The teaching of Jesus concerning the Fatherhood of God was original and unique. In the Old Testament God is never addressed as "Father." Where references to His Fatherhood are made, He is referred to as the Father of the nation, and not of individuals. Indeed this was the reason why Jesus made the declaration of the Fatherhood of God the opening clause of what we call the "Lord's Prayer." It explains, for instance, the tremendous statement in Genesis that man is the image and likeness of God.
