God the Father is our Creator, providential Sustainer, and Heavenly Father who has blessed us supremely in Christ and delights in receiving our prayers. In part 3 of We Believe, Pastor Dan Cox reads from John 3:16; 5:17-26; 14:12-17, 1 John 2:28-3:2, Matthew 6:5-13, and Ephesians 1:3-6.
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Study Notes
WE BELIEVE… SCRIPTURE
It is the inspired, authoritative, inerrant Word of God.
WE BELIEVE… THE TRINITY
There is one God who eternally exists in three co-equal, co-eternal, consubstantial Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
WE BELIEVE… GOD THE FATHER
We believe the Father originally manifested Himself to man as the Creator of all things who interacts with His world through providence. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. All who follow Christ are spiritually begotten by the Father. We are taught to direct our prayers to the Father through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Eternal Relationships and Roles within the Triune Godhead
Eternal Generation
Eternal generation describes an eternal relationship in which the Son is begotten, not made, by the Father. The Son has no beginning or end, and is of the same essence as the Father, sharing the same divine nature.
It is that eternal and necessary act of the first person in the Trinity, whereby He, within the divine Being, is the ground of a second personal subsistence like His own, and puts this second person in possession of the whole divine essence, without any division, alienation, or change. Louis Berkhof
God the Father…
- is the Father of the unique, only begotten Son of God
- loves sinful people and gave His Son to save them
God the Father…
- continually works to sustain and redeem His creation
- wills the works of the Son
- loves the Son and shows Him what He Himself is doing
- raises the dead and gives them life
- gave judgment to the Son
- sent the Son
- has life in Himself
- has granted the Son to have life in Himself
God the Father…
- is glorified by the works of the Son
- sends the Holy Spirit
God the Father…
- is the spiritual Father of His spiritual children
- will make His children like the Son
God the Father…
- is our heavenly Father
- rewards those who seek Him
- knows what we need before we ask
- desires our worship and petition
God the Father…
- has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ
- chose us to be holy and blameless in Christ
- predestined us for adoption as sons in Christ
Our doctrinal statement emphasizes God the Father as…
- Creator
- providential Sustainer
- God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
- spiritual Father of His spiritual children
- the One to Whom our prayers are directed
Applying the Text
- Is God the Father your Heavenly Father?
- Do you worship and petition the Father in the name of the Son by the power of the Spirit?