Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone;
I will make him a helper fit for him.”
Genesis 2:18
It was Hebrew Scripture that referred to one God, the Lord God of Israel, in contrast to other ancient civilizations. Ten key themes in Hebrew Scripture, our Old Testament of the Bible, reveal much about the Lord God: there is only one God, the Lord God of Israel; the goodness of God’s creation and the world; God’s undying love for his creation mankind in spite of man’s sin and disobedience; God presides with justice and mercy; God is active in history; God makes covenants with the community of Israel, his chosen people; the proper response to God’s covenant is obedience to the traditions and institutions of Israel; the necessity of human response to God through praise and prayer; the beginning of wisdom is Fear of the Lord and to Trust in God; and finally, there is hope through prophecy of the coming Messiah.
It is not until the New Testament when Jesus the Messiah reveals the mystery of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. St. Matthew first refers to your “Heavenly Father” in the Sermon on the Mount (5:16) and urges us to “Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). In the Great Commission, Jesus calls on the Apostles to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). It is St. John who calls God the Father (John 6:27), and records Jesus stating “I and the Father are One” (John 10:30). It is God the Father who is “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4). Here are representative biblical quotes of the Lord God the Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth.
THE FIRST DAY OF CREATION
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep;
and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”
And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day.
Genesis 1:1-5
THE CREATION OF MAN AND WOMAN
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them, and God said to them,
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it;
and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
Genesis 1:26-28
GOD CALLS UPON MOSES
When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here am I.”
Then he said, “Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Then the LORD said, “I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt,
and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters;
I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey,
to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me,
and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”
He said, “But I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you:
when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain.”
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’
and they ask me, `What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO AM.”
Exodus 3:4-14
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
I am the Lord thy God,
who have brought thee out of the land of Mizrahim, out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt not have any other gods besides me.
Thou shalt not make for thyself any graven image
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, punishing the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those that hate me; but showing mercy to thousands of generations of those that love me, and keep my commandments.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.
Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day;
six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day;
therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Honour thy father and mother that thy days be long in the land which the Lord gives thee.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s (goods)
house or fields, nor his male or female slaves, nor his ox or ass, or anything that belongs to him.
Deuteronomy 5:6-21
THE SHEMA PRAYER
“Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”
Deuteronomy 6:4
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Gospel of Matthew 6:9-15
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened
and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove;
and a voice came from heaven,
“Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.”
Gospel of Mark 1:9-11
THE TRANSFIGURATION
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves;
and he was transfigured before them, and his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus.
And Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is well that we are here;
let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
For he did not know what to say, for they were exceedingly afraid.
And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud,
“This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
Gospel of Mark 9:2-7
“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me;
yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Gospel of Luke 22:42
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
So that everyone who believes in him
may not perish but have eternal life.
Gospel of John 3:16
