‘Father Of All’

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Ephesians 4:6

Paul is declaring the great unity of the people of God.  He has spoken of the one Body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, and God.  He now goes on to further expound what it means for there to be ‘one God.’   He has mentioned the other two Members of the Trinity already.  Now he turns to God, Who he describes as, ‘the Father of all.’  Is God indeed ‘the Father of all’ in the sense that He is the Father of each and every person who has ever lived?  If that is so, what are we to make of Christ’s statement to His enemies, when He said, ‘you are of your father, the devil?’  If we accept Christ’s statement, then God cannot be the Father of each and every person who has ever lived.  He can, however, be the Father of all who are members of the ‘one body,’ have the ‘one Spirit,’ the ‘one hope,’ the ‘one Lord,’ the ‘one faith,’ and the ‘one baptism.’  If we consider these things together, we can clearly see that this ‘God and Father,’ can be ‘above all, and through all, and in you all.’  It is this Father, Who has sent His Only Begotten Son to redeem us, and His Holy Spirit to apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ.  This is the Father Who has unified us as the people of God.  Therefore He ‘is above all, and through all, and in you all.’

O God and Father of all,
we rejoice that You have united us together in Christ.
We praise You that You will continue to gather together,
all whom You have chosen in Christ,
that they all may be one.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning