Do you realize how incredible the grace is that allows you to call God your Father? Read here what this means for the believer.
by Alistair van Heerden
In a world full of uncertainty and brokenness, the gospel offers us one great truth and comfort that sets us free: we may call God our Father.
That may sound simple, but it carries deep meaning. And the most amazing part? It’s not something we earn but something given to us by God’s grace. It’s the gracious revelation of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, made real to us by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
God’s Fatherhood is not a given
Scripture teaches clearly that not everyone knows God as Father. Yes, in the sense of creation, God is the origin of all that exists (Acts 17:28). But when it comes to a gracious and redemptive fatherhood, He is only a Father to those who belong to Christ.
There is a crucial distinction here between God as the Creator of all and God as the redeeming Father of all believers. This distinction lies at the heart of the biblical understanding of the gospel.
Through the fall into sin, humanity became alienated from God—spiritually dead, blind, and hostile toward Him. Romans 3:10–12 tells us plainly that no one naturally seeks God.
Without being born again by the Spirit and placing faith in Christ, a person cannot know God as Father. Only those who are in Christ, those who believe in the Lord, are called children of God. Only they have the right to call Him “Father” (John 1:12–13; Galatians 4:6). Being a child of God is a gift of grace, not a universal human right.
Christ brings us into the Father’s house
The wonder of the gospel is this: God Himself, in His infinite love, came to us. 1 John 3:1 expresses this with awe:
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
This fatherhood is not natural—it’s supernatural. It is something God grants us in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Heidelberg Catechism puts it this way in Lord’s Day 46:
Why has Christ commanded us to address God as Father? To awaken in us, at the very beginning of our prayer, a childlike reverence and trust toward God …
Through Christ—and through Him alone—sinners become children of God. John 1:12 confirms this:
Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.
Jesus teaches us to address God in prayer as “Our Father who is in heaven.” This means He invites us to come to God with both boldness and reverence—as to a loving Father.
The Holy Spirit confirms that we are children of God
In Galatians 4:6, we see that our identity as God’s children is not just a theological truth to believe but a lived, heartfelt experience, made real by the Holy Spirit:
Because you are His children, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father!”
When Paul says the Spirit cries out “Abba, Father!” in our hearts, he uses Abba, the Aramaic word for “Father”. This is a deeply intimate and trusting form of address. It’s the spontaneous cry of a child who knows and loves their Father.
This cry is the work of the Spirit of Christ. It means the same relationship Jesus has with the Father as Son is now shared with us by faith. The Spirit doesn’t just bring new knowledge; He gives us a new identity. As Galatians 4:7 continues:
So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child.
The Holy Spirit gives us the deep inner assurance that we are no longer slaves to sin, but beloved children of God.
Knowing that God is our Father—that He loves us—awakens in us a childlike trust and obedience. We no longer pray out of fear or guilt, but from a heart that knows: He hears me. He understands me. He gives me what I need in Christ.
This brings peace in suffering, endurance in temptation, and joy in service. As Romans 8:15 declares:
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Being a child of God brings assurance, comfort, and obedience
To know God as Father changes everything. It gives us a new identity. We are no longer strangers, but members of God’s household. It brings comfort in suffering because we know He is in control and His Father-heart is good. And it brings obedience – because children long to please their Father.
The true child of God no longer lives for worldly pleasures and self-interest, but in grateful service to the Father.
To know God as Father is not a human right. It is a gift of grace in Christ, confirmed in our hearts by the Spirit. It is a heavenly reality that takes root in the believer’s heart and drives them to worship, to prayer, to obedience, and to deep comfort.
In Christ, God says:
I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters.
2 Corinthians 6:18
