Father Almighty
I once threw a Chicago Sun Times right through a window. It was about 4:30 AM. Should I wake the people? Would that make it worse? Then a shaky voice asked, “Wh-wh-who’s there?” “Your paper boy Ma’am. I’m sorry about the window – I’ll pay for it.” “That’s alright” she said, “Don’t worry about it.” She was relieved to know I was not a burglar.
The question takes on more importance when we look into and even beyond the universe and ask, Who’s there?” Atheists say no one is there. Deists say God was there, but has left. Agnostics say we can’t know. Christians know with absolute certainty that God is there, He is our Father Almighty, and He cares about us.
All mankind should know God is there because His “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.“ Genesis 1 and 2 give the account of creation, and Psalm 33:8,9 states clearly, “Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”
Not only did God create all things, but by His design and power the universe is maintained. In Hebrews 1:3 we learn that God the Son “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his (The Father’s) nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Isaiah 40:12 speaks of God’s power both on earth and in the universe asking “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?”
Christians know God is there because we have met Him in the person of His Son. God’s Word affirms that all who come to Jesus the Christ as Savior become children of God. “But to all who did receive him (Jesus), who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12,13
As God’s children we have full access to Him. We can talk with Him, rejoice in His love, and cry out to Him as our father. Galatians 4:6 reveals that “because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” We look to God for every needed provision as advised in Matthew 10:29-31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
In Matthew 6:25 and 32 we are encouraged to not “be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? But to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Malachi 1:6 challenges God’s people saying “A son honors his father,”. We honor our Father in praise and thanksgiving. We honor our Father by doing well whatever tasks He leads us to accomplish. We honor our Father by rejoicing in His love and following the words of 1 Corinthians 10:31 “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” It is an awesome joy to be children of our Heavenly Father.
Always remember:
Only one life ‘twil soon be past;
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Rev. Dave Dupee is former Headmaster of an International Boarding School and is currently pastoring Fellowship Presbyterian Church (PCA) here in Newport.
