Apart from the cross, God is our judge. Under the cross, he is our father.

Question and answer 120 of the Heidelberg Catechism:

Question 120. Why has Christ commanded us to address God thus: "Our Father"?

Answer: That immediately, in the very beginning of our prayer, he might excite in us a childlike reverence for, and confidence in God, which are the foundation of our prayer: namely, that God is become our Father in Christ, and will much less deny us what we ask of him in true faith, than our parents will refuse us earthly things.

Kim Riddlebarger, senior pastor of Christ Reformed Church (URCNA) in Anaheim, California, in his "For the Weekend of March 28-29" article in the March Tabletalk magazine states that it's not uncommon to hear critics of Reformation theology complain that Martin Luther, John Calvin, and those who followed them were so preoccupied with the justification that they depreciated adoption.

"This charge stems from the Reformation (and biblical) doctrine of justification, in which it is understood that the righteousness of Christ is reckoned (or imputed) to a sinner through the means of faith, so that the sinner is given a right-standing before God and therefore saved from His wrath," said Riddlebarger.

The charge is not true, said Riddlebarger, because "John Calvin and the Westminster confession of Faith speak about the importance of the biblical doctrine of adoption (wherein we become members of God's family) because God does not justify individuals and leave them on their own without uniting them to Himself through Christ. God incorporates all justified sinners into a covenant community (the church) and grants them access to the very throne of God (Rom. 8:26-27; 1 John 2:1-2). All justified sinners are the adopted children of God. ... once the sinner is justified, that same sinner now enjoys a wonderful new status as a child of God. The sinner, who was formerly estranged from God, is now a full member of God's family (Eph. 2:11-17). This new right-standing (justification) grants all the children of God access to His throne, and this unfettered access to the presence of God is the means through which we as God's children are protected, preserved, given gifts of the Spirit, and even chastened as needed."

"The Heidelberg Catechism does not speak of the doctrine of adoption per se," continued Riddlebarger, "but as something implied by the very first petition of the Lord's Prayer in question 120. Apart from Christ, we cannot speak of God as our Father, only as our creator and judge. As our creator and judge, God remains distant, even threatening to us because of our sins. There is no intimacy with God, and we dare not even approach Him. Once we are justified, because Christ's perfect and faultless righteousness has been reckoned to us through faith, God is no longer our judge. He is now 'our Father.' This comes about because God has already placed Christ under His judgment (the cross) so that we need never fear His wrath. Christ has borne that wrath in His own flesh. He was judged for us and in our place. Apart from the cross, God is our judge. Under the cross, He is our Father. ...

"If God is our Father, then by implication we are His children," concluded Riddlebarger. "We revere our God. We can trust Him in all things. Because we do, we can approach Him confidently in prayer, knowing that He hears us and that He delights in our feeble efforts to communicate with Him. But the only way we, as sinners, can become the adopted sons and daughters of God is because of Christ. His death for our sins and His perfect righteousness grants us a right-standing before God."

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