Sunday Sermon

"The Trinity: The Father is God"
[Matthew 3:13-17]
January 21, 2007 Second Reformed Church

We continue our look at the Doctrine of the Trinity this morning, and we remember that last week, we saw that the people of God believe in One and Only One God, the Holy and Almighty God, Who is (a) Spirit. No other gods are God. All other gods are inventions of a depraved mind, delusions, or demons. There is Only One God.

This morning, as we heard our Scripture read, we ought to have noticed that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all mentioned at the baptism of Jesus. It is good that we notice that, and we will come back to that, as the Lord wills, in a few weeks, but today we want to see the Person of the Father. We want to see that God is the Father, and the Father is God.

This morning, let us focus in on verse seventeen: "and behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'"

Who is the voice from heaven who speaks? Well, who is in heaven? We have seen in previous weeks that God is in heaven with the angels and some other supernatural beings. If we are unsure of whether it was God Who spoke or one of the created beings who live in heaven, listen to the author of the book of Hebrews, "For to which of the angels did God say, 'You are my Son, today I have begotten you'? Or again, 'I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son'?" (Hebrews 1:5). The author of Hebrews clearly states that God called Jesus His Son and not any angel or heavenly being.

So, we understand that the Voice that spoke out of heaven, calling Jesus His Son, is God. And if God called Jesus His Son, then we understand that Jesus called God, Father -- that God is Father to Jesus -- and God is God the Father, and the Father is God.

Does that make sense?

God is called "the Father" is relation to the Son, Jesus. The Person of God the Father exists as a distinct Person. And we see Him named as the One God, and we see Him in relationship with His Son, over and over in the Scripture:

Paul wrote, "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you" (Colossians 1:3).

Peter wrote, "For when [Jesus] received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Magisterial Glory, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,' we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain" (II Peter 1:17).

Jesus, Himself testified, "I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (Matthew 11:25b-27).

"For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done" (Matthew 16:27).

"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal. ... It is written in the prophets, 'And they will be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me -- not that anyone has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father" (John 6:27, 45-46).

So God calls Jesus, the Son, and Jesus calls God, Father.

Now, when God the Father calls Jesus His "Beloved Son," the phrase does not just signify "a" beloved son, but the most beloved son. Let us understand this: if Jesus is the Most Beloved Son of God the Father, there must be other sons. And let us also understand that it is through the Son that God the Father loves us, and then we, also, love the Father. As Augustine Marlorate put it: "when we were hatefull and odious unto God, it was necessary that his fatherly love should flowe from Christe unto us" (56).

John put it this way: "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God; and so we are" (I John 3:1a).

And Paul said, "For God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through whom we have now received reconciliation" (Romans 5:8-11).

"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba, Father'" (Romans 8:15).

And how did Jesus tell us to pray? "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9b).

Why are we to pray this way? The Heidelberg Catechism informs us, "That immediately, in the very beginning of our prayer, He might excite in us a childlike reverence for and confidence in God, which are the foundation of our prayer, namely, that God is become our Father in Christ, and will much less deny us what we ask of Him in true faith than our parents will refuse us earthly things" (LD 46, Q. 120).

So, we see that God is the Father of the Son, and the Father is God -- the One and Only God. God the Father loves the Son, and through Him, we have been adopted as other sons of the Father. And since we have been adopted into the family of God the Father and His Son, we can come to God the Father, calling Him, "Our Father," as we pray. We can come to Him and love Him and know that He loves us better than any human father, and whatever we ask of Him is true faith, He will grant to us.

There is One and Only One God.

God the Father is God. And God is the Father of Jesus, the Son, and the Father of all Who believe.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, our Father, we come before You with assurance and confidence and hope, because You have revealed Yourself to be God the Father; the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You that through Your love for Your Son, You have also loved us in Him. Thank You for adopting us, bring us into Your family, and saving us by the Blood of Your Son. May we continue to know You better, and even the Doctrine of the Trinity, that we would glorify our One God, rightly, honestly, and in joy. For it is in Jesus' Name, we pray, Amen.