Our Father, Which Art In Heaven

The model prayer of Matthew 6 and Luke 11 begins with the words:  “Our Father which art in heaven.”  Very often, I will follow this model and pray something like the following:  “Dear Father, I ask that you will be praised.  You are high and far above us.”  What does this describe?

Separate from Sin

That God the Father is in heaven says that He is separate from sin.  He is far away from anything sinful, because the third heaven, the location of His heavenly throne room, is at least as far away as the furthest space, which we know is many light years away.

The Highest

That God the Father is in heaven says that He is the highest.  “Highest” is a scriptural name and description of God the Father.

Psalm 18:13, “The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.”

Luke 1:32, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.”

Authority

God the Father’s highness relates to His authority.  He is over everything.  Numbers 24:7 says,

He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

“His king shall be higher than Agag.”  He has greater authority than Agag.  Psalm 89:27 also states this truth:

Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

He is better.  He has greater authority than the kings of the earth.  Highest means the highest authority.

Immutability

That God the Father is in heaven reflects James 1:17:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Nothing can effect God the Father’s perfection.  Without anything able to effect Him, He is immutable.  Everything is relative to Him, but He is absolute.  Whatever comes from Him is good.  It is untainted.

Majesty

That God the Father is in heaven reveals His majesty.  Majesty relates to His holiness.  He is separate by being the highest.  However, He is not common or profane.  God the Father is distinct.  He shows forth the perfections of all His attributes, manifesting His glory.  Everything about Him is greater.

Judgment

God is judge.  That God the Father is in heaven gives Him a vantage point.  He can see everything.  God perches above all.  If God is higher and better, than something can be judged to be so.  With things higher, better, and distinct, God requires judgment.  He will judge, but so should we.

The Ramifications of God, the Highest

When God is highest, He is higher than anything.  That is the automatic enemy of egalitarianism.  God is of the highest value.  Nothing is better than Him.  He is far above anyone and everyone.

For people to do what they want to do, it helps if no one or nothing is above them.  It is a Satanic version of utopianism.  Every man is his own god.  No one is better, greater, or higher than anyone else.  No one wears a different uniform.  Gender or sex doesn’t exist.

Karl Marx said, “Religion is the opium of the people.”  God is incompatible with communism, because He is the ultimate authority, higher than everyone.  When people judge according to God, this act overthrows communist thinking.

If one individual cannot be better than everyone, then he at least wants no one to be better than anyone else.  Everyone has his own truth, his own goodness, and his own beauty.  Every standard is relative to himself.  Nothing is absolute.  Of course, all of this is a lie.