The Father in the New Testament Fully Revealed in Christ

Series: God the Father: Knowing the First Person of the Trinity

A Long-Awaited Revelation

The Old Testament gave us glimpses. The New Testament brings the full unveiling. Where once God’s fatherhood was seen through shadows—nationhood, covenant, kingship—now it is fully revealed through the life, words, and mission of Jesus Christ.

Jesus doesn’t merely speak about the Father—He reveals the Father. The eternal communion between Father and Son breaks into human history, and for the first time, we see the Father in clarity.

“Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

The Father as the Center of Jesus’s Mission

From the very beginning, Jesus identifies Himself in terms of His relationship to the Father:

• He is sent by the Father (John 3:17).

• He speaks only what the Father gives (John 12:49).

• He obeys the Father’s will (John 6:38).

• He glorifies the Father (John 17:4).

• He returns to the Father (John 16:28).

This is not mere submission to a superior. This is the eternal delight of the Son in the Father, now on display in time.

“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.” (John 15:9)

Every act of Christ on earth reflects His eternal communion with the Father. To understand Jesus is to see the Father's heart, will, and glory revealed.

Teaching the Disciples to Know the Father

One of Jesus’s central goals in His earthly ministry was to make the Father known. In John 17:6, He prays:

“I have manifested Your name to the people whom You gave Me out of the world.”

This “name” is not just a label—it’s the very identity of the Father. Jesus unveils what had been only glimpsed before: the eternal, personal, gracious Father of all who believe.

He also teaches His disciples to relate to the Father personally:

• “Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven…” (Matt. 6:9)

• “Your Father knows what you need…” (Matt. 6:8)

• “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matt. 6:6)

Jesus opens the door for sinners to know God—not as distant deity, but as Abba (Rom. 8:15).

The Father’s Role in Redemption

While Christ’s death on the cross is central to salvation, the New Testament consistently shows that it was the Father who initiated the plan of redemption:

• “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son…” (John 3:16)

• “It was the will of the Lord to crush Him…” (Isa. 53:10)

• “The Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.” (1 John 4:14)

Redemption is not an act of the Son against the Father’s will. It is a mission from the heart of the Father, carried out in perfect union with the Son and empowered by the Spirit.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” (Eph. 1:3–4)

The Gospel begins with the Father’s love, not merely the Son’s sacrifice.

Jesus's Prayers to the Father

The prayers of Jesus throughout the New Testament give us profound insight into His relationship with the Father:

• At Lazarus’s tomb: “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.” (John 11:41)

• In Gethsemane: “Abba, Father… not My will, but Yours be done.” (Mark 14:36)

• On the cross: “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” (Luke 23:46)

Even in agony, Jesus entrusts Himself to the Father. And through His obedience, He opens the way for us to do the same.

The Apostles’ Proclamation of the Father

After the resurrection and ascension, the apostles do not stop speaking of the Father:

• Paul addresses nearly every epistle to believers with “Grace to you… from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

• Peter writes: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 1:3)

• John writes: “Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3)

The Trinity is not a philosophical abstraction—it is the heartbeat of the New Testament. And the Father stands at the center, revealed through the Son, worshiped in the Spirit.

Adopted by the Father Through the Son

The New Testament makes it clear: to believe in Christ is to be united to Him—and therefore to be adopted by the Father.

“But to all who did receive Him… He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

“You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Rom. 8:15)

Our access to the Father is no longer ceremonial, veiled, or limited. Through the torn veil of Christ’s body, we enter boldly (Heb. 10:19–22). The One whom Christ called Father is now our Father too (John 20:17).

Conclusion: The Father, Fully Revealed

The New Testament doesn't invent God’s fatherhood—it reveals it. Through Jesus Christ, the eternal Son, we see the fullness of the Father’s love, wisdom, holiness, justice, and grace.

This is the God we worship: not vague, not distant, not abstract—but the Father revealed by the Son, and made known to us by the Spirit.

“To Him be honor and eternal dominion.” (1 Timothy 6:16)