The Apostles’ Creed: God The FatherSample

Father Almighty: Malachi 2:10

Unfortunately, some Christians mistakenly think that every time the Bible uses the term “Father,” it is talking about the first person of the Trinity. But the doctrine of the Trinity is not clearly revealed until the New Testament. There are hints of it here and there in the Old Testament that may indicate some awareness of plurality in the Godhead. But the Old Testament overwhelmingly stresses the oneness of God. 

So, when God is called “Father” in the Old Testament, the reference is to the entire Trinity, not just to one person. Now, in some sense, the use of the word “Father” does emphasize the person of the Father. But it’s important to remember that before the clear New Testament revelation of the three persons of God, all the terms used for God, including the name “Father,” applied in some measure to the entire Trinity. The term “Father” refers to the entire Godhead in passages like Deuteronomy 32:6, and Isaiah 63:16 and 64:8. For the sake of illustration, let’s look at just one example of this use of “Father” in the Old Testament. In Malachi 2:10, the prophet asked these questions:

Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? (Malachi 2:10).

Here, the entire Godhead — including the Father, Son and Holy Spirit — is spoken of as “Father” because the entire Godhead participated in the creation of humanity. The New Testament makes it clear that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit each played a somewhat different role. But this Old Testament passage does not make such distinctions between God’s persons. Instead, it ascribes the name “Father” to all three persons collectively because of their role in creation.

To complicate matters further, as New Testament writers drew from the Old Testament, there were times when they also referred to the entire Trinity as Father in a general sense. For example, it is likely that the entire Trinity is described as “Father” in Matthew 5:45 and 6:6-18, and in Acts 17:24-29. In these passages, the entire Trinity is called “Father” for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is because the whole Godhead participated in creating the world. At other times it is because all three persons of God are the ethical standard to which we must conform. Again, let’s consider just one verse for the sake of illustration. In James 1:17, we read these words:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights (James 1:17).

Prior to this verse, James argued that God’s character is ethically pure. So, his point here was that everything that comes from God is good, and everything that is good comes from God. Since good things come from all the persons of our Triune God, Christian interpreters often see this as a reference to the whole Trinity. Again, as in the Old Testament, it is reasonable to see an emphasis on the person of the Father here. But it’s important to affirm that the Son and the Holy Spirit also provide good gifts for us.