Malachi 1:6 — A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honor? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

God, by His own word, is a Father. Now, one of the great mistakes this can lead to is for us to take our earthly father as the model for our Heavenly Father. Now maybe, like some lucky people I know, you had a wonderful father with whom you had a great relationship. Or perhaps, like some others, you had a father who was physically or emotionally abusive. Or, like me, maybe you had a Father who was absent for long periods of your childhood and young years. No matter. God is not modeled on your father, but your father should be modeled on him!
When we think of God, as Father, if we are to adopt any human perspective, perhaps it should be one that considers the relationship between an Old Testament Jewish father and his children. The father, it should be noted, had many responsibilities — especially to provide for the child. The child had a responsibility so great that it was one of the Ten Commandments : “Honor thy father and thy mother.” The Biblical command us reinforced by stern warnings — “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son … all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. (Deuteronomy 21:18-21) and “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.” (Proverbs 30:17)
We should make no mistake — God the Father is to be feared as well as loved. There is a foolish modern tendency to seek to play down the terrible power of the God of the flood, of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, of the driving out of the Canaanites. Not for nothing does Psalm 33:8 say “Let all the earth fear the Lord : let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.” It is but one of many scriptures to be found, especially in the Psalms, that make clear how dangerous the Father can be … And yet …
And yet, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:1-2). God has given us such a kind of love, unknown amongst men (that is the force of “what manner of love”) that we are like the children if His body. So great is that love that, although it cannot yet be seen, we are being transformed into the likeness of His firstborn Son, Jesus.
Understanding what the Father does for us — loving Him, and paying Him due. Modern research says that an involved earthly father has a positive impact on a child beyond that of any other person. How much more is the impact of our Heavenly Father, and how important that we acknowledge His person in the Trinity!