John 17:6 "'TO KNOW GOD AS 'FATHER'"

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When you pray, how do you address the One with whom you speak? Do you say, "Dear God...'; do you call Him, "Lord"? Or do you call Him "Father"?


In Jesus' prayer in John 17, Jesus says He has come to make manifest God's Name. But wait, don't we already know that Name -"God"; "Jehovah"; "Lord"?? Interestingly manifests Him as "Father". This is not a proper name, but a relational name.


Think on that for a moment. People call my earthly Dad many names. Those who know him only formally may call him "Robert" or "Mr. McQuality". Others know him at his job by "Mac" or more personally as "Bob". But I get to call him "father/Dad'. It is because we have been given a special relationship. I know my Dad very well, and my Dad knows me and has invested himself in me and led and taught me. I am a richer person because I know him not just as "Mac" or "Bob" - he is my father!


 

A lot of people speak generically of God, or feel inclined to formally call Him "Lord". Others have a more distant relationship and refer to Him as "the Big Guy" or "the Man upstairs". Jesus has come not only to bring you to the Father by the forgiveness and mercy through His sacrifice on the cross, He has also come to reveal Him as "Father". That you might know Him now as such when you talk to Him and in how He deals with you in this life, and that you might forever know Him as One who loves you and and has chosen you and calls you His son/daughter. And that you might benefit from this close relationship not just someday in Heaven, but even now.


Can you call Him 'Father'? Do you know Him in a relational way?


[Pastor Dan McQuality
Grace Lutheran Church, Lincoln, IL]

 

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