It is interesting that God was serious about His name under the old covenant as He is under the new. The lesson is that, had their knowledge of God been coupled with reverence for Him, they would have spared their society the moral degradation they suffered. The apostle went on to relate how the Romans descended into the abyss of immorality, plunging headlong into idolatry, then into homosexuality, and then into downright unrighteousness (v. Paul said, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful” (v. The account of the moral degeneration of the Gentile world which we read about in Romans 1:21-32 shows the importance of reverence to God, part of which is respect for His name. Vain usage of God’s name, in contrast, is a reflection on His holy character and it says volume about one’s attitude towards God. Reverence for it means appreciation for who God is – He is holy ( Isaiah 6:3 ). God’s name is to be hallowed! In other words, it ought to be called with reverence and profound respect. He said in Luke 11:2, when teaching his disciples to pray, “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name” (cf. It is noteworthy that Jesus told us to honour God’s name. Even some members of the Lord’s church have sadly fallen in this repellent habit. ” (and they use the name of the Lord in their profane utterance). You must have often heard people around you, or on television, exclaim, “oh my. In our day, God’s name is commonly used to express surprise or shock. It is easy to fail to hallow God’s name in a secularized culture in which, generally speaking, respect for those in authority erodes every day further and fear of God, especially, is no longer part of societal value systems. However, Christians face each day the temptation of taking the closeness that we enjoy with God for granted and deal with our heavenly Father as we would with a human friend, thus paying little attention to His holiness.
We can take our petitions up to the throne of God in prayer too! Spiritually, this new experience brings, among many other blessings, joy ( Acts 8:39, 16:34 Philippians 4:4 ), freedom ( John 8:31-32 ) and peace of mind ( Ephesians 2:14 ) because our sins have been forgiven by God. Practically, this new affectionate relationship motivates us to depend on God to an extent that we worry no more about the necessities of life ( Matthew 6:25-34 ). With Christ, Christians have been brought closer to God than men could ever imagine (this, I believe, is an illustration of the superiority of the New Covenant to the Old). Furthermore, He is available and ready to have with them an intimate relationship which has been made possible through Christ ( Ephesians 2:13 ). God being a Father means that He cares and provides for the needs of His children, just as an earthly father does. Also, Jesus called God Father eighteen times in the Sermon on the Mount alone, and in fifteen of those instances He said, “your Father,” (addition, mine) thus teaching His disciples to look at God as their Father ( Matthew 5:1-8:1 ). This claim, parenthetically, aroused intense indignation among the Jews who consequently sought to kill Him ( John 5:18 ). In the gospel accounts, Jesus used the word “Father” to claim that the God of Israel was His Father and affirm a unique personal relationship He had with Him ( John 5:17 ). When the New Testament speaks of God as Father, the emphasis, however, is placed on relationship. The prophet Malachi exclaimed, “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?” ( Malachi 2:10 ) The Israelites viewed God as One who brought their nation into existence.
In Old Testament scriptures, the Fatherhood of God is spoken of in the sense of originator. God is often identified in the Bible as Father. The term “Father” in the title above is a reference to the first Person of the Godhead, as He is distinct from the Son and the Holy Spirit.