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- Apr 25, 2006
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- 18,404
Dad the Deity (2)
'For He is always thinking about you' 1 Peter 5:7
The problem with language and God is that eventually our language lets us down. We desperately want to understand that God is warm and loving and approachable, so our language comes up with ways to say this.
We start to describe God as a dad. The problems start because the word 'dad' conjures up all kinds of ideas and images for different people. Dad might be chained to his work office for most of the week and so, because dad is never around, we get the idea that God is somehow distant, too busy for us.
Dad might be tired and grumpy; so, because we're made to feel like a nuisance around our dad, we picture God as an angry God who's quick to jump on us. Dad may not have been around for years - and so it becomes hard to relate to God the Father, as we don't really know what it's like to have a dad in our lives.
Our minds hopelessly try to paint a picture of God, but the image becomes distorted because of our flawed experiences. Jesus once said, 'He who has seen me has seen the Father' (John 14:9). The qualities of Jesus point us to the qualities of our heavenly Father: forgiving and merciful, loving and patient, inclusive and accepting.
Through Jesus' love and concern for people we see what God the Father really looks like.
written by Bob Gass
'For He is always thinking about you' 1 Peter 5:7
The problem with language and God is that eventually our language lets us down. We desperately want to understand that God is warm and loving and approachable, so our language comes up with ways to say this.
We start to describe God as a dad. The problems start because the word 'dad' conjures up all kinds of ideas and images for different people. Dad might be chained to his work office for most of the week and so, because dad is never around, we get the idea that God is somehow distant, too busy for us.
Dad might be tired and grumpy; so, because we're made to feel like a nuisance around our dad, we picture God as an angry God who's quick to jump on us. Dad may not have been around for years - and so it becomes hard to relate to God the Father, as we don't really know what it's like to have a dad in our lives.
Our minds hopelessly try to paint a picture of God, but the image becomes distorted because of our flawed experiences. Jesus once said, 'He who has seen me has seen the Father' (John 14:9). The qualities of Jesus point us to the qualities of our heavenly Father: forgiving and merciful, loving and patient, inclusive and accepting.
Through Jesus' love and concern for people we see what God the Father really looks like.
written by Bob Gass
