jn. 1:2-5
In Him all things hold together. Col 1:17 NIV
In Him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28 NIV
For from him, and through him and to him are all things. Rm. 8:36 NIV.
There is one God who is father of all, through all and within all. Eph 4:6 NIV
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 NIV
We need to realize, understand and see that our Father does not reach out his hand to move mountains, for the mountains are his hands, and they move as He desires just like we move our fingers. In the same way we do not tell ourselves to breath or ask that our eyes open or reason with our feet so we may walk, for they are also us and respond according to our desire. In this way He does not command the wind to blow for He is the wind, the rain, and life itself.
In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Job 12:10
“If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath, all humanity would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.” Job 34:14-15 NIV
Our Father not only created us, He also sustains us and all of His creation in every second of every year. So much so that if He stopped, we would all cease to exist. Not only would life cease to exist, everything He formed and sustains would also perish. The heavens, the earth, the wind and even the air itself.
For from him, and through him and to him are all things. Rm. 8:36 NIV.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Heb. 4:13 NIV
For I am with you, declares the Lord Almighty. Haggai 2:4
Understanding where our Father is is important for us to understand why. So far we acknowledge Him as the Creator of all things and existing before all things. The scriptures above reveals He is not only the Father and Creator of all things but He IS all things.
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. Psalm 33:6 NIV
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 NIV
The word He revealed to Moses, “I Am”.
We find the first chapter of Genesis describes the creation of all things. Often interpreted as our Father spoke the foundations into existence:
And God said, "Let there be light",
And God said, "Let there be an expanse",
And God said, "Let the waters teem with living creatures".
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Revelation 1:8
From realizing our Father is all things, if we were to condense this act of creating into a single expression, it is an expression of becoming all things created; "I Am" all things.
"This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I Am has sent me to you.'" Exodus 3:14 NIV
In our Father which is omnipresent and all knowing, notice that we do not find curiosity or awe in Him. There is no surprise followed by laughter except through our eyes. As we are able to relive our innocence through our children so does our Father live through us.
Once the foundations were established in the beginning, we then find the manifestation of our diversity through our Fathers many divisions which followed in the book of Genesis. One division of importance is the separation of our Fathers all knowing wisdom while we are all born naive. Else there would be no surprise followed by laughter. No curiosity, discovery, learning or growth. Is there choice when the right answer is always obvious?
Along this thought, you may also enjoy The Gift of Diversity:
https://steemit.com/philosophy/@revealing/the-gift-of-diversity
