Hennie Symington

For God so loved the world that He gave his son …John 3:16

What do we mean when we say: “I believe in God?”  “Who is God?” or “How do we know who He is?” are questions that often arise in the believer’s mind. However, by attempting to define and describe him in our own terms, we run the risk of creating God in our own image. Yet, the more we “study” God, the more we realise that God is the Other, the One that is different from us. His ways are higher than our ways and we cannot presume to understand all there is to know about him.

The wonder is that God reveals himself to us in human terms. He reveals himself to us not only as our Father, but as a father who loves; as a father who cares; as a father who speaks with us.  And to make this love visible to us He sends his Son so that we as humans can share in this love. In 1 John 3:1 we read: "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God …"This places God beyond any other so-called god or ruler.

This relationship tells me that God, as my Father, will care for me body and soul with the assurance that everything that happens to me, is within his divine will. Indeed, this relationship is defined by an intense love towards us as his children. In John 17:24, Jesus says “you loved me before the foundation of the world.”Likewise, God loved us first, from our conception till eternity.

Believing that, I too can proclaim, in the words of the Heidelberg Catechism: My times are in God’s hand. But more than this, it is a relationship of a father towards his child. This brings the believer to the glorious truth that nothing happens outside of God’s provision.

Prayer: Dear Lord and Father of mankind, thank you for revealing yourself as a loving Father who knows our name and cares for us. Amen