God the Father is
the first Person of the Trinity
—
fully and eternally God,
distinct from the Son and the Holy Spirit,
yet one with them
in essence, power, and glory.
In the New Testament
He is revealed especially as
the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ
and, through adoption,
as the Father of all who believe in the Son.
Scripture presents one God who exists eternally as three distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is not the Son, and the Father is not the Holy Spirit, yet each Person is fully God. The Father is unbegotten, the source of the eternal relation within the Godhead. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father (and the Son).
The Father is frequently described as the One who plans and sends, the Son as the One who accomplishes the work of redemption, and the Spirit as the One who applies that work to believers. All three Persons work in perfect unity.
The most distinctive revelation of God as Father comes through Jesus Christ. Jesus consistently addressed God as His Father and taught His disciples to do the same. This relationship is unique and eternal:
Jesus’ use of “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36) expresses both intimacy and reverence in His relationship with the Father.
Through faith in Jesus Christ, believers are adopted as sons and daughters of God and receive the Spirit of adoption by whom they cry, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:4-7). God the Father becomes their Father in a personal, covenantal sense.
As Father, He:
Scripture attributes specific works especially to the Father:
God the Father is the eternal source within the Trinity, the One who loved the world and sent His only Son, and the One who adopts all who believe in Jesus as His own children. To know God as Father is to enter into the very relationship that Jesus Himself enjoys and shares with those who trust in Him.