Jesus the Father

I tend to allow Father’s Day to pass me by. I don’t have a father, and I’m not a father and I’m not married to a father either, nor married to a man who has a father. I think that covers all bases. I know a lot of people who are fathers, and of course, I know The Father – so I’m not entirely fatherless.

Last weekend we were encouraged to bring something to share at our church meeting – a testimony, a poem, a short word – something the spirit of 1 Corinthians. It was a warm day so we sat in the garden. The kids scrabbled silently around to pick buttercups and “colour” their song sheets yellow!

With that kind of freedom, there are some people, like me, that take advantage and wax lyrical about something or other. Other people stay quiet, sometimes under the mistaken impression that what they have is not good enough.

Someone shared with me later what they planned to say, but wasn’t convinced that it was appropriate!

Did you know that Jesus was a father? Back off with the stones until I explain what sounds like heresy and some kind of approval of Dan Brown and Divinci.

Isaiah 9 opens with “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned,” (v2) and goes on to declare, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (v6)

Yes, did you catch that phrase towards the end? Everlasting Father. Not spoken of God the Father, but of Jesus the Son.

One of the translations has it as “Father of Eternity”, and comments that the word “Father” is used in the sense of “Author”. Jesus is the Author of Eternity.

Regardless of whether you get tangled up with the creation of the world being according to Genesis, over six days and calculate the age of the earth in thousands or millions of years as opposed to hundreds and thousands of millions of years through a God directed process of evolution – Jesus was the author of it all and all that came before it. When there was nothing – Jesus was present.

That totally gets rid of BC and AD (or BCE and CE if we are being politically correct!). There isn’t a time Before Christ – because he has always existed. All time is in a sense AD because everything that is came after Jesus.

Amazing!

You are amazing
Truly amazing
Author of eternity
There before the world began
Before a single word was spoken
There has never been a time
Darkest night or brightest day
When you have never been there
Always, always there beside me
Amazing, amazing Lord