Our Father, Our Teacher: A Relational Journey

By Christopher J. Reeves and Wesley M. Pinkham

From the beginning, God created men and women in his own image, as the objects of his love. His intention has been to father mankind, raising us as his children. While the intimacy of this relationship was broken through the fall, our Father has never stopped loving us. His faithful lovingkindness is unchanged. And through Jesus we not only see the intimate relationship of Father and Son as the divine pattern but we find ourselves restored as children in his household. Through Jesus we can experientially live in relationship with our Father and, through the working of the Holy Spirit within, affectionately call him our Abba. The greatest opportunity is now afforded to us--to walk in loving intimacy with our Father as he raises us, teaches us his ways, and matures within us his divine nature of other-centered love. Our Father, Our Teacher is a biblical exploration of how God is drawing men and women to himself in an experiential relationship of love and learning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Sep 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781666745498

Christopher J. Reeves

Christopher Reeves is an educator, pastor, and president emeritus of Shiloh University. He is author of An Introduction to Education in Bible Times (2019).

Book preview

Our Father, Our Teacher

A Relational Journey

Christopher J. Reeves

Foreword by Wesley M. Pinkham

Our Father, Our Teacher

A Relational Journey

Copyright ©

2022

Christopher J. Reeves. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

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paperback isbn: 978-1-6667-4547-4

hardcover isbn: 978-1-6667-4548-1

ebook isbn: 978-1-6667-4549-8

06/08/22

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright ©

1960

,

1962

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1963

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1968

,

1971

,

1972

,

1973

,

1975

,

1977

,

1995

by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary Language. Copyright ©

1993

by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NAVPRESS, P.O. Box

35001

, Colorado Springs, Colorado

80935

.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ©

1946

,

1952

, and

1971

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked GW are taken from GOD’S WORD®. ©

1995

,

2003

,

2013

,

2014

,

2019

,

2020

by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked CJB are taken from the Complete Jewish Bible, copyright ©

1998

and

2016

by David H. Stern. Used by permission of Messianic Jewish Publishers, www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked JPS are taken from the Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures: The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text, copyright ©

1985

by the Jewish Publication Society. Used by permission.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Foreword

Abbreviations

Introduction

A Short Story

Chapter 1: God, Our Father

Chapter 2: Abba, Father

Chapter 3: Our Father and Our Teacher

Chapter 4: Our Problem and a Merciful Father

Chapter 5: A Call for Truth in the Inward Parts

Chapter 6: Grace and Truth

Chapter 7: Into the Presence of Our Father

Chapter 8: A Poem

Chapter 9: The Promise of Our Father

Chapter 10: To the Glory of God, the Father

Chapter 11: Teaching and Learning in Community

Chapter 12: The Right to Become

Appendix A: God’s Wisdom through His Family

Appendix B: Opportunities to Learn and Grow

Bibliography

Praise for Our Father, Our Teacher

"In Our Father, Our Teacher, Chris Reeves offers us an engaging and serious journey through Scripture, unpacking biblical texts revealing God as our Father and teacher. This book offers a deep spiritual inquiry into the multifaceted theology of God. It’s worth reading!"

—Igal German, Moody Theological Seminary

"Since the beginning, God has been about the work of reconciliation. The coming together of ‘made in his image’ and ‘revealed Son.’ In Our Father, Our Teacher, Reeves documents markers to look for and examine along this learning process. If you are ready for some confrontations with grace in your learning journey, you want a copy of Our Father, Our Teacher."

—Ivy Bonk, author and founder of Every Child Whole

Finally, a book to draw us into the embrace of the Father. Chris Reeves joins with Jesus and the Spirit in calling us to listen to the heart of the Father and know who we are as beloved children. This book calls to consider afresh the ancient invitation to personally know the One who created the world and gives us life today. Read and discover the Father who has been pursuing you.

—Marty Folsom, author of the Face-to-Face series

We hear about God as Father. We hear about God as teacher. But seldom do we see the connection between the two. Chris Reeves gives us a gift by unfolding a view of the Father as teacher—and what it means to grow as sons in his family.

—Ana Wood, pastor, Table of Friends Church

"One of the first verses I ever memorized was ‘He who loves not knows not God for God is love.’ By ‘paint[ing] a broad picture showing the consistency of the unfolding revelation of God as our Father,’ Our Father, Our Teacher brings that verse to life. Chris Reeves not only gives us a fresh revelation of who God is, but he also helps us to experience God’s love in an even deeper way."

—Greg Wallace, president, KG Ministries

Chris writes with deep passion about the eternal love that Abba has for his children who are created in his image. Every page gives clear insights and understanding of the Father’s desire to be in intimate relationship with each of us and to teach us what it means to participate in the divine romance of the Trinity.

—Linda Jones, sr. staff pastor of leadership development and women’s ministries, Water of Life Community Church

Foreword

Could Western Christians be criticized for not following Jesus into a personal relationship with the Father? Our Lord was defined by his relationship with his Father. Given he was Father-led, can we be less so?

Our Father, Our Teacher, is unique and fills a huge gap in renewal literature. Chris Reeves offers us fresh revelation in a comparison and contrast of God’s fatherhood with ours, examining the content put into the words Our Father, Our Teacher by Jesus in reflecting on his life, words, and suffering. In so doing, Chris advances the cause of Relational Theology clearly, concisely, and compellingly.

To be more specific, said Jesus, I call you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father (John 15:12–15). What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me (John 12:50b). He said that the [interest] and purpose of my life is my Father (John 14:28, The MSG). His relationship with the Father was his grounding wonder.

The Son attributed every action to his Father. When he began his ministry he said, Didn’t you know that I had to be here, dealing with the things of my Father? (Luke 2:49). When he ended it, he cried, Father, I place my life in your hands! (Luke 23:46, The MSG). In the middle he indicated that the miracles of compassion and his teachings were all from the Father. Jesus was interdependent with his Father in obedient Sonship out of which came his spirit-formation.

Jesus is passionate about wanting his Father known. He cannot bear for us to live without knowing his Father, without knowing his heart, his lavish embrace, his endless love—and the sheer freedom that works within us as we see his Father’s face.¹ The Son’s Gospel is the character and nature of his Abba.

As Andrew Thrasher emphasizes: "We clearly see in Jesus’ own understanding of himself in his relation to the Father in a way that reveals who he is relationally in and towards the Father . . . How? . . . by revealing himself through a humble relationality, or rather a self-disclosing revelation of who he is in relation to the Father."² In other words, Jesus defined himself through relational terminology which focused on his identification with the Father. This divine, spiritual identification was a hallmark of his interpersonal oneness with the Father. Our Father, Our Teacher invites us to look deeper and live experientially in an interpersonal relationship of sons and daughters with our Abba, our Father.

Chris Reeves has been a colleague and a friend who has journeyed with me in the adventure of indwelling in the heart of the Father. He is ever a student and a mentor at the same time, as you will discover in this book that invites us to live in a wonderful journey with our heavenly Father.

Wesley M Pinkham, DMin, DLitt

January 2022

1

. Kruger. Across All Worlds, loc.

166

.

2

. Thrasher, Substantial Persons in Trinitarian Relationality,

3

.

Abbreviations

Scripture Abbreviations

Hebrew Bible / Old Testament

New Testament

Abbreviations of Reference Works

Introduction

The purpose of this book is to highlight the scriptural revelation of God as our Father and our Teacher. It describes a relationship that has its basis in the reality of who God is. And, specifically, who he is as our loving Father. Our Father, Our Teacher is an experiential journey into a daily walk with the One who loves us and draws us to himself.

Our image of God as our Father is often shaped by what we see, hear, and experience in life. For some men and women, their view of God has been influenced by parents who were loving and deeply involved in their family. For others, broken families with missing or abusive fathers have influenced their personal view of God. For these, to call God our Father does not evoke positive emotions.

God is the one who gave himself the name of Father. Father is therefore not an analogy, or a metaphor used to describe who he is. Rather it is a relational self-revelation of the Triune God who exists in other-centered love as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Using terminology that is humanly understood, our Father introduces himself to us. At the same time, our human understandings are not adequate to truly know him. Therefore, we allow the Spirit, in revealing the intimacy of the Father-Son relationship, to remove from the word Father of all of its conditioned human content and fill it with divine content.³

Throughout history, there has been a concentrated effort to undermine the true image of God as our Father. Even in many modern societies, the role of fathers is constantly being challenged by changing culture and shifting worldviews. For the most part, God as our Father is a reality that has been lost. Even among many Christians, doctrine has replaced relationship. Researchers and prophetic voices have identified the great need—a fatherless church in need of knowing her Father.

Through sin and separation, the peoples of the world have been orphaned from their heavenly Father. Yet God so loved the world that he gave his Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem every man and woman back to himself. Now there is the opportunity to leave the identity of being orphans and receive our authentic identity as his sons and daughters. But why do many still live with an unawareness of our Father?

Throughout life, we become absorbed with the awareness of our needs, the world around us, and the many conversations we encounter. We become consumed with what we want God to do for us, for our families, and for our communities. We believe that God loves us and that he is concerned but are unaware of his daily presence. We tend to live a dualistic life, attending church on Sundays to find solace and comfort, yet we are unaware or unable to abide in close-intimate fellowship. There is a need to bridge the gap between what we profess to believe and how we experientially live from day to day. We need a true paradigm for life through Jesus as he reveals the heart and nature of our Father. When we see him, we see who we are as beloved children as the warmth of his care envelopes our hearts. As his beloved children, we can learn to know him as he really is—our Abba, our loving Father.

Our Father, in his unfailing love, longs for us to turn our hearts toward him and walk with him. He has moved heaven and earth to restore us into an intimate relationship with himself. Jesus came and made a way. He shows us a true picture of the heavenly Father. He shows us our Father’s love and encourages us to enter daily into his presence in communion. May the Lord open the eyes of our hearts to see and respond to this invitation; an invitation to know and be with our Father; an invitation to learn from him; an invitation to work together with him in bringing the light of his lovingkindness to a darkened world.

Research has shown the impact of mothers and fathers on the development and well-being of their children.⁴ The active involvement of parents provides an important influence on a child’s IQ, behavior, social skills, and self-image. Imagine the picture of a loving parent sitting with his or her children, teaching them how to read, to solve problems, and how to think about life. This was the biblical pattern for education. The Bible points out that as earthly parents would teach and train their children, how much more does our heavenly Father care for and raise up his own children! Our Father loves us and seeks to be actively involved in our life. He is our Father and our Teacher.

This book is based upon the premise that a relational God is at the center of all events and teachings of Scripture. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are at work from the beginning of creation through the present day to raise sons and daughters in their likeness. God’s plan for mankind and all of creation has never changed. Rather, it has unfolded through history to our present day. At the center of it all is our heavenly Father whose desire is to be intimately involved with, and dwelling in the midst of his creation.⁵ This is a universal plan, and it is an intimate-relational design for you and me, indeed for all men and women. The reconciliation of all things through Jesus comes right to door of our heart with our Father teaching us to live as his sons and daughters.

The approach to writing Our Father, Our Teacher has been to paint a broad picture showing the consistency of the unfolding revelation of God as our Father, and as our Father, our Teacher. Its purpose is to offer a paradigm for the understanding of mission as presented in Scripture. Making disciples of the nations has at its core the Triune God who exists in other-centered, self-sacrificing love. To be formed by the Father into the image of his Son therefore reflects his love for all people. The apostle Paul knew this, so he said that the love of Christ controlled his life, compelling him to draw men and women into the family of our heavenly Father.

Each of the following chapters explore who God is as our Father and Teacher, and his ways of calling and instructing his family. Scripture forms the basis of this study, using its stories and teachings, exploring its historical and cultural backgrounds, and drawing upon both Jewish and Christian thought. Footnotes and a bibliography are included as a help for those who wish to further study some of the topics presented. As you read through the chapters of this book, ask God to give you a glimpse of who he is. Let his love envelope you. Allow your own thoughts and paradigms to be challenged. He is your Father. He intimately knows you and loves you. And his desire is for you to know him, to walk closely with him as his child. He wants to teach you and form you into his likeness.

3

. Torrance, Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace, 124

–

5

.

4

. Lamb, The Role of the Father in Childhood Development,

11

.

5

. Beale and Kim, God Dwells Among Us,

16

.

A Short Story

A short story will be helpful in setting the tone for reading the chapters of this book.

At the beginning of the first century in Galilee, in a small town called Nazareth, a young family prepares for the Sabbath. It is Friday afternoon. The father is walking home from working in a nearby city. The mother is at home with their young children, making final preparations for the Sabbath. The aromas of food cooking and fresh bread permeate the house. The children help their mother clean the house and set the table. They look forward to the time of being together as a family.

Years later, Jesus would teach that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. He was reminding his fellow Jews that their heavenly Father loved them and would care for them. Six days they would work, bringing the light of God into world. Whatever their calling or station in life, their work and charitable actions throughout the week were to be an expression of God’s lovingkindness. However, on the Sabbath they would rest, as their Father had rested from his works. They would focus all their attention on family, with God as their Father, with their immediate and extended families, and with their community.

Excitement for the Sabbath fills the early first century home. Everyone looks forward to this special time. Then, as the father arrives home, he tenderly embraces his wife. The young children run to him. One jumps into his arms and the others wrap their arms around his legs. In their high-pitched children’s voices, they affectionately yell, Abba! Abba! The father smiles as he takes time to acknowledge each of his children.

At sundown, the mother lights the Sabbath candles and the family walks together to the community synagogue for a short time of worship. After the synagogue service, they walk home with guests to enjoy the Sabbath evening meal. They gather around the lavish table as they sense the presence of God with them. They rehearse their Father’s words and talk of the great things he has done throughout their people’s history. They talk of the promise of a coming Messiah and give thanks for their many blessings. Father and mother take the opportunity to teach their children. They eat and drink and enjoy each other’s company. One of the children yells, Abba, Abba, tell us the story of David and Goliath! So, Abba tells the story of the shepherd boy who loved the Lord and won a great victory for Israel. As the night goes on, the children go to bed, and the adults continue to talk.

The next morning is a family day. There is no work, only being together, visiting the synagogue for prayers and teaching, playing, telling stories, and food. The children awake early. They run to find their mother and father. Climbing on top of them in their bed they yell, Abba! Ema!

Fathers and mothers loved their children. Sons and daughters alike were highly esteemed.⁶ Children were considered a gift from God. In an atmosphere of love and devotion parents would be an example of keeping the Torah.⁷ Children would regularly experience the richness of the sabbaths and the annual feasts. They would be provided some amount of instruction in the home and learn to read the sacred Scriptures in Hebrew.⁸ Through the paradigm of family-and-community-belonging, the children would learn and mature.

During the Sabbath day, after rehearsing the Shema, one of the children climbs into her father’s lap and asks, Abba. Why do we pray the Shema every day? The father gathers his children together and begins to teach them a simple but profound lesson. Just as love is the basis for their family relationships, love is also the basis of their relationship with their heavenly Father. Abba hugs his children as their Sabbath day continues.

6

. Burton, Family Life,

453

.

7

. Levine and Brettler, The Jewish Annotated New Testament,

103

.

8

. Drazin, History of Jewish Education,

17–18

. Barclay, Train Up A Child,

14–17

.

1

God, Our Father

I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God. (John 20:17)

Introduction

God revealed himself as Father through the stories and teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures. His relationship with the children of Israel was that of a parent and child. When the Son came in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the truth of the Father was fully revealed. The Father was seen, felt, and heard in a way that transformed lives. Chapters 1 and 2 will explore the foundational biblical revelation of God as our Father.

Father in the Context of Patriarchal Society

God as our Father is a golden vein of revelation that can be found throughout the Bible. What did the word father mean to those who lived in Bible times? How can understanding this help us gain the depth of meaning ascribed to this name? Since the world of the Bible was a patriarchal society, it is helpful to understand something about the historical-cultural role of fathers in order to appreciate the Bible’s use of father in describing and teaching about our heavenly Father.

The community in ancient Israel was founded upon the extended family or household headed by a father. In this community, to protect and provide for his land and children, the father of the household was authorized to (1) adopt or excommunicate sons and daughters, (2) recruit workers and warriors, (3) negotiate marriages and covenants, (4) host strangers, and (5) designate heirs.¹ One of the duties of familial communities, or clans, was to educate the children in their stories, value systems, and the skills necessary to be productive in working with their available natural resources.² As clans banded together to form villages and tribes through kinship and covenants, titles such as father and mother, son and daughter, brother and sister took on additional meaning. For example, the one responsible for feeding and protecting would also be called father.³ Even in covenants or treaties with other nations to receive protection and sustenance, the head of the dominant power would be called father and the subservient would be called son (2 Kgs 16:7).

Love, honor, and loyalty were valued qualities of family relations within the biblical patriarchal household. Husbands were to love their wives (Gen 24:67; Prov 5:18), children were to honor their parents (Exod 20:12; Prov 23:22), and siblings were to live in harmony together (Ps 133:1).

Parents were considered partners with God in the creating, raising, protecting, and teaching of children. They were seen as the image of the Creator when fulfilling their roles as father and mother. The command to honor father and mother (Exod 20:12) is repeated eight times in the Bible. Both Jesus and Paul also emphasized this command (Mark 7:9–13; Eph 6:2). In its original setting during the giving of the Ten Commandments, this instruction was primarily addressed to adult Hebrews, not exclusively to children.⁴ Rabbeinu Bahya expounded on the commandment, Honor your father and mother:

Up until now G’d had instructed the people to honor the original father in heaven, i.e. Himself [Exod

20

:

2

–

7

]; now He wanted to sign this side of the Tablets with the command to honor progenitors . . . here on earth. In effect, what G’d says here is just as I commanded you to treat Me with honor and respect, so I command you this day to treat your father and mother who are My partners in creating you with respect and honor. Just as one of the most important aspects of honoring G’d is to acknowledge Him as such, so one of the most important aspects of honoring one’s parents is to acknowledge them as such.⁵

To honor one’s father and mother included obedience to them, honoring the father’s wishes when choosing an heir, working for the welfare of the family, as well as caring for father and mother later in life. Jesus exemplified the honoring of father and mother through his subjection to his earthly parents (Luke 2:51), taking on the role of the head of the household,⁶ and at the time of his death, planning for his mother’s care (John 19:26–27).

Although parents were to be honored by their children, fathers were not to take to themselves the honor that is due to their Creator, the Father in heaven. Matthews and Benjamin clarified:

When the father exercised his authority to determine how the household would farm and herd, he was the image of the Creator feeding and protecting (Gen

1

:

26

;

9

:

6

; Ps

8

). The tradition identifying the father with the Creator was widespread in the world of the Bible . . . But despite their use of the image of the Creator tradition to describe the father of a household, the Hebrews carefully distinguished the power of the father from the power of Yahweh over children and the land.⁷

Philo, a first-century Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, also described the patriarchal family as a family where the parents’ position is that of creators (similar to that of God) and where the children were to be subject to their parents as elders, benefactors, superiors, and lords.⁸ According to Gottlob Schrenk, Philo maintained that while the love between parents and children was not specifically commanded, it was an understood reality. Parents were to teach by the good example of their actions and attitudes. Schrenk added, The ideal of good education is that the father should engender good resolves and brave actions and uphold these by gentle doctrines of discipline and wisdom.⁹ Additionally, Philo observed that to be a son is to regard all one’s possessions as the property of the father, to obey the father in all things, never to blame him before anyone, to support him with all one’s power.¹⁰

In determining his heir(s), the head of the household designated which of his children would inherit and which would not. Further, Matthews and Benjamin stated,

Ancient Israel was patrilineal and authorized the father to hand on the possessions of the household to another male from his side of the family. Therefore, he generally handed on control of the members and material resources of the household to his own son. But the father could also designate an heir who was his own daughter (Num

36

:

2

–

12

; Josh

17

:

3

–

6

), or who was not his natural child (Gen

15

:

2

).¹¹

In addition, the head of a household generally designated two-thirds of his possessions to the eldest son and the remaining third to the younger son (Deut 21:17). In the case of multiple sons, it is thought that the father’s estate may have been divided into equal portions, with the eldest son receiving two of the portions.¹² Daughters typically did not receive an inheritance since they married into other