The Fatherhood of God

The Fatherhood of God

By Apostle Felix

20  “So the young son set off for home. From a long distance away, his father saw him coming, dressed as a beggar, and great compassion swelled up in his heart for his son who was returning home. So the father raced out to meet him. He swept him up in his arms, hugged him dearly, and kissed him over and over with tender love.

Luke 15: 20

A father is such an important figure in every child’s life. Fathers not only provide for their families but they do play major roles in the well being of the children. He is a raw model, either negatively or positively. Children look at their fathers as their heroes. A Greek word for father is pater, which means, one who imparts life and is committed to it; a progenitor, bringing into being to pass on the potential for likeness. A father is a source and sustainer. He produces and sustains that which he has produced. He is a progenitor. God made Adam a father when He said to him to be fruitful, multiply , replenish, subdue and have dominion.

28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Genesis 1: 28

Fatherhood is the ability to produce, reproduce and sustain. God, our Father is the example of such a father. He sustains that which He produces. He takes care of His posterity. Even when something goes wrong with His posterity, He is willing to pay the price to correct the wrong. That’s a father! When Adam, God’s son sinned, God the Father provided the solution to man’s problem because of His fatherhood nature.

The father in Luke chapter fifteen is a classic example of a father. He knew what his son had done to him and his family, but yet was willing to receive His son and redeem him. While the son was living wildly and wasting his life and the family money, his father was ever looking out for his son. The father’s heart was on restoring his son, rather than punishing him. The fathers are ever looking for ways of restoring their sons. This is not to encourage misconduct at all. This is to say that discipline should not be punitive but restorative.

Fathers love unconditionally. The father’s love is not transactional. Our FATHER is not transactional. He does not relate with us on transactional basis. Give and  it shall be given to you by God. No, the Bible says give and then men shall give to you, over and above.

38  Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Luke 6: 38

It is men that shall give to you. The scripture has got to do with the manner we treat others, so will others treat us too. When I am rude others will be rude too. The scripture is not referring to the nature of the father. This is because fathers do not give to us what we deserve. They give on their own merit, not the child’s merit. That’s the father’s heart. They love when you do not deserve to be loved. They bless when you do not deserve to be blessed. They protect when you do not deserve to be protected. Fathers are different from any other person. Fatherhood is the very nature of God.