God the Father Almighty

For Meditation

This week we come to the first significant phrase in the creed, “I believe in God the Father Almighty.” It’s notable that the creed doesn’t just begin with a general affirmation of the existence of God (which the majority of Americans believe in), but immediately names a specific God: the God who is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believing in God, though challenging at times given the hardships of life in our world, is ultimately not the biggest question. The biggest question is: Which God do you believe in? The creed names the God we are affirming: Father Almighty.

These two words both tell us something very striking about God. First, God is Father. The Old Testament is reticent about using the name of Father to address God, using it only a handful of times. But the situation dramatically changes when we meet Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus almost exclusively calls God “Father,” even taking it a step further and calling God “Abba,” which in Jesus’ language was a very intimate address. Jesus also describes what kind of Father God is, with powerful stories like the prodigal son in Luke 15, in which the Father is portrayed as tender, loving, generous and kind. And perhaps most scandalous of all, Jesus invites his disciples to call God Father also, giving us by grace the same kind of intimate relationship with God that Jesus has himself.

So the creed names God as Father, but also calls God “Almighty.” If the name Father describes the intimacy and tenderness of God, Almighty describes God’s power and authority. The creed brings together these two paradoxical attributes of God and offers us a God who is both immanent and transcendent, powerful and loving, intimate yet completely in control of the universe.  

This Sunday we’ll dig into this phrase and examine not only the meaning of Father Almighty, but also the implications for our lives. In preparation for worship, read through the the Lord’s Prayer and consider the ways Jesus invites us to be in relationship with his Father.

Galatians 4:4–7

4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.