Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 29:1 (Spring 2025)
Article: God The Father Almighty: The Trinitarian Depth Of The First Article Of The Creed
Author: Kyle D. Claunch

God The Father Almighty: The Trinitarian Depth Of The First Article Of The Creed1

Kyle D. Claunch

Kyle D. Claunch is Associate Professor of Christian Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he also earned his PhD in Christian theology. He is the author of numerous chapters and articles in the Journal of Evangelical Theological Society, the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, Criswell Theological Review, and Eikon: A Journal for Biblical Anthropology. He is also a contributing writer for Christ Over All (www.christoverall.com) and Desiring God (www.desiringgod.org). Dr. Claunch has served as a pastor for many years and presently serves as an elder at Kenwood Baptist Church. He and his wife Ashley have six children.

Throughout Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, God reveals himself as Father. He comes to the aid of Israel, his firstborn son, to rescue them from the land of Egypt (see Exod 4:22–23 and Hos 11:1). Centuries later, Isaiah appeals to this special Father-son relationship when he pleads with God to “rend the heavens and come down” (Isa 64:1). He cries out, “You are our Father; we are the clay and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Isa 64:8). In the NT, the Lord Jesus repeatedly identifies God as his Father and invites his followers to do the same (e.g., Matt 6:9; John 20:17). The full revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ discloses to us the truth that God is our Father because of the union we have with Jesus the Son by the mighty working of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul puts the matter succinctly and profoundly: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying,

SBJT 29:1 (Spring 2025) 30

‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Gal 4:4–6).

It is hard to imagine a more precious name by which the redeemed can address God than this one: “Abba! Father!” It is no wonder then, that the Nicene Creed, perhaps the most widely beloved ancient confession of the Christian faith, would begin its confession by evoking the name Father:

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and eart...