The Father of Glory

"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him." (Ephesians 1:17)

This is one of Paul's most personal and precious prayers involving all the persons of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is called "the Spirit of wisdom," and the Father is called the "Father of glory."

One may note many wonderful attributes of our heavenly Father simply by noting the titles by which He is known to the apostles. Not only is He "the Father of glory," as in our text, but James calls Him "the Father of lights" (James 1:17). To Peter He is the "faithful Creator" and "the God of all grace" (1 Peter 4:19; 5:10).

The writer of Hebrews speaks of Him as "the God of peace" and "the Father of spirits" (Hebrews 13:20; 12:9). To John, "God is love" (1 John 4:16); to Jude, He is "God our Saviour" (Jude 25).

The epistles of Paul are rich with such beautiful ascriptions to the Father. One of the greatest is 2 Corinthians 1:3: "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort."

He is also "the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God" (1 Timothy 1:17), and the "one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephesians 4:6). The heavenly Father is "the God of hope" (Romans 15:13), but He is also "God the Judge of all," and to the ungodly, "our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:23, 29).

Most importantly, the Father of glory is "God our Father" (1 Corinthians 1:3), because He is "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), and "truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3). HMM




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