WHAT DO SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS BELIEVE?

TRINITY CONTINUED

God the Father

The great day of judgment begins. Fiery thrones with burning wheels move into place. The Ancient of Days takes His seat. Majestic in appearance, He presides over the court. His awesome presence pervades the vast courtroom audience. A multitude of witnesses stand before Him. The judgment is set, the books are opened, and the examination of the record of human lives begins (Dan. 7:9, 10).

The entire universe has been waiting for this moment. God the Father will execute His justice against all wickedness. The sentence is given: "A judgment was made in favor of the saints" (Dan. 7:22). Joyful praises and thanksgiving reverberate across heaven. God's character is seen in all its glory, and His marvelous name is vindicated throughout the universe.

Views of the Father, God the Father is frequently misunderstood. Many are aware of Christ's mission to earth for the human race and of the Holy Spirit's role within the individual, but what has the Father to do with us? Is He, in contrast to the gracious Son and Spirit, totally removed from our world, the absentee Landlord, the unmoved First Cause? Or is He, as some think of Him, the"Old Testament God"—a God of vengeance, characterized by the dictum "'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth'" (Matt. 5:38; cf. Ex. 21:24); an exacting God who requires perfect works—or else! A God who stands in utter contrast to the New Testament's portrayal of a loving God who stresses turning the other cheek and going the second mile (Matt. 5:39-41).

God the Father in the Old Testament, The unity of the Old and New Testaments, and of their common plan of redemption, is revealed by the fact that it is the same God whospeaks and acts in both Testaments for the salvation of His people. "God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds" (Heb. 1:1, 2).

Although the Old Testament alludes to the Persons of the Godhead, it doesn't distinguish Them. But the New Testament makes it clear that Christ, God the Son, was the active agent in Creation (John 1:1-3, 14; Col. 1:16) and that He was the God who led Israel out of Egypt (1 Cor. 10:1-4; Ex. 3:14; John 8:58). What the New Testament says of Christ's role in Creation and the Exodus suggests that even the Old Testament often conveys to us its portrait of God the Father through the agency of the Son. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" ( 2 Cor. 5:19).

The Old Testament describes the Father in the following terms:
A God of Mercy.
No sinful human being has ever seen God (Ex. 33:20). We have no photograph of His features. God demonstrated Hischaracter by His gracious acts and by the word picture He proclaimed before Moses: "'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation'"(Ex. 34:6, 7; cf. Heb. 10:26, 27). Yet mercy does not blindly pardon, but is guided by the principle of justice.Those who reject His mercy reap His punishment on iniquity.At Sinai God expressed His desire to be Israel's friend, to be with them. He said to Moses, "'Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them'" (Ex. 25:8). Because it was God's earthly dwelling place, this sanctuary became the focal point of Israel's religious experience.A Covenant God. Eager to establish lasting relations, God made solemncovenants with people such as Noah(Gen. 9:1-17) and Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3, 7;13:14-17;15:1, 5, 6; 17:1-8; 22:15-18; see chapter 7 of this book). These covenants reveal apersonal, loving God interested in His people's concerns. To Noah He gave assurance of regular seasons (Gen. 8:22) and that there never would be another worldwide flood (Gen 9:11); to Abraham He promised numerous descendants (Gen. 15:5-7) and a land wherein heand his descendants could dwell (Gen. 15:18; 17:8).