There is something I said in my book Carrying a Hurt: From Burden to Freedom. I used to assume that the human meaning of father was the original. So, if I called God Father, in some way, I still felt like I was missing a real father, which was my earthly father. Until I have tested and seen that God is instead a true Father.

Recently the Spirit has been helping me understand something important that we may not always pay attention to: The names and titles we attribute to God how they reveal something about how we understand who God is.

As an example, when we call Him Jehovah Rapha, we are not simply giving Him a name associated with healing. He is the Lord who heals. When we call Him El Shaddai, we are declaring something about His nature and His sufficiency. Etc. These names reveal attributes that belong to God.

But there are also titles we use for God that we use here on earth. We call Him King, yet there are kings on earth. We call Him Father, yet there are fathers on earth. We call Him Lord, yet there are people who are called lords.

When I started realizing this, the spirit taught me that when we give God a title that also exists in the human realm, we must be careful not to bring God down to the level of the human meaning. Rather, the title should cause us to recognize the infinite greater reality of who God is. Which means, God is not simply a king, He is the King of all the earth. He is King of kings. He is not simply one lord among other lords. He is Lord of lords.

Psalm 47:7 says: For God is the King of all the earth. And 1 Timothy 6:15 declares: King of kings, and Lord of lords. 

The same principle made me think about Jesus. Jesus does not always say my Father in heaven or my heavenly Father. But Many times, He simply says Father. 

Now, this is important, when we use titles that also exist in this world to call God, King, Father, Lord, Shepherd, and so on, we have to be careful about how we understand them. While these words are applied to God, God himself reveals the highest and ultimate reality of what those words mean. This simply means that the reality in earth is not the original by which we measure God. It is the limited reality that points to Him.

Paul reveals in Ephesians 3:15, that every family in heaven and on earth derives its name from the Father. I had to relearn something: the reality we know on earth is actually a limited reality but the real meaning is first found in God.

God is not simply called Father because He fits into the definition of what a father is. But God is the reference by which we understand what fatherhood was meant to be. And this made me think differently about the names and attributes we give to God.

So, remember, human fatherhood gives us a limited picture of something that is ultimately found in God.  When Jesus calls God Father, it’s clear that He is not placing God’s Fatherhood on the same level as human fatherhood.

God’s name simply places Him above every other person who can legitimately carry that title. Scripture goes even further: God has given Him the name which is above every name (Phil2:9). 

 Now, sit with these questions for a moment: 

•  When you call God by a name that also exists in this world, do you understand the greatness of that title? Are you allowing the world to define the title you give God, or are you allowing who God is to redefine your understanding? 
• When you give God a name that you already understand, do you bring your definition to God, or are you allowing God to reveal the full reality of that name?

Let’s grow lighter together!