1. Who is God the Father?

The Father is God—the God of Israel, the Creator, the living and true God, and the God whom Jesus himself worships, prays to, obeys, trusts, and calls his God. He is the ultimate source of life, salvation, authority, resurrection, holiness, and glory. He is eternal, immortal, invisible, all-knowing, all-powerful, omnipresent (Jeremiah 23:23–24), righteous, merciful, and good. Most beautifully, the New Testament says simply: “God is love.”

One of the clearest patterns across the New Testament is that the Father is repeatedly and explicitly identified as God.

Paul does not merely call the Father “God” here. He calls Him “one God, the Father.” This same basic pattern appears throughout Paul’s letters: “God our Father” is distinguished from “the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2; Philippians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:2; Philemon 3).

The rest of the New Testament speaks similarly. Peter refers to “God the Father” and “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:2–3). James calls Him “our God and Father” (James 3:9). John distinguishes “God the Father” from “Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father” (2 John 3). Jude begins with “God the Father” and ends by giving glory to “the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Jude 1, 25).

Across authors, genres, and decades of New Testament writing, the designation is remarkably stable: the Father is God.

This article focuses specifically on what the New Testament reveals about God the Father. I address the Holy Spirit’s identity as God separately.

1. The Father Is Identified as the One God—the God of Israel

The New Testament does not introduce the Father as a new God. He is the God Israel already knew: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God worshiped by the Jewish people; the God revealed throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.

Jesus affirms Israel’s confession of one God. The scribe agrees: “He is one, and there is none other but he” (Mark 12:32). Galatians likewise says simply, “God is one” (Galatians 3:20), and James says, “You believe that God is one. You do well” (James 2:19).

Luke identifies this God as “the Lord God,” “the Most High,” “the Lord of heaven and earth,” and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Acts continues the same identification. Peter speaks of “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers,” who glorified Jesus (Acts 3:13). Paul says that he serves God as his forefathers did (2 Timothy 1:3).

Christian faith, therefore, does not begin with a different God from the God of Israel. The Father is the one God whom Jesus and the earliest Christians understood as the God of their fathers.

2. The Father Is Jesus’ God

One of the most important answers the New Testament gives to the question “Who is God?” comes from Jesus himself: the Father is his God.

This statement comes after Jesus’ resurrection. The risen Jesus still calls the Father “my God.” Revelation continues the same pattern. Jesus repeatedly speaks of “my God” (Revelation 3:2, 12), and Revelation 1:6 refers to “his God and Father.”

The apostles use the same language. Paul blesses “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:3; Ephesians 1:3), and prays to “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory” (Ephesians 1:17). Peter likewise blesses “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:3).

The Gospels show what this relationship looks like in practice. Jesus prays to God, worships God, obeys God, trusts God, receives from God, and submits his will to God. In John, Jesus calls the Father “the only true God” (John 17:3). His life, words, works, authority, mission, and glory all ultimately come from the Father.

Whatever theological conclusions a reader ultimately reaches, this language should be allowed to retain its full force: the God Jesus reveals is also the God Jesus himself loves, serves, and calls his Father and his God.

3. The Father Is the Creator and Ultimate Source of All Things

The New Testament consistently presents God as the ultimate source of creation and life.

Romans describes God as the Creator and the ultimate source and goal of all things. First Corinthians calls the Father the One “of whom are all things” (1 Corinthians 8:6). Colossians calls Him the invisible God and identifies Christ as His image (Colossians 1:15). First Timothy calls Him the God “who gives life to all things” (1 Timothy 6:13).

Revelation brings this theme to its climax. Heaven worships the One seated on the throne as “our Lord and God” because He created all things and they exist by His will (Revelation 4:11). He is repeatedly called “the Lord God Almighty.”

The New Testament can describe God accomplishing extraordinary things through Jesus, but the Father remains the ultimate source. God sends Jesus, works through him, raises him, exalts him, gives him authority, and accomplishes His saving purposes through him. The pattern is not that Jesus replaces God, but that God works through His Son.

4. The Father Is Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, and All-Knowing

The New Testament also gives striking descriptions of what God is like.

First Timothy later describes God as the One “who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen nor can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). John similarly says, “No one has seen God at any time” (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12).

God also knows completely. First John says plainly that “God … knows all things” (1 John 3:20). James says God cannot be tempted by evil and describes Him as the “Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow” (James 1:13, 17). Revelation calls Him the Almighty, “who is and who was and who is to come” (Revelation 1:8).

The Father is therefore not simply a more powerful creature. He is the eternal and living God: the source of life, beyond corruption and death, perfect in knowledge, constant in character, and sovereign over creation.

5. God Is Light—and God Is Love

Power is not the deepest thing the New Testament tells us about God’s character. John gives two of the simplest and most beautiful descriptions in Scripture:

God is completely good. There is no darkness in Him. His character is not divided between good and evil, love and cruelty, truth and deception. James says that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father (James 1:17).

The rest of the New Testament fills out what this love looks like. Paul calls Him “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Ephesians says God is “rich in mercy” because of His “great love” (Ephesians 2:4). Titus speaks of “the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind” and says that He saves according to His mercy (Titus 3:4–5).

The Father’s greatness is therefore not separated from His goodness. The Almighty Creator is also merciful, compassionate, generous, patient, comforting, and loving.

6. The Father Is Savior and Righteous Judge

The New Testament repeatedly calls God Savior. Mary rejoices in “God my Savior” (Luke 1:47). Paul calls Him “God our Savior” (1 Timothy 1:1; 2:3; Titus 1:3; 3:4). Jude calls Him “the only God, our Savior” (Jude 25).

Salvation originates in God. He calls, justifies, forgives, adopts, sanctifies, raises the dead, and brings His children to glory. He sends Jesus and accomplishes reconciliation through him. As Paul puts it, “all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18).

But the Father is also Judge. Romans speaks repeatedly of the righteous judgment of God. Hebrews calls Him “the Judge of all” (Hebrews 12:23). Peter says the Father judges each person impartially according to his work (1 Peter 1:17). Revelation presents the One seated on the throne as the ultimate source of final judgment and the new creation.

The New Testament does not force us to choose between God’s justice and His mercy. He is righteous in judgment and abundant in mercy. James even gives the remarkable principle: “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13).

7. The Father Is the Father of Jesus—and the Father of His Other Children

The Father is not only Jesus’ Father. Through Jesus, all human beings are brought into God’s family.

Jesus teaches his disciples to address God as “our Father.” In John 20:17, he says, “my Father and your Father … my God and your God.” Galatians says God adopts believers as His children, and Ephesians says God predestined believers for adoption to Himself through Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:4–7; Ephesians 1:5).

First John expresses the wonder of this relationship beautifully:

God’s fatherhood is therefore central to the Christian story. He is not merely a distant Creator or cosmic ruler. He brings human beings into His family, loves them as His children, disciplines them toward holiness, gives them an inheritance, and works to bring them to maturity and glory.

8. The Father Is the One Jesus and the Church Pray To, Thank, Trust, and Glorify

A striking pattern becomes visible when the New Testament is read from beginning to end: prayer, thanksgiving, trust, and ultimate glory are repeatedly directed to God.

Jesus prays to the Father throughout the Gospels. He sometimes spends extended periods in prayer to God, including an entire night before choosing the twelve (Luke 6:12). He teaches his disciples to pray, “Our Father.” In Gethsemane, he submits himself to the Father’s will. At his death, he entrusts himself to the Father.

The early Church continues this pattern. In Acts, believers pray to the Sovereign Creator. Paul repeatedly says, “I thank my God,” and makes his requests to God (Romans 1:8–10; Philippians 1:3–4; Philemon 4). James tells anyone lacking wisdom to “ask of God” (James 1:5). Peter says that through Christ our faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1:21).

The direction of salvation is especially clear in passages that say believers come through Christ to God. Humanity is reconciled to God through Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:18). Through Jesus we have access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). Christ suffered “that he might bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

Jesus is therefore central to the Christian relationship with God: he reveals the Father, reconciles humanity to Him, and brings us into His presence. But the destination remains God Himself.

9. The Father Is the Source of Jesus’ Authority, Resurrection, and Glory

The New Testament’s portrait of the Father becomes even clearer when we observe what He does for and through Jesus.

God sends Jesus (John 17:3). God gives Jesus His words and works (John 12:49; 14:10). God performs miracles through him (Acts 2:22). God raises him from the dead (Acts 2:24, 32; Romans 10:9). God makes him Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). God highly exalts him (Philippians 2:9). God gives him honor and glory (2 Peter 1:17). God gives him the revelation with which the final book of the New Testament begins (Revelation 1:1).

This does not diminish Jesus. It reveals the extraordinary honor the Father gives him. Jesus is God’s Son, Messiah, Lord, King, image, representative, mediator, and the one through whom God brings salvation to the world.

But behind Jesus’ authority stands the Father who gives it. Behind his resurrection stands the Father who raises him. Behind his glory stands the Father who glorifies him. Behind his mission stands the God who sends him.

This is why Jesus’ life consistently points beyond himself to God.

10. The Father Is the Beginning and Goal of the New Testament Story

The New Testament story begins with God acting, and it ultimately ends with everything returning to God.

Romans describes Him as the source and goal of all things. First Corinthians says all things are “of” the Father and concludes its great resurrection chapter with the final purpose “that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28). Colossians describes God reconciling creation to Himself through Christ. Revelation ends with the Lord God Almighty making all things new and dwelling with His people.

The Father is therefore not one character among many in the New Testament. He is the ultimate source, authority, destination, and center of the entire story. Jesus’ mission is God’s mission. Jesus’ authority comes from God. Jesus’ resurrection is God’s act. The Church belongs to God. Salvation comes from God. The Kingdom is God’s Kingdom. Glory ultimately returns to God.

So, Who Is God the Father?

Across the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, the Father emerges as the one God of Israel; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the Creator and giver of life; the Lord of heaven and earth; the living and true God; the eternal, immortal, invisible King; the Almighty; the Father of glory; the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; the righteous Judge; the Savior; the giver of every good gift; and the loving Father of His children.

He is Jesus’ Father and Jesus’ God. Jesus loves Him, worships Him, prays to Him, obeys Him, trusts Him, receives from Him, reveals Him, and brings humanity to Him. The Father sends Jesus, works through him, raises him, exalts him, gives him authority and glory, and accomplishes His saving purposes through him.

He is the God to whom Christians pray, give thanks, entrust themselves, and ultimately give glory.

And again, the simplest description may also be the truest:

That is the God the New Testament reveals: the Father from whom all things come, the God who gives life, loves His creation, saves, judges righteously, raises the dead, transforms His children, and brings His purposes to completion—until, in Paul’s words, “God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28).