what Christians exactly mean when they say "father"?

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   jomineposted 13 years ago

   father is a male parent or any male ancestor, esp. the founder of a race, family, or line; progenitor.
   if god is father to jesus and still he didn't originate what exactly is this father then?(mothers may have no role in god business i guess!!

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      naijainvestorposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      when we Christians say father, we are actually referring to God himself, he is a father to us all.

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         getitriteposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         If that's so, then who is our mother?  How can we just have a father with no mother?

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            exorterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            In heaven, YES

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               getitriteposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               
               
               Evidence, if you would be so kind, my friend?

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                  exorterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  if it was put in front of you, you would not accept it just like I would not accept any of your tall tales

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                     getitriteposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     
                     
                     It's not that I wouldn''t believe you, it's that you REALLY have no evidence.  You just believe you do, but you have nothing but an overactive imagination--like a child who sees that the cookies have been eaten so that is irrefutable evidence of the existence of Santa Claus.

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                     Woman Of Courageposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     exorter, exactly!

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            Dave Mathewsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            You are thinking in a fleshly manner, but we are not flesh and blood first, we are spirit first and fore-most.

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               getitriteposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               
               
               At least I'm THINKING, Dave.  At least I'm thinking...and not just rattling off answers that have absolutely no basis in reality...that cannot be verified through evidence...or that defy common sense.

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               Woman Of Courageposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Dave, You have hit the nail on the mark.

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               jomineposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               spirit first and fore-most. is good. but don't forget to add water

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         Dave Mathewsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         We, every person is a spiritual being first and fore-most.
         
         Adam, the first man was created by God out of the dust of the earth. Since God was/is the creator all spirit and of man, that makes God our Father. Our spiritual self needs no mother, only a creator, God.
         Brother Dave.

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            getitriteposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Dave that sounds brazenly chauvanistic.  Did you even think about this concept before you blindly accepted it?
            
            Why can't God be our Mother?  Oh, I forgot woman are inferior.  Right?

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         Ahmad Usmanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Quote naijainvestor:
         when we Christians say father, we are actually referring to God himself, he is a father to us all.
         
         
         So in the following  Biblical verses below, is jesus praying and worshiping himself?
         
         ..."Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." (Luke 5:16)
         
         ..."he (Jesus) fell with his face to the ground and prayed..." (Matthew 26:39)
         
         One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. (Luke 6:12)
         
         
         Similarly, when Jesus was on tthe cross, he was saying:
         
         'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'
         
         So was he refering to himself? If he was, the he ought to have said like:
         
         'My God, my God, why have me forsaken me?'
         
         
         I can quote many examples from the bible BUT Alas! Christians don't even know the meaning of 'Father' and 'Son'. These words are being used metaphorically not literally.

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         Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         well, God has the crappiest parenting skills - he couldn't even manage Adam and Eve, tossed them out at their first ever mistake, and punished their children and grandchildren for all eternity.   No guidance, no second chances - condemned.
         
         Imagine if I tossed my child out for his first mistake? Punished him disproportionately to the crime - burnt him in the fireplace for stealing a cookie? 
         
         What an abusive example of a parent - not a good example at all.  How can people say they think of god as a loving father?  Sounds like Stockholm syndrome

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            pennyofheavenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Have you ever viewed the father as something non  physical. Non biological? Your post seems to be pointing to something purely physical. If God were physical I would agree. Surely you know God is not physical? Perhaps the description Father leads one to that I don't know?

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      Woman Of Courageposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      God is my spiritual heavenly father.

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      Shadesbreathposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I think it makes it easier to understand if you think of the parent aspect of "father" rather than the gender part or the who had sex with who to make a baby.
      
      It's about a strong figure who protects the smaller and weaker, for whom the strong figure has a parental obligation (love and duty) to keep safe.
      
      As children, an human parent fills this role for us. They protect us, they have all the answers and we get to just run about and be free of obligation, fear and responsibility.
      
      When we become adults, we see that our fathers (and mothers) are flawed, are not strong or invincible or all-knowing, and that we are alone against a world of elements and forces outside our control.  That is scary and it makes us feel small, smaller than children.  It is our realization of how small we are that fuels the creation of invisible parents to make us feel safe.  We just want it so bad, we are willing to suspend reason and believe what is logically unreasonable.
      
      Once we have what we want, we can easily defend that with plausible deniability, emotional application, and lots arguments based on the impossibility of proving a negative.
      
      The simple fact is that the term father reflects the reason that god/gods are created and sustained in all the thousands of forms of it for over a hundred thousand years. Whether it be Gods called "father" or "mother" or ancestor spirits (parents who have died and therefore continue to precede and protect us with their always being farther along the road of human experience)... it's all the same exact human need.

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         Abbasangelposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Shadesbreath how did you write the BEST answer to this question on this forum to date? That is fantastic. Spot on also... You might like to check out a book called the "Father Heart of God" by Floyd McClung .... It answers this question very well. Including scripture references.

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   jomineposted 13 years ago

   how can two men who were born at the same time be called father and son?

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      Abbasangelposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      your question is deeper than you think it is and has to do with the Trinity, and they are not two separate entities. for starters only Jesus was born so he could live on earth.

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         jomineposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         explain please

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            Abbasangelposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I have a hub that explains but virtually Jesus and God are the same person, just different functions of God... Jesus came to earth as a person to die for us -- It seems confused at times because Jesus returned as the Messiah for the Jews, but they rejected him... (well some did and some didn't) But he revealed in John 14:6, or around there that he is in the father, and he is in me.
            
            See when Christians say they are saved they might use a term like --- Jesus lives in me -- but we never we are in Jesus... but we do things in the name of Jesus....
            
            Christian theology is big and needs to be looked at from the whole bible and not just verses singled out...

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   hubber-2009posted 13 years ago

   FATHER is a person who used to forgive when we commit mistakes without our knowledge..

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   heavenbound5511posted 13 years ago

   Father:A distinctive New Testament revelation is that through faith in Christ, God becomes our personal Father.   As a name of God, it stresses God’s loving care, provision, discipline, and the way we are to address God in prayer (Matt. 7:11; Jam. 1:17; Heb. 12:5-11; John 15:16; 16:23; Eph. 2:18; 3:15; 1 Thess. 3:11).
   GOD AS HEAVENLY FATHER
   
   The Bible reveals God as the Lord of the universe and calls Him "Father" in both Old and New Testaments. He is the Father and Lord of creation. James describes Him as "the Father of the lights." He created the stars as well as the angels. The Old Testament names angels as "the sons of God" (benai elohim). Paul says that every family under heaven is named or set aside for Him (Eph. 3:15). We all need a caring human father (or an equivalent) as early as possible in our lives to help us understand what God the Father is like as a Person. Remote, indifferent, unavailable human fathers can lead us to believe that God also is detached, unconcerned, and uninvolved in the daily cares of our world. However, the Psalmist (10:14) praises God as a loving Father:
   
   "Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation." Hosea writes (14:3) that the fatherless find mercy in Him. God is described in Psalm 10:14 as the one who helps the fatherless. King David says, "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up." (Psalm 27:10).
   The Lord God is more than willing to help make up for absent fathers. Surely the most wonderful aspect of being a Christian is that we all have a unique relationship with the Creator of the universe, the God and Father of Jesus, the Living Spirit who is Lord of all history. Through faith in Jesus each one us may call God "Abba". (Abba is the Hebrew intimate word for "daddy.")
   
   Unfortunately the word "dad" sounds alien to those who have never known a natural or adoptive human father as friend and intimate confidant. Though God the Father is creator of all things, He is known as a personal and loving Father only to those who call on Him and seek His face ( Acts 17:24:31). The Psalmist writes:
   
   "The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked; and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned." (Psalm 34:15-22)
   We become a child of God by placing our trust in Jesus Christ as Lord so that our sins can be forgiven and removed and our spirits regenerated. God receives us into His family, one by one, by the dual process of (1) spiritual birth and (2) adoption into His family. Each one of us may therefore make a choice to belong to Him and to benefit from His loyal-love.
   
   Those who have not yet trusted Jesus for access to the Father enjoy "common grace." God is kind, merciful and gracious towards all humanity. He is kind to His enemies and withholds judgment in long-suffering love for the fallen world. "He make His rain fall on the just and the unjust." John 3:16 says that God so loved the entire world that He gave His only Son in order that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. This great passage of the Bible is yet another proof of the Father-heart of God towards His lost and fallen creatures. He gave His most prized possession, in only Son, to buy us back to Himself.
   
   "You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake." (1 Peter 1:18-20)

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      pennyofheavenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Still doesn't say Father is a physical thing except in ones mind. Faith does not point to physical. The Father of lights does not point to physical. Adoption into ones family does not meant God is physical.

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