Where Is Your Confidence in the Authority of the Father?

Doubtless You are our Father, though Abraham was ignorant of us and Israel does not acknowledge us, You oh Lord are our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)

Today’s big question: where is your confidence in the Father’s authority?

Yesterday we discussed Isaiah’s great recognition of God the Father as the true Authority for Israel. God is the authentic Father, and no human heritage (no matter how strong or genuine) can come close to the power and authority of God. As we look again at this verse, we should spend more time considering one very important concept: God’s authority as our great Father is certain, and this was Isaiah’s foundational starting point.

Think about your own confidence in the Father and who He really is. Some may say that we can know God is the Authority because we can confirm His Word. Well, yes, we can confirm His word. We can consider the history presented to us in the Bible, and with the use of science, we can confirm the consistency and credibility of that history. This confirms that we also can trust God’s Word in what it says about the Father.

Confirmation of the history of God’s Word does help with our confidence, and it helps us to defend our faith, but does God require our confirmation of the history of His Word to prove His authority? The answer is no. Isaiah says that God’s authority as our great Father is “doubtless.”

We need to consider the foundational importance of what Isaiah is doing here in his prayer. He does not start from a neutral position and then ask if he can prove the authority of God. Neither does he start from a claim and say that it needs to be proven. Isaiah, without any matter of doubt, says confidently that God is our Father and our only hope of redemption in all of time. Every part of Isaiah’s desires, thoughts, and actions came from the foundational truth that God is the ultimate Authority.

Every Christian today should think seriously upon this statement, and we should all ask ourselves if we share this position. It makes a major difference when we have no doubt in the ultimate authority of our starting point. It is from the position of God’s authentic authority that Isaiah was able to determine the truth concerning the lack of authority in the patriarchs of Israel.

Also, when we start with the ultimate authority of God, we are able to correctly interpret everything we see in this world. Too many Christians today are willing to start with various other sources to determine what they believe about God, His Word, and His authority. This is the wrong way around. How can we legitimately reason that we, as fallible humans, can begin with evidence in a sin-cursed world and use it as a means to interpret the revelation of a perfect God? Isaiah starts with God and uses His truth to shed light on fallible humans.

When we start from this same foundation, we can look at all evidence around us and interpret it in light of the infallible Word of the perfect Creator.

Where does our confidence in the Father’s authority lie? It is in accepting God’s authority as doubtless—our foundational starting point in every single matter.

Today’s big idea: Start with God. Always.

What to pray: thank God that He truly is our Rock.