GOD IS THE FATHER OF JESUS AND OUR FATHER TOO

When we pray to God we are given a great privilege, not simply being able to pray to the creator of the universe, but the fact that we are committed to walking in fellowship with Jesus and doing His will in every area of our lives then we have the right to call God our Father, which is what He is. Before we look at the scriptures that prove this, let us first look at what the Apostle John wrote about Jesus at the beginning of his account of the gospel.

John chapter 1 verses 1 to 13 reads: "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, He was with God from the beginning. Through Him all things were made, without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man who was sent from God, his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through Him all might believe. He himself was not the light, he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognise Him.

Ge came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him, to those who believed in His name He gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or of a husband's will, but born of God." Natural descent means not in the normal way through sex between a man and a woman, human decision means that Jesus was born not through any scientific breakthrough or artificial insemination.

Born of God means that the child will not have been born with a sin nature. And born perfect in the eyes of God. This kind of birth can never be repeated or mimicked, it was unique and forever shall remain so. Now let us look at one of the scriptures that is read time and time again at Christmas services, this comes from Luke chapter 1 verses 26 to 35. "In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy God sent the Angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph.

The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said: "Greetings, you who are highly favoured, The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled by these words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her: "Do not be afraid Mary, you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son and you will call Him Jesus.

He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give Him the throne of His father David and He will reign over Jacob's descendents forever; His kingdom will never end. "How shall this be?" Mary asked the angel, "Since I am a virgin?" The angel answered: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called The Son of God.

We have seen through John's gospel reading "To all who believed in Him were given the right to become the sons of God." Now let us look at how this happened. As soon as we are born again our names go into the book of life of the Lamb. From that moment on we are registered in heaven as children of the living God. How does this work though we were born of the flesh in the normal way?"

In Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 to 6 the Apostle Paul writes: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the one He loves."

This means that the moment we are born again Jesus chooses to adopt us as His sons and daughters. Today laws are different, if we adopt somebody as a son or daughter and they misbehave in a big way often, then we can renounce them and legally have nothing more to do with them. At the time Paul wrote these verses were you to adopt someone, then it was permanent, you could not renounce them or send them away, in this lies our great security in God.

In Matthew chapter 6 verses 9 to 13 the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. Without hesitation Jesus begins by telling them that when they pray they should begin by calling God Father, which in Jesus time was the most intimate term that could be used. Through His power and by His grace each one of us who truly believes has become a child of God and has God as His father. In no other religion is a person allowed to be so intimate with their god.