Austin Bible Church
God the Father is a member of the Trinity or Godhead. The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are not three Gods, but one God without blending or dividing of substance. Yet, they are presented with distinctions as three separate persons in the union of one. The Trinity is defined as the union of three in one and is revealed as a bona fide doctrine in Scripture. See category on The Trinity.
God the Father possesses the exact same attributes and characteristics as does God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The perfect absolute characteristics make up God’s essence. They are; Sovereignty, Righteousness, Justice, Love, Eternal Life, Omniscience, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Immutability, and Veracity. All of God's attributes are perfect, infinite and unchanging. All that God does is simultaneously compatible with all of His attributes. God has never done nor will ever do anything that compromises any of His attributes. See category on the Essence of God.
The Planner
In eternity past, God the Father in His omniscience designed a plan so comprehensive and perfect that it included all events of angelic and human history including their related causes, conditions and results. The Father designed His plan so that His sovereignty would coexist with the free will of His creatures. The Father also provided all of the grace means for all of His creatures to completely fulfill His plan for each and every one of them based solely on their free will.
As the planner, God the Father is sovereign. He is the supreme being of the universe. Therefore, He is the highest King. Heb. 6:13; Psalms 47:7.
“For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,” (Hebrews 6:13, NASB)
“For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm.” (Psalms 47:7, NASB)
God has absolute will and does whatsoever He pleases. In His sovereignty, He has always been pleased to give man free will. Psalms 115:3; Psalms 135:6.
“But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” (Psalms 115:3, NASB)
“Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.” (Psalms 135:6, NASB)
God the Father’s plan is based on His perfect grace. God does for man what he cannot earn and does not deserve. Grace is who and what God is, not who and what man is. Eph. 2:8-9.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NASB)
God the Father is the perfect planner of all things in eternity past – creation, salvation, and eternity. 1 Cor. 8:6.
“yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” (1 Corinthians 8:6, NASB)
God the Father planned creation. Psalms 102:25.
“"Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.” (Psalms 102:25, NASB)
His perfect sovereign plan is salvation for the human race by non-meritorious belief in the work of the perfect Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s sovereign plan for the human race is also for eternity in that all that believe in Jesus Christ receive eternal life. Eph. 3:11; Acts 16:31.
“so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Ephesians 3:10-11, NASB)
“They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."” (Acts 16:31, NASB)
God’s sovereign plan for every believer while on earth is also the spiritual life. His command is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Production of divine good in the spiritual life is only possible through the filling of the Holy Spirit who empowers the believer’s spiritual life. 1 John 1:9; Eph. 5:18; Rom. 8:28-29.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NASB)
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,” (Ephesians 5:18, NASB)
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;” (Romans 8:28-29, NASB)
God the Father has a perfect plan for our eternal future - absent from the body, face-to-face with the Lord. 2 Cor. 5:8, John 3:16-18.
“we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8, NASB)
“"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18, NASB)
The divine plan eternally centers in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in whom believers are elected and accepted. Eph. 1:11-13. See category on the Plan of God.
“also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,” (Ephesians 1:11-13, NASB)
God the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ
He is called the Father by the Lord Jesus Christ because the Father is the planner and the Son (Jesus Christ) obeyed the plan of the Father in order to provide salvation. Phil. 2:8.
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8, NASB)
In Christ’s deity, there is a father-son relationship, making Jesus Christ the Son from all eternity. Matt. 16:16.
“Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."” (Matthew 16:16, NASB)
In Christ’s humanity, there is a God-man relationship. Jesus Christ as a baby spoke to the first person of the Trinity and called Him “God.” Heb. 10:5; Heb. 10:7.
“Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME;” (Hebrews 10:5, NASB)
“"THEN I SAID, 'BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'"” (Hebrews 10:7, NASB)
In Christ’s humanity, there is also a father-son relationship. Luke 1:35.
“The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35, NASB)
In this same manner we, as believers, call Him Father because we are spiritually alive. Eph. 2:18; 2 Cor. 1:3.
“for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:18, NASB)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,” (2 Corinthians 1:3, NASB)
God the Father of All Believers
God the Father is the Father of all believers. God the Father is not the Father of unbelievers. No human being has the power to make himself a child of God. Gal. 3:26; John 8:42-44; John 1:12.
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26, NASB)
“Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:42-44, NASB)
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” (John 1:12, NASB)
God the Father is also the God of all believers. God the Father is the God of the entire human race by virtue of creation, whether acknowledged or not. Jer. 32:27.
“"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?"” (Jeremiah 32:27, NASB)
God the Father is our Father by means of regeneration. Titus 3:5.
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5, NASB)
The believer’s position in Christ is eternal. John 14:20; Rom. 8:38-39.
“"In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” (John 14:20, NASB)
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39, NASB)
Since God the Father is our Father, He provides for His children. Matt. 7:11; Gal. 3:26.
“"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11, NASB)
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26, NASB)