Is Jesus our Father?

The above image is the representation of Persons in the Trinity, right? Based on this truth, how can you explain Isaiah 9:6 and 63:16 where the whole context is about the Lord Jesus Christ but He’s called as the Father?

Let us first understand what the doctrine of the Trinity is and then look at these two verses in their respective contexts. Here’s a definition:

The one indivisible divine Being of God is eternally and fully shared by three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Understanding the Trinity

Now the definition has a few philosophical and theological words and phrases that need some unpacking.

First, there is one indivisible divine Being of God. The Bible advocates monotheism. There is one divine Being. And this divine Being is “indivisible”. It means God is not made up of different parts that you can pull Him apart into. God’s being is “simple”. A laptop, for instance, is made up of numerous different parts and can therefore be dismantled into any number of them. God’s being is one or whole, or it’s not God’s being at all.

But how do you describe the “being” of God? This is where we come face to face with the limitations of language and struggle to express ourselves clearly. Several words have been used across church history – essence, or ousia in Greek, or essentia in Latin. It’s the “stuff of God”. It’s that which makes God, God. One of our major drawbacks that impedes our understanding of God’s being is that we think physically. But “God is spirit” and we cannot therefore analyse Him with any of the physical devices like a weighing scale or a microscope.

Second, God’s Being is eternally and fully shared by three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we use the term ‘person’, we ought not to ascribe to it any kind of physical limitations. We are not talking about three men standing side by side. We are talking about personal distinctions in the divine Being. That means, we can differentiate the Father from the Son, and the Son from the Spirit, based on their relationships with one another, as well as, their involvement in creation and salvation.

The Father, Son and Spirit are three distinct persons and yet, this does not lead to a division in the one Being of God. That means, the Father is in full possession of the entirety of the divine essence; the Son is in full possession of the entirety of the divine essence; and the Spirit is in full possession of the entirety of the divine essence. The one essence is not divided into three, nor are there three different essences. Each Person of the Trinity is in full possession of the entirety of the divine nature.

The one essence is not divided into three, nor are there three different essences. Each Person of the Trinity is in full possession of the entirety of the divine nature

Third, God’s Being is eternally and fully shared by three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To understand this as best as we can from our perspective, we need to distinguish between “being” and “person.” Everything that exists has being. A chair has the being of a chair, a monkey the being of a monkey, and man is a human being. But not everything that has being is personal. A chair is not personal. You could sit on it all day and it doesn’t feel any pain or get tired. It’s not personal.

The Bible speaks about three kinds of personal beings – God, human beings and angels. You and I are human beings. We are personal. We are, each, limited to one place at a time. That is what it means to be a creature. Let me take my example. I can only be in one place at a time. So my being, since it’s limited and finite, is shared by only one person: me. One being, one person. That’s a human being.

But God’s being is not limited and finite like ours. His Being is infinite and unlimited, and therefore can, in a way that we cannot fully understand, be shared fully by three Persons: Father, Son and Spirit. One divine Being, three divine Persons. While the Father is not the Son, nor is the Son the Spirit, each Person is fully God by full and complete participation in the divine Being.

Examining the prophecy

With this brief explanation of the doctrine of the Trinity, let’s now look at the two verses at hand.

Isaiah 9:6 – For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The passage is a prophecy about Jesus who is given all these wonderful titles mentioned in the verse. He would be called “Mighty God” because he would possess all the power and majesty of God. He would also be called “Everlasting Father” because the Son would provide a fatherly reign throughout eternity. This does not mean that the Son is the Father, nor is the prophet Isaiah saying that the Father and the Son are one person! That is just a title given to the Son because of the kind of reign He’s going to offer for eternity. 

He would also be called “Everlasting Father” because the Son would provide a fatherly reign throughout eternity. 

The other aspect is that Jesus will forever be the true representation of the Father to us and we His true children. In John 14:9, Jesus tells Philip that “whoever has seen Me has seen the Father.” He is the only One who can make the character of His Father known (John 14:6, 10:30).

Isaiah 63:16 – For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.

The context is about Isaiah appealing to God, on behalf of Israel, to have pity on the nation. The prophet was referring to the faithful remnant after the exile who found little indication that God was in their midst, as He had been during the Exodus and wilderness wanderings.

Isaiah, in this verse, reminded God the He was their Father. Abraham and Jacob may have forgotten their children and may have been incapable of helping the nation. But He had not forgotten them and had the power to help them. The basis of the prophet’s appeal for help was that Yahweh had been Israel’s Redeemer in the past as well as its Father.