In the 70’s-80’s, back when I was growing up, I would have to say that Christians had a more definite reverence for God. However, somewhere in the 90’s Christians changed from being more reverant to God and treating Him like a Heavenly Daddy; it almost seems like we had exchanged reverence for God for a more personal God, although Christians would never say it.
Through the years, most Protestant churches and even some liberal Catholic churches are attempting to let God be more personal. And yes, God is personal; verses like John 3:16 come to mind which says,
God loved the world so much that he gave His One and only Son so that whoever believes in Him may not be lost but have eternal life. (NCV)
How can God express His love for the world in order for us to be with Him when the penalty for sin is death? God is life. It was like Jesus Christ (His Son) was the second Adam because He was born without sin, which He had in common with the first Adam. Yet the first Adam made a crucial mistake in that he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; the tree that God told him not to eat from. But, once Adam and Eve made the wrong choice to pursue the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, God couldn’t allow us to eat from the tree of (eternal) Life, putting an angel to guard the tree. See, God was protecting us which shows us that He is personal.
Just think… What were humanity supposed to do with an eternity separated from God if Adam and Eve ate from the tree of (eternal) life right after they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Disastrous!
So, God was protecting us until a perfect sacrifice in Jesus Christ was made for us until the end of the age. Once a perfect sacrifice was made, all we have to do is constantly accept it by living for God by Jesus Christ. God the Father is personal because the attribute of love is deeply personal.
Yet, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out God is worthy of all our praises citing the prophet, Isaiah in Isaiah 6:1-5:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a very high throne. His long robe filled the Temple. Heavenly creatures of fire stood above Him. Each creature has six wings: It had two wings to cover its face, two wings to cover its feet, and two wings for flying. Each creature was calling to the others: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord All-powerful. His glory fills the whole earth.” Their calling caused the flame around the door to shake, as the Temple filled with smoke. I said, “Oh, no! I will be destroyed! I am not pure, and I live among people who are not pure, but I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful.” (NCV)
What does this section of Scripture say about the Lord God? He is the Almighty God. Remember 2 Samuel 6? Shortly after King David became king of all Israel, he decided to have the holiest artifact, the Ark of the Covenant, returned to Jerusalem. Now, the Ark of the Covenant represented where God was. Read on…
David again gathered all the chosen men in Israel-thirty thousand of them. Then he and his people went to Baalah in Judah to bring back the Ark of God. The Ark is called by the Name, the Name of the Lord All-Powerful, whose throne is between the gold creatures with wings. They put the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of Abinadab’s house on a hill. Uzzah and Ahio, son’s of Abinadab, led the new cart, which had the Ark of God on it. Ahio was walking in front of it. David and all the Israelites were celebrating in the
Presence of the Lord. They were
playing wooden instruments:
lyres, harps, tambourines,
rattles, and cymbals. When
David’s men came to the
threshing floor of Nacom, the
oxen stumbled. So Uzzah
reached out his hand to steady
the Ark of God. The Lord was
angry with Uzzah and killed
him for what he did. Now that
place is called the Punishment of Uzzah. David was afraid of
the Lord that day, and he said,
“How can the Ark of the Lord
come to me now?”So David
would not move the Ark of the
Lord to be with him in
Jerusalem. Instead, he took it
to the house of Obed-Edom, a
man from Gath. (2 Samuel
6:1-10; NCV)
So, which is it? Almighty God or Heavenly Daddy? Both cases have there staunch supporters. I met one person recently that he did not think God would, in fact, humble Himself to send His Son (Jesus Christ) to come down to be born a human being in the worse possible conditions. That person said God is to Holy for that kind of degradation. Yes, God is Holy!
However, you get the supporters of the view that God is a Heavenly Daddy stating Scripture verses like the most famous one of John 3:16 and Romans 5:8 which says,
But God showed His great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners. (NCV)
I see where this hot topic issue concerning the reverence for God and God as the Holy Daddy has its stance. Even those uneducated about the things of God would say that the Holy Bible cannot be infallible because of this very issue.
Let us take this issue by the horns. I submit to you that God is both-Almighty God and Heavenly Daddy. All of us should have respect for God since He is the only One that can create stuff from nothing (Genesis 1), but He is also interested in His creation, because we have the freedom to choose eternal life or eternal death caused by sin (John 3:16-21; John 17:1-3; Romans 8:3-11).
Admittedly, more often than not, I take God as more of a Heavenly Daddy given what I have been through in my life. God desires that, but at the expense of His Holy Lordship over my life? Definitely Not! Maybe you struggle with there being a Heavenly Daddy seeing God as to Holy to ever be considered as a Heavenly Daddy? Well, good news because He is inviting you into a relationship with Him as a Heavenly Daddy.
TrueLifeChristianity.com 