How Can Mothers Relate to “Father” God?
After all, He is male, isn’t He?
A Mother’s Day Message by Bruce Morrison
Introduction: The Way We Think About God
This then is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven….” (The words of Jesus from Matthew 6:9)
Jesus taught us a great deal about God. One thing we can’t help but notice is the number of times he referred to God as “Father”. Of course, when we think of “father”, we automatically think “male”. Therefore, consciously or unconsciously, we can’t help but perceive of God as being essentially male. To demonstrate what I mean, try to imagine God as being a female. The idea just doesn’t fit the way we have been conditioned to think about him. And yet, it doesn’t seem quite fair that God should be just male. Maybe He is female too? Lately, some have tried to bring the two concepts together which gave birth to the idea of “inclusiveness” in the worship and liturgical literature of some churches with the result that God is now referred to in both genders. .
The truth is, God is neither male nor female nor is He a hybrid. Why then is he called “Father”?
God as Father
When we hold a tiny seed in our hand it is hard to imagine the potential in that seed. From that one seed could come many tons of a grain harvest or many trees in a forest. The reason is this: life is in that seed. We also know that the new life that comes from the seed will be exactly the same in kind. If it is wheat it will produce wheat, not oats or any other grain. When we think of “father”, we also think of a tiny seed that is joined with a mother’s egg and the beginning of a new human life. The identity of that new life is certain. The offspring will be human, not something else.
When God created, He too planted His identity in the human race. We were made in His likeness and His image. At the very outset in sacred literature, the Holy Bible, this most important statement is made:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27.
Man was created in the image of God. Since image has to do with identity, that statement defines the human race. In other words, in the creative order, when you looked at man you saw a replica of God. This doesn’t mean that man is God. It does mean that man was the crown of God’s creation and as such was the greatest demonstration of the nature of the Creator. Make no mistake, the Creator and the created are not both God. God alone is God! But stand in awe at the wonder of the creature, man. No one in all the created order is like him.
Many people today have what is often referred to as an “identity crisis”. They don’t know who they are. This phenomenon can be traced back to the lack of a father’s positive influence in their lives. Just as God the father placed the highest sense of image possible in the first humans when he imparted his identity in them, even so human fathers are to establish a high and positive sense of self-image in their children. Abusive fathers or absent fathers leave huge deficits when it comes to establishing a positive identity in their children. Nothing demonstrates the high significance of a father’s role more than the fact that God, in his role as Creator, became our Father and placed his image in man.
Sadly, it is often young girls who suffer at the hands of abusive fathers more than young boys do. This is particularly true when sexual abuse is involved.
How do mothers, who at onetime were those young girls, possibly relate to God as Father when the very name sometimes conjures the worst memories? I believe it takes an act of divine grace for this transition to happen. And, most thankfully that’s the business God is in these days – dispensing grace to a broken, hurting race of men and women who at one time were at the very top of the creative order.
The problem of course, was the introduction of sin. Sin not only altered our status, it altered our nature as well. By nature, our identity is no longer defined as “being in the image of God”. We have become, by nature, sinners – separated in the most absolute manner possible, from God.
When we receive Christ as our Saviour, he saves us from our sins. He removes the guilt that comes from the specific transgressions we have committed. The law was given to reveal those transgressions. However, the gospel must be understood to do something of even greater significance than provide us with forgiveness from God. The gospel changes our nature again – it restores us to our original identity – the one we read about in Genesis – the image of God! Paul wrote:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4.
The term “gospel of the glory of Christ” is found only once in the New Testament but its significance is immeasurable. The word “glory” refers to nature and character. Thus, the “glory” of God refers to the nature and character of God. The Bible also teaches that the “glory” of Jesus Christ is exactly the same as the “glory” of God. The Book of Hebrews declares:
The Son is the exact radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…Hebrews 1:3
Amazingly, the glory of Christ, which is the glory of God, defines for us one very important aspect of the gospel. The passage in 2 Corinthians links together the words “gospel” “glory” and “image of God”. Thus, when we believe the gospel, the glory of God transforms our identity to once again be that of the image of God. Through the gospel, we receive a nature transfusion. This is absolutely amazing!
One thing we can learn from this is that the search for our lost identity will always remain just that – a search. The only source of true identity is God, who is our father. The confusion and disappointment that comes when we pursue other sources ends when we go to him.
The Genesis passage quoted earlier teaches us another important truth about ourselves. When God created us we were made in both his image and likeness. The idea of “likeness” is related to character and behaviour. When we act in the likeness of God we behave like he does. God is loving, kind, benevolent, just, and merciful and much more. He possesses every virtue and acts accordingly. There is a longing in the human heart to act this way. The problem again is sin. When our nature changed so did our behaviour. Though we all aspire to be good and act well, we often don’t. Guilt and despair are the result.
In the Corinthian passage quoted earlier, Paul said the god of this world does everything he can to blind our minds lest we see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. Once you get a hold of the truth that not only our identity changes when we come to Christ, but our behaviour can change too, there is no telling the extent to which your life will be transformed, and that’s not good news to the devil. It has been his business to blind our minds so we cannot see. Notice that Paul did not say, “blind our eyes” he said, “blind our minds”. It is true. We have by nature, blind minds. It is little wonder that human thinking is so very impaired when it comes to the fixes and methods we have come up with to improve our self-image and our behaviour.
This blindness of mind was introduced when Satan first tempted man. Satan proposed this:
“You will not surely die”, the serpent said to the woman, for God knows that your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…” Genesis 3:4
This is how deception works. As we can see from Genesis, the serpent proposed that disobeying God would result in her being like God. Since the woman was already created in the likeness of God, the serpent was really proposing that he could help her become the woman she already was! This deception would not work unless he could make her think she was something less than God created her to be.
The same is true today. The tempter tries to make us think that we are something less than we are in Christ, who transforms us into a restored image, the image of God. But woe betide the kingdom of darkness when a person grasps the truth of God as father, the one who restores all we lost through sin. No one can predict what that person might do!
Mothers you are not created to be less than men. You might protest this and say, “What about the scriptures that teach that wives are to submit to their husbands?” Well, that’s a subject for another time that has to do with roles not person-hood. Right now God wants to remove from your thinking, every idea that reduces you to be someone less than you are in Christ. He wants to liberate you from the restrictions shame imposes on you and set you free to do all God says you can do!
What the Creation Statements teach about the privileges and provisions of woman-hood and mother-hood
One of the outcomes of thinking that God is male is to suppose that being female is being something less in nature and importance than male. However, a close look at the Genesis passage reveals something quite different. When God created man in his image and likeness, the Bible says he created man to be “male and female” The word “man’ therefore embraces both male and female. In the context of the Genesis passage, the word “man” is not a gender exclusive word. The word “man” refers to the race. It is “mankind” and includes both male and female.
There are at least three important things we learn from Genesis that in this message I will apply to mothers.
First, “God blessed them” (Genesis 1:28). The “blessing” is something a father imparts. It has to do with possessions and inheritance. Notice that the blessing was given to “them”, the man and the woman. They both were equal recipients.
The opening statement of the Psalms is, “Blessed is the man…” (Psalm 1:1) which literally means, blessings belong to the man. The blessing of God is what made the relationship between the first man and woman and God function. It defined the relationship just as much as being in the image and likeness of God defined it. One thing it did was to maintain the distinctiveness of the persons involved. With God as the one who blesses and the man and woman as the recipients, there could never be confusion as to who was the greater and who was the lesser. More importantly, consciousness of the absolute love and benevolence of the Creator could never be lost in this arrangement which in turn would produce the most intimate and heart felt worship from the man and woman to God. In the gospel we once again become recipients of the blessing our first parents had before they sinned. Paul wrote:
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. Ephesians 1:1
Neither womanhood nor motherhood is in any measure reduced in significance in Christ. The greatest honour bestowed upon any person, male or female, is to receive the blessing of God and today mothers, as is true of every day, those blessings are yours. An inheritance that you cannot receive from any other is yours for the claiming, right here, right now!
Second, “God said to them be fruitful…” Fruitfulness speaks of many things. It implies fullness of purpose in life, a life filled with meaning. It speaks of productivity, of things worthwhile. God has ordained our lives to be thus and when he first spoke these words about fruitfulness it was to “them”, both the male and female. Both were created equal, both were in the image and likeness of God, both were designed to live productive and fulfilling lives. If ever there was a time for proclaimers of the gospel to proclaim this truth, it is today. There is so much in our western culture and even more in some other cultures that reduces or minimizes the significance of being a woman. In Christ, being female, being a mother, is exalted to its highest place, the place where it belongs, close to the heart and purposes of God Himself.
Many feel that they are on a treadmill going nowhere. My own mother (and father) had to raise me so I can appreciate from first hand experience how easy it might be for parents to feel frustrated and helpless at times. But with faith in God, a faith that lifts your mind from off the circumstances and onto the provision of God, there is an abundance of blessing and supply for mothers. I think it is safe to say that in this day and age, mothers need this more than ever.
Third, God said, “…fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28).
Authority is a word that each of us relates to in different ways. How we have experienced it has much to do with the degree to which we are willing to apply it in our lives. When God created the first man and woman and imparted to them the right to rule he did so to both of them. Again, we see equality of the sexes in this creation statement. Both were given authority. Authority means power. Those in authority have power over those who are under that authority.
God never abuses his authority. He administers his affairs justly and with love and mercy. Mankind however, has not followed suit. Sin altered everything about mankind including this intrinsic part of our nature called authority. Mankind has forever abused authority. Instead of ruling the earth to its benefit, we have plundered and raped it to the point that it groans in pain. Someday, the earth itself will be, “liberated from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21), but that won’t take place until Jesus Christ returns.
The earth is not the only victim of mankind’s abuse of power and authority. In addition, abusiveness is certainly not limited to the male side of the species. Memories of abusive mother are just as real for some as memories of abusive fathers are for others. Throughout history men and women, young and old, have suffered at the hands of abusers. Some have reeked devastating damage through becoming powerful, tyrannical leaders of nations who have gone on to plunder and destroy the lives of millions. Others perform their evil behind the closed doors of homes, hidden from the eyes of others. Power in the wrong hands is never good and in fact, the only one who administers it properly is God. Amazingly, in spite of our legacy of abuse, once again, through Christ, God entrusts us with power. With the birth of the church came the re-birth of power. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…” (Acts 1:8) were divine words of importation that are so similar to those spoken at creation. In the new creation, which is ours in Christ, all that was lost in the first creation is restored.
Do mothers need power today? Yes, more than ever. At times when you feel most powerless, most unable to resolve family difficulties, most assaulted by temptation and Satan’s onslaughts, that power is never far away. Mothers, you can do it! Your life is not out of control. Within your grasp is spiritual authority. God himself placed it there for you. You can succeed in all God calls you to be and do – it is your divine right in Christ, our Saviour and Lord! Your heavenly Father assures this!
Sermon for Mothers Day, May 11, 2003
All scriptures quotations are from the NIV
Preached by Bruce Morrison, pastor
At Emmanuel English Church,
Hong Kong
brucemarlene@netvigator.com
