The Promise of the Father

the long version

"What does it mean to confess that God is "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"? The Promise of the Father begins by showing that Judaism's claim of God as "Father" never attached an ontological gender or "masculine" essence to God. Instead of setting the standard for the conduct for human personal fathers or men in general as some argue, God's identity as "Father" served as an example for the entire community of faith as one who promotes mercy, justice, and humility. Jesus' address to God as "Father" thus did not introduce a new private experience of intimacy with the divine; rather, it evoked Israel's ancient and corporate hope of God's saving power and covenant faithfulness. Above all then, to speak of God as "Father" signifies the redemptive and life-giving work of God and then only subsequently to human experience of that work. Christians can confess God as "Father of Jesus Christ" because God was first "Father" to the people of Israel, and to Israel's Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, and to the followers of Jesus."--BOOK JACKET.