The King of the Universe Became My Father | A Father's Day Testimony

Don't believe the lie that no Jewish person can know God without knowing Jesus.

I know that statement will confront some people's theology, but I also know what I cannot deny.

I am Jewish.

As a child I believed in God.

God who was King.

God who was Almighty.

God who was Holy, seated on His throne.

When I prayed, I would say, "God, the Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." But in my mind, He was even more than that. He was the King of the universe.

And I knew He answered prayer.

When I was thirteen years old, my grandmother suffered a massive heart attack and was not expected to live. I asked God to heal her.

Later that same day I heard the doctor say to my parents,

"It's a miracle. Your mother will be okay. There's no earthly explanation."

Years later, when I was a sophomore in college, I had a dream.

My paternal grandfather, who had already passed away, came to our house and picked up my grandmother, his wife. I watched them from the window walking down the street, arm in arm, dressed as though they were going somewhere together.

I knew the dream was from God.

The next morning I called home.

My parents, not wanting to upset me because I was hundreds of miles away at school, confirmed what they had decided not to tell me.

My grandmother had passed away that very night.

While I was in college, too far away to walk to a synagogue, I would often go to church with my Catholic friends.

And every single time I prayed the same prayer.

"God, the Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… none of this Jesus stuff."

Yes, that was exactly my prayer. And sometimes I laugh when I think about it.

God must have smiled, knowing that three years later He had already planned an encounter between me and His Son.

There were other answered prayers between my sophomore year of college and that unforgettable night in a loft in Greenwich Village when I asked what would become the question of my life.

"God, Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — I know You would not lie to me. If You have a Son, and His name is Jesus, show me."

And He did. So how can this be?

Jesus said,

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)

Just a breath later He said,

"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."(John 14:7)

I cannot fully explain the mystery. I only know my experience.

Somehow, miraculously, I did know God.

But after meeting Jesus, something definitely changed.

God was no longer simply the King of the universe — ultimate authority, ultimate power, holy and, if I'm honest, a little scary.

He became my Father.

Not simply the Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

My Father.

The picture in my mind changed.

Instead of thunder and lightning and fire on Mount Sinai, I began to see Someone approachable. Someone before whom I would gladly bow in worship, but Someone I could also stand beside. Someone who might just put His arm around me as a father embraces his child.

As the years passed, the encounters with the tenderness of my Father grew deeper and deeper, until the image of a distant authority figure was slowly overwritten by perfect love.

The need to fast changed.

The reason I repent changed.

The need to perform for acceptance changed.

Everything changed.

Many Christians judge Jewish people, yet live exactly as I lived before I encountered Jesus — knowing about God, believing in God, trying to please God, while never fully resting in the Father's love.

Jesus did not simply come to save us from sin.

He came to bring us home.

Every day our Father invites us into His perfect fatherhood. But today, especially on Father's Day, my prayer is that we will stop relating to Him as though He is only King — and remember that through Jesus, His Son, He has become our Father.

For me, that one revelation changed everything.

Happy Redeemed Father's Day!