Professor and Father?

As most of you probably know, I’m a freshman at Southern Adventist University. My major is biology, and thought the bulk of my time is spent studying biology, I still have to take other classes. One of those classes is chemistry—and I’m taking it from my dad, who’s a chemistry professor at Southern! It’s an interesting experience having my father for my college professor, haha, actually it’s really cool. He teaches very well, and I appreciate being able to ask him chemistry questions outside of his office hours!

I was thinking about this unique situation, and two verses from Hebrews came to mind. I’ll share them with you in just a minute, but first let me share the preceding two, so you can get a bit of a background. Hebrews 4:12-13—

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

The important thing to get from this is how God knows everything. Onto v. 14-16:

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

These verses talk about our very unique relationship with Jesus. At one end of the spectrum, Jesus is God (which is very true)—EEK, He’s going to kill us for sinning and transgressing His law! (see Romans 3:23) But at the same time, YAY Jesus is our Savior. He came to this world, lived like us (“for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses…”), and died for us so we can live forever with Him if we so choose.

I approach my dad’s office with confidence, with no fear or trepidation whatsoever. Why? He’s still my professor who’ll give me a grade in chemistry. But at the same time, he’s also my father who loves me. Just like Jesus, who is God who will judge us, but also is our Savior who has paid the price to forgive our sins.

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him” --Psalms 103:11-13

So don’t worry about approaching God. You’ve got a Father up there!