Papa God

Aside from the names of God in the Bible (Yahweh, Jehovah, El Shaddai,  Abba, etc.),  people sometimes stick to a nickname to keep Him close. 

A lady named Krista calls the Lord “Papa God.” She addresses Him thus in her prayers, during discussions in Bible study, and Sunday school.  

This disconcerts some of her faith brethren:   

“Yes, Abba means father, but to call the Lord of all ‘Papa God’ diminishes Him.” 

“It’s equating God to our earthly father whom we fondly call Papa.” 

“Being a father is just one of His many attributes—and to emphasize just His being a loving Father is a distorted view.”      

By consistently referring to the Lord as “Papa God,” others who hear it might be misled, limiting His attributes to their human father’s. They could miss out on the facts that: 

God is a demanding Judge. In Exodus 34:6-7 (NLT), God calls out to Moses, “’Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness . . . I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren . . . even children in the third and fourth generations.’” 

God is infinite. ". . . he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:17)  

God is Omnipotent. “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” (Psalm 33:6) 

God is our (to use today’s legal terms) Benefactor, Custodian, and Grantor:  “And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.” (Acts 20:32) 

Our CAMACOP LOGO encapsulates four of the all-encompassing attributes of an all-powerful God: 

Savior. Sanctifier. Healer. Coming King. 

Let us not be tempted to make God one-dimensional. We may have our favorite attribute of Him, but we need to worship and honor all of Him—infinite, from everlasting to everlasting.      

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