The God and His Family Series consists of 16 episodes. In the New Testament, one of the most common descriptions of God and his people is that of a family. This series is designed to talk about that relationship in detail.
Jesus introduced the concept that God is three spirits in one – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. From that terminology, God is a family.
Jesus and the New Testament writers often use family terms to describe the relationship between God and his people. They draw on relationships such as: father, children, sons and daughters, and adopted sons and daughters. These relationships not only imbue privileges, but also confer responsibilities.
It’s hard to see in English but Jesus sometimes refers to God as his Father and sometimes as “Daddy.” Part of the Good News of Jesus is that God can also be our Father and Daddy.
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Jesus caused people to rethink their concept of God. Most of his fellow Jews seem to have thought of God as a stern God who required strict adherence the laws of Moses and the related rules promulgated by the religious leaders.
Starting with Genesis 1:2 (“the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”) the Jews had an understanding that God had a Spirit. This separated God from all the other gods of the surrounding people groups. It’s not clear how the Jews understood the Spirit of God, but they conceived of God having a spirit.
However, Jesus confronted the Jewish leaders with the concept that he was the Son of God, and that God was his Father. This was so far away from their concept of God that they considered Jesus to be a blasphemer.
Many of the teachings of Jesus lead to the concept that God is actually a term referring to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, either to them together or separately. Jesus refers to both God and Father almost interchangeably.
