The passages below are gathered largely, but probably not exclusively, from Bavinck. There are a few cases where I’m not sure Bavinck has interpreted/classified the passage correctly, but I’ve still left those passages in the listing as worthy of consideration.
God’s fatherhood of the Son is his particular personal attribute. He alone is of himself, the first in the order of existence (John 5:26) and hence the Father both in creation and re-creation, from whom all things exist (1 Cor. 8:6). [Bavinck, RD, 2:272.]
Uniquely the Father of the Son
In a unique metaphysical sense God is the father of his Son. Jesus consistently makes an essential distinction between the relation in which he himself, and that in which others—the Jews, the disciples—stand to the Father. [Bavinck, RD, 2:272.]
Matthew 11:25–27—25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Luke 22:29—and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom,
John 2:16—16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”
John 5:17—But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
John 5:18–24—This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 14:6–13—Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 17:25–26—O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 20:17—Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
Romans 15:6—that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:24—Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
2 Corinthians 1:3—Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
Galatians 1:1—Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—
Ephesians 1:1—Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
The Father as Creator of All Things
The Father is “the Creator of all things . . . . All things derive their existence form him.” (Bavinck, RD, 2:269).
In its most general sense, this name [Father] refers to God as the creator of all his works, especially of humankind. [Bavinck, RD, 2:272]
Numbers 16:22—And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”
Matthew 7:11— If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Luke 3:38—the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Acts 17:28—28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
1 Corinthians 8:6—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
Ephesians 3:15—from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
Hebrews 12:9—Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
The Father’s Foreknowledge, Election, Power, Love, and Kingdom
The ‘good pleasure,’ the foreknowledge, the election, the power, the love, and the kingdom all belong to the Father. [Bavinck, RD, 2:270.]
Matthew 6:13—And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 11:26—yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
John 3:16—“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 8:29—For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Ephesians 1:9—making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
1 Peter 1:2—according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Creator of Israel
God is Israel’s father inasmuch as he created and preserved his people by his marvelous power. Bavinck, RD, 2:272
Deuteronomy 32:6—Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?
Isaiah 63:16—For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.
Isaiah 64:8—But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Malachi 1:6—“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
Malachi 2:10—Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Jeremiah 3:19—“ ‘I said, How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.
Jeremiah 31:9—With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Romans 9:4—They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
God as Father of Believers in an Ethical Sense
In the New testament this meaning [of the name Father] changes into the ethical one in which God is the father of his children. Bavinck, RD, 2:272
Matthew 6:4—so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:8–9—Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Romans 8:15—For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”’
Concluding Thought
Both in the Old and in the New Testament, God is the Father who occupies first place. His is the purpose (Acts 4:28; Eph 1:11), the good pleasure (Matt. 11:26; Eph. 1:9), the initiative in creation and re-creation (Ps 33:6; John 3:16), the kingdom and the power (ἐξουσια, δυναμις, Matt. 6:13 KJV; Rom. 3:26; 2 Tim. 4:8), the righteousness (Gen. 18:25; Deut. 32:4; John 17:25; Rom. 3:26; 2 Tim. 4:8), the goodness, wisdom, immortality, unapproacble light (Matt. 19:17; Rom. 16:27; 1 Tim. 6:16). He, accordingly, regularly bears the name ‘God’ in a special sense. He is Elohim, YHWH Elohim, El Elyon, El Shaddai, the one true God (μονος ἀληθινος θεος, John 17:3), the one God (ἐις θεος, 1 Cor. 8:6; 1 Tim. 2:5), who is mentioned as God and Father alongside the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:6; 2 Cor. 13:13; 1 Thess. 1:3; Rev. 1:6) Even Christ not only calls him his Father but also his God (Matt. 27:46; John 20:17; Heb. 1:9; 2:17; 5:1; 10:7, 9) and is himself called ‘the Christ of God’ (Luke 9:20; 1 Cor. 3:23; Rev. 12:10). [Bavinck, RD, 2:272.]