“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” These ancient words from the Nicene Creed might sound formal, but they speak to a very personal trust – the kind of trust that we can have in God as our Father. They describe the foundation of our faith, the solid ground we can stand on when everything else is burning or shaking around us.
God as Our Loving Father
Probably one of the reasons the bishops writing the Nicene Creed started with “God” is because that is the very place the Bible starts. It simply begins with, “In the beginning, God created.” Before we get to anything else in the creed, we begin our foundation with God. God always has been and will always be. There was never a time or point when He was not. Interestingly, the Bible starts with God as a presupposition. In other words, it doesn’t argue for God’s existence, it just starts with God as brute fact. Why? Because God is the starting place for everything else.
For some of us, the word “Father” brings warm memories of love and safety – maybe remembering how your dad used to tuck you in at night or cheer at your soccer games. For others, the word “father” might be complicated or even painful. Not everyone has a great relationship with their dad. But when we say God is our Father, we’re talking about the perfect Father – the one each of us longs for deep down.
Jesus taught us to call God our “Father.” In fact, Jesus used the intimate term “Abba,” which means something like“Daddy” or“Papa.” In one of Jesus’ most famous stories, the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), He describes a son who runs away from home and really messes up his life. Broke and broken, that son eventually decides to go back, hoping at best to be a servant in his father’s house. But what happens? “ (Luke 15:20 ESV). The son starts his prepared apology, but the father basically says, “Forget that – welcome home, my child!” Then he throws a party to celebrate. Most of us might say that such a reaction is not fair or that he should welcome him back but certainly not throw a party. But the father welcomed him back gladly!
Why did Jesus tell that story? To show us God’s heart. God is that Father who runs toward us with open arms, even when we’ve wandered off. He’s not a distant clockmaker or an angry tyrant. He’s a Father who loves us deeply. Romans 8:15 (ESV) puts it like this: “You received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’” – meaning we can literally call the Creator of the universe “Dad.”
When the early Christian bishops gathered around the year 325 A.D. to formulate the Nicene Creed, they chose to start with calling God Father. In a world full of remote, unpredictable gods and impersonal fate, this was revolutionary. They were saying that the true God wants a relationship with us. And not just any relationship – a parent-child relationship, with all the love, care, and intimacy that it implies. God is our Father because He created us, and for those who believe in Christ, He is our Father because He redeemed us. In fact, He was Father from all eternity – the Father of our Lord Jesus – and amazingly, through Jesus He extends that perfect fatherly love to us. We get to be part of the family.
Now, love alone – even perfect love – might not be enough if it were powerless to help us. A kind earthly father may want to protect his kids from all harm, but might not be able. That’s why the Creed doesn’t stop at “Father.” It goes on to say, “Father Almighty.”
God Almighty: Maker of Heaven and Earth
The word “Almighty” means God can do anything – He has all might. There is no challenge too big, no enemy too strong, no situation too hopeless for Him.
To paint a picture of this, the Creed adds “maker of heaven and earth.” In other words, the proof of God’s power is everything we see (and even what we can’t see). Step outside on a clear night and look at the stars sprinkled across the sky – He hung each one in place. God spoke and said, “Let there be…” (Genesis 1:1-3). From the biggest galaxy down to the DNA in a single cell, God made it all.
The Bible opens with the simple, powerful declaration: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”(Genesis 1:1 ESV). That means nothing we encounter is beyond His reach, because everything ultimately traces back to His hand. He is the source of all that is. Think about how our belief starts here: we’re not talking about a small tribal deity or one god among many – we believe in one God who made the universe. That means He has authority over all things, whether visible or invisible. He’s Lord of angels and atoms alike. And unlike those mythological gods who had limited domains (one for the sea, one for the sun, etc.), our God is Almighty over heaven and earth, the whole show!
The Creed continues by affirming God as the Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. God created not only what we see—the earth, the sky, the seas—but also what we do not see: angels, spiritual forces, and the unseen realities that influence our world. This comprehensive act of creation distinguishes God from His creation. He is the source of all existence, and nothing exists apart from His creative will. The Nicene Fathers emphasized this to guard against false teachings that denied God’s unique role as Creator or diminished His power.
Recognizing God as Creator also reminds us of our creaturely status. We are not self-existent or self-sufficient; we owe our very being to Him. This awareness humbles us and calls us to live in dependence on God, the source of all life. This truth invites us to live with gratitude and trust, knowing that God cares for us intimately. Moreover, understanding God as Creator shapes how we view the world. The natural world is not a product of chance, but a deliberate act of God’s love. It calls us to stewardship and respect for creation, recognizing it as God’s handiwork.
Now, why does this matter for us? Because knowing God is Almighty gives us confidence. When you pray, you’re not just whispering hopes into the void. You are talking to the One who has the power to act. The one who split the Red Sea so His people could escape slavery, who calmed a raging storm with a word, who raised the dead. This is where the idea of “Father” and “Almighty” come together. God’s love would want to save us, and God’s power is able to save us. Willing and able – that’s our Father Almighty. If He was just mighty but not caring, He might be distant or terrifying. If He was loving but weak, He might be well-intentioned but ultimately helpless to answer our prayers. But He is both – compassionate and all-powerful.
Building on the Foundation of Faith
A good foundation is crucial. You don’t have to be a construction expert to know that if you build a house on a cracked or flimsy foundation, the whole house is in danger. The early Christians understood that knowing who God is – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is that bedrock. That’s why they crafted creeds like this one: to remind the church of the unshakable truths to stand on. The foundation of our faith is not a vague idea or a list of rules; it’s God Himself. And the very first plank of that foundation is knowing God as our Father Almighty.
It is crucial to affirm both the unity of God and the distinct personhood of the Father. The Father is not a separate god but fully God, sharing the same divine essence with the Son and the Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity teaches one God in three persons, not three gods.
The unity of the Godhead is a unity of essence and will. The Father, Son, and Spirit are coequal and coeternal, inseparably united in love and purpose. Yet, each person is distinct in relationship and role. The Father is the source, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father (and the Son). This relational distinction within the Godhead is not a division, but a perfect harmony. The Father’s role as the sender of the Son and Spirit demonstrates the loving cooperation within the Trinity. It also models for us the beauty of community, where unity does not erase individuality, but celebrates it.
If we believe that God is my loving Father and all-powerful Creator, how does that affect my daily life? It means we can trust Him in any situation. It means we are never alone. It means when we feel weak or scared, we can lean on One who is mighty and caring. We will never understand everything about God – He is infinite and beyond our full comprehension. But we can know Him truly as He has revealed Himself: a loving Father and a mighty Creator.
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