When we’re talking about one God and Father of all who is in all, this is not a universal statement about all of creation, nor is it some sort of universal fatherhood of God among all men. This is a statement, remember, that unifies the people of God. This is like: remember back to those words Jesus said to Mary, “Go tell My brothers I’m going to My God, My Father – your God, your Father.” “Go tell My brothers.” “Your Father.” That’s the idea here. That’s the idea behind “all” – a uniquely Christian expression.
The thing is, I can find in the Old Testament where God is called “Father” – the book of Malachi, but the Jews did not call God “Father.” Catholics – yeah, they may once in a while throw that term around, but they focus on the mother. Muslims do not call Allah “Father” because he’s not a father. He’s not a father figure. We have one God and Father of all. This is Christian expression to say: you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom you cry, “Abba, Father.” Notice: it says “Father of all.” Don’t you like that? “Father of all.” God is not like a father. He is a Father. He is a Father to every one of His children. To all – that’s so unifying.
Christian, Christian, are you single? He’s your Father. Are your children lost? He’s your Father. Christian, do you feel empty? Forgotten? Lonely? Despised? Suffering? Cold? Distant? You have to hear it: He’s Father of all. Sometimes we look at it and we say: Oh, but my brother or sister – they had this certain experience. He’s a Father to all. He’s a Father to all that come to Him by Christ Jesus. Through Christ we have access in one Spirit to the Father. If your trust is in Christ, you have access. It doesn’t matter if somebody has experienced something else or if they’re on the mountaintop right now, or if God has seemingly given them blessings that you don’t have, He’s a Father to all.
And I’ll tell you this, you’re in the palm of His hand and nobody plucks you out. He guards you. He protects you. He knows you. What did Jesus say? There in Matthew 6? He said when it comes to clothes, when it comes to food, He said your Father knows what you have need of. He’s mindful. He knows what you need. So often we feel like He’s not giving us what we think He should give us so we feel like we’re somehow a stepchild. No. There is one God and Father of all.
And I’ve heard certain Christians – I’ve heard some Christians just recently tell me that at certain points in their Christian life, they were confronted by certain trials or certain situations where they felt like they might even fall away. You know what? Jesus is talking to His disciples one day – you know the day – His last day. His last day before the cross. His last day before the grave. And you know what He said to them? He said guys, I’m telling you what I’m telling you so that you won’t fall away. And do you know one of the things that He told them so that they not fall away? He says in that day, you’re going to ask in My name. And He said this: “I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf.” Have you ever read that? If you just stopped right there, it’s like, “what?” (incomplete thought) “That’s going to cause me to not fall away, Lord?” “That You’re not going to intercede for me?” Which isn’t what He’s saying. That’s not the emphasis there. But He says to them: “I am not saying to you that I’m going to ask the Father on your behalf.” What? Why? And He comes back with this: “Because the Father Himself loves you.”
Now, of course, that came just as fast as the rest, so they didn’t have really time to stop like I did there. But you just think about that. What Jesus is saying is this: Just look, guys. You know that I’ve loved you. He showed that to them. He expressed His love to them. He convinced them of His love. But what He was saying as He’s getting ready to go away so that they not fall away: My Father’s love for you is sufficient for God to act on your behalf whether I’m there or not. Oh, He’d be there. He wasn’t going to leave us. He’d still intercede for us. But the Father Himself loves you. Now here’s the thing: We’re talking about unity. What unifies us more than that? The Father loves you.
