Word of Salvation – Vol. 45 No.12 – March 2000
Why Do We Believe in God the Father?
Sermon by Rev MP Geluk
on Lord’s Day 9 (Heidelberg Catechism)
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:21-31; Matthew 6:25-34
Suggested Hymns: BoW 198; 361; 103a; 91
Beloved in the Lord.
Lord’s Day 9 of the Catechism leads us into the articles of the Apostles’ Creed. The first article says: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” All of us have confessed this many times. We do it when we recite the Creed, when we discuss our faith, and when we pray.
We look to God our Father for help when faced with problems and difficulties. We have also many times denied God the Father when we neglected to take our problems and difficulties to Him. And many times we denied God the Creator when we looked at and enjoyed the wonders of nature, and life itself, but have failed to give the Creator the credit for it. Therefore, we need to be reminded of our relationship to God, in order to love Him more and worship Him more.
Why do we believe in God the Father? Firstly, because God is the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; secondly, because God is the Almighty Creator; and thirdly, because God is a faithful Father.
1. We believe in God the Father because He is the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
The authors of the Catechism are saying right up front that God is the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why did they do that? Did they want to point out that in the Trinity, the Father and the Son eternally coexist together?
No doubt, that is true. But it’s doubtful if the authors of the Catechism wanted to make such a theological statement to ordinary folk like ourselves who come to hear preaching about the comfort of belonging to Christ. What is more likely is that the authors of the Catechism wanted people to see what God the Father is doing for those who are His saved children in Christ.
In other words, let’s say that you believe, on the basis of what the Bible says, that your sins are forgiven through the Saviour Jesus Christ. By His death and resurrection He has given you eternal life. As a believer you are called by God to live as a Christian in this world, obey His commandments, witness to others around you, glorify God in all things, trust Him in whatever circumstances He places you, and keep hoping and waiting for Christ’s second coming when all things will be made new. That, in broad terms, is the way you and I are to live as Christian believers. But we can’t do all that by ourselves. We need God to turn to, we need to depend on Him, and we need God to watch over us. Well, God does all that as our heavenly Father.
In fact, how did we become Christians? Well the gospel says that sinners are saved from God’s righteous judgment through Jesus Christ who became our Substitute. God transferred the sin and guilt of those who repent and believingly accept His salvation to Christ who died in the sinner’s place. Christ could do that because He became fully man. But because He also remained fully God He was able to overcome death and hell by rising from the dead and makes those for whom He died share in His new life.
But God does more than give eternal life in Christ. He will also renew the whole creation. He will deliver it from the bondage to decay, and completely overthrow the devil and everything else that is evil. Christ, who left for heaven at the completion of His earthly ministry to rule over the world for the sake of His church, will return. At His coming He will establish the new earth where there will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain anymore. The old order of things will make way for the new order where God will be all in all.
That is the believer’s hope and future. But the new heaven and earth are not yet here. Believers are still living and dying on this earth where there is still a mixture of joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, beautiful things and terrible things. We are still waiting for the Lord to come again to bring full deliverance.
We already have the Holy Spirit, which means God is living among us and in us. We also have God’s Word which is a wonderful book of comfort and teachings. The church can’t do without it.
But what about the overall scheme of things? What about the very things of this creation which, since the fall, are imperfect? Even if we know that Christ will come at the end, what about the time leading up to His coming? What is the future of this world? What will it do to us and our children? What about the things we need for life in this world? Will there be enough work so that we will have an income and be able to pay for the cost of living? Will there be enough food? In some parts of the world there is not enough work and not enough food. And what about health and disease?
And God’s Word warns about wars and rumours of war, of persecution, of people’s love for God growing cold, of increasing lawlessness and violence, of basic structures in society breaking down. Many of these things are happening already, and they will increase. Yes, what is our future? What will happen to us?
In all this we need God the Father to remain in charge of everything, to rule, to protect and to provide. To also make sure that nature will not be completely destroyed, for He promised after the great flood that winter and summer, springtime and harvest, will continue right to the very end.
So let us remain calm, fellow Christians, for God the Father is there. He is our Father and always will be, because He saved us in Jesus Christ. We can depend on Him for all our needs.
So in the first place we say that we believe in God the Father because He is the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then, secondly:
2. We believe in God the Father because He is the Almighty Creator
Yes, God is the creator of this world. It is His world. He made it and although sin has corrupted it, the Lord has not forsaken His creation and He will completely renew it. We have that contemporary confession in our Book of Forms with the title “Our World Belongs To God.” It begins with these words: “As followers of Jesus Christ, living in this world – which some seek to control, but which others view with despair – we declare with joy and trust: Our world belongs to God.” And we sing that hymn:
“This is my Father’s World.
O let us not forget,
that though the wrong is great and strong,
God is the ruler yet.” [BoW 361]
Now if this world belongs to God, then it follows that you can trust God the Father to look after it. In the process of God looking after what He has made, it follows that He will especially care for you whom He has saved through Jesus His Son. The Catechism captures the teaching of Genesis 1 & 2 when it says: “…who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by His eternal counsel and providence…!’
What is this saying to us? It’s saying that the theory of evolution is a lie. The belief in evolution flourishes when people deny the existence of God as the Almighty Creator. Imagine believing that millions of years ago the earliest forms of life might have appeared as cells in the sea. Some of these cells became fish that gradually changed so that they could also live on land. They then changed into land creatures, and eventually into apes, and finally into primitive man and then our ancestors came on the scene.
Now if you believe that, then whose rules do you follow? Well, whatever the majority of people think is right for them. Today a lot of people say abortion is okay; living together outside of marriage is okay; ending your own life when you’re frail, sick and elderly is okay; eliminating the weaker ones in society is okay because you can’t build a strong people with children who are mentally and physically a burden on the rest.
You see, if there is no God who gives us rules to live by, then people will make up their own rules. Some people see nature as a saviour. Trees and animals become more important than people. They are, of course, part of God’s creation, too, and it is a sin to destroy them for no good reason. But when nature becomes a god, then killing the unborn and the elderly becomes easier than to cut down a tree and killing an animal. And when more and more people think like this then eventually laws will be passed that reflect such thinking. They will prevent you from removing a tree from your backyard but they will approve you cutting a child out of the womb.
Imagine yourself thinking like that. What is your life worth? Very little!
And what can you expect from life? There will be much uncertainty! What things will be right and wrong? You don’t know! It can change all the time. Who are you? That, you don’t know either! Your origin is vague. You’re lucky that you are there at all. You are the result of mere chance. And as for your future, well, you don’t really know what’s going to happen. There are even less answers for your children and grandchildren.
You are infinitely much better off when you believe in God the Father, the Almighty Creator. Not just meaning that this is a better faith and never mind what the reality is. The Christian’s faith is more than just looking at the bright side of things. The Christian’s faith is based on historical fact. You might say, “Wait a minute, it’s a faith isn’t it?” Yes, we believe that God exists and we believe that He is the Creator of the heaven and earth and everything in them, and we believe that God the Father continues to uphold and rule over all that He has made, but we can’t prove it.
No one was there at the time of creation. No one else besides God saw Him make the light and the darkness, the sky and clouds, the seas and the rivers, the sun, moon, and stars, the trees and plants, fish and animals, Adam and Eve. And no one now can scientifically prove that God brings summer and winter, springtime and harvest. No one now can scientifically demonstrate that God looks after you. Christians believe that He did and does all these things.
But this faith that we have is based on what God says in His Word, and what He says is to be taken as truth. Others may laugh at that and ridicule you for it. For them nothing is fact unless scientifically proven. But the Word of God is also fact, even though it cannot be proven. Yes, that we believe it to be true is in itself a statement of faith. But even if God is not believed in, even if He is not confessed as the Creator, that would not stop God from existing and it would not mean that He is not our Father who created and continues to rule and provide.
What we’re saying is that the Christian faith does not produce God and faith does not make Him Creator and Ruler. God is all and does all that He says even without the Christian faith saying it. But He has made Himself known in His Word to man and as a result of what His Word says, we have a Christian faith.
So, when you believe in God the Father Almighty, then you are saying, on the basis of what the Bible says, that out of nothing God created the heaven and earth and everything in them, and continues to uphold and rule them by His eternal counsel and providence. It means that you know that the world and you came from God, that He continues to look after the world and you right up to the time when Christ comes again to make all things new.
Now that should give you, if you believe all that, lots of comfort and assurance, knowing that you are not on your own. Your heavenly Father is looking after you. Through His Son, Jesus, the Father has said that if He gives the birds their food and the flowers their beauty, then surely He will look after you who were made in His image [Mat.6:25ff].
So, although we have our worries, there is really nothing to worry about if our faith keeps on looking at our heavenly Father. You might say, “Yes, but terrible things may happen to me. I might die sooner than I want. I’m worried about that.” But the Lord says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Mat.10:29].
You see, in Christ, God gave you eternal life and you will see the new heaven and earth. Death in the body is not going prevent that. The Lord says that not a sparrow falls to the ground “apart from the will of your Father. Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (vss.30-31). Now when trivial things in nature are completely ruled over by our heavenly Father, yes, when even minute things like the number of hairs on your head is known to Him, then even more so will the Father look after you who is so special to Him because of what Christ has done for you.
When the apostles Peter and John were released from custody in time of persecution, they returned to their fellow believers and told them all what had happened. Their future did not look too bright. Their lives were in danger. They were forbidden to meet together and not to teach at all in the name of Jesus. But look how they put their trust in God and confessed Him as the Almighty Creator who rules over all. This is how they prayed, “Sovereign Lord, you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.” And notice what they said about those who conspired against Jesus to kill Him, “They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen” [Acts 4: 24,28].
You see how they believed that nothing happens by chance, that evil men and their wrong do not operate freely but only under the sovereign hand of God who rules over all things and people to fulfil His will? That’s what it means to believe in God the Father Almighty. In this world there is just nothing that operates apart from God’s eternal counsel and sovereignty. He has a salvation plan to fulfil because in His mercy and love He sent Christ to save sinners like you and me. And therefore He rules and provides for you and me.
3. We believe in God the Father also because He is a faithful Father
Yes, we need to remember that God is a faithful Father because this present world brings us sufferings. Romans 8 reminds us that the creation was subjected to frustration. The fall into sin brought that about. The whole creation, says Romans 8, has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth. At Christ’s coming it will be fully liberated from all weaknesses and imperfection, but that’s still future. So we can expect droughts and floods and fires. There will be wars and rumours of wars. There will be greed, corruption and poverty. There will be sickness and death.
But we must not let these things get on top of us. We have to fight the evil in the world, stop the wars and expose the greed and corruption. We have to be active in the struggle against disease and death.
Yet that struggle will go on until the new creation comes. We must not even despair and give up but continue to live in the world with the claims of King Jesus that all areas of life should submit to His rule. But the fact is, Christians should be realistic and not be surprised that this world can be a sad one.
So, when you look to God your heavenly Father, then do not expect Him to give you a trouble-free run. He has never promised us that. What He has promised is a safe arrival on the new earth. It may not be in mint condition, but He will make all things new. And in your present circumstances, do see Him as your Father who will provide whatever you need for body and soul, and that He will turn to your good whatever adversity He sends you.
Your heavenly Father says: “…in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” [Rom.8:28]. Yes, in all things. Don’t say that God is only with you when you feel blessed and all things are going well, but that He has turned away from you when things are going badly.
In the book of Ruth we read that Naomi said that when she returned to Israel after having lived in Moab for ten years. There she lost her husband and her two sons, which meant that her income had dried up. But then she heard that the Lord had come to the aid of His people back home and was again providing food for them (1:6). When she arrived in her hometown, Bethlehem, people were surprised to see her. “Can this be Naomi?”, they said. And her name meant ‘pleasant’. She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi, call me Mara,” which means ‘bitter’. Then she gave her reasons. “…the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty… The Lord has afflicted me, the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me” [vss.20,21).
Maybe some of you have been afflicted with pain and hardship as Naomi was. The Lord has given it to you. Naomi was quite correct is seeing the Lord’s hand in all things. God says in Isaiah: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things” [45:6,7]. But Naomi discovered after whatever evil the Lord had sent her, that He turned it to her good, as the rest of the book of Ruth clearly shows.
Now the Lord may do that for you also – turn to your good whatever adversity He sends you. But even if you do not live to see it, and remember that plenty of God’s children are not delivered in this life from their earthly troubles, on the new earth where all believers are going, there will be complete deliverance. There the Lord is making all things new.
Now you and I should not have a fatalistic attitude that says, “whatever will be will be.” What the Fatherhood of God should bring us to say in faith is this: “I trust Him so much that I do not doubt He will provide me whatever I need for body and soul, and He will turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this sad world.”
Do you believe that? Do you think you could trust your heavenly Father that much? “Is He not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?” [Deut.32:6). Yes, that’s what God says in His Word. And He says this as well: “As a father has compassion on his children so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him” [Ps.103:13]. And this, “But you are our Father… our Redeemer from of old is your name” [ls.63:16]. And this, “O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand” [ls.64:8]. And this, “Even to your old age and grey hairs I am he, I am he who sustains you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you” [ls.46:4).
So let the Word of God encourage you, and always remember that deliverance may come now but will certainly come when the creation is renewed. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you” [1Pet.5:7]. He is able to do this because He is Almighty God. He desires to do this because He is a faithful Father.
Amen.