In Sacrament Meeting yesterday, our Sacrament hymn was hymn 191, Behold the Great Redeemer Die. The hymn focuses on the crucifixion of the Savior, and the third verse ends with the line, "He magnified his Father's will." However, when I sang the verse, I sang it wrong. I sang "He magnified the Father's will" (emphasis added).
The difference between "his" and "the" seems fairly minor. Either way, it's clear which entity the song is referring to. God is our Heavenly Father. The Father, Jesus' Father, is God. Yet, referring to Him as "the" Father makes an important an detrimental change to the tone of the song. Calling Him "the" Father is an acknowledgement of God's title, whereas referring to Him as "His" Father is an acknowledgement of God's relationship with Jesus.
Yet, even then, it feels to me like something's missing. God isn't just Jesus' Father; He's our Father, too. We have nearly the same relationship with God as Jesus does. He is as much our Father as He is Christ's, in every way except for one. Apart from not being our literal, physical, biological Father, God is our Father in every way that matters. By calling God "his," Jesus' Father, we emphasize Jesus' relationship with the Father, but we may potentially be deemphasizing our relationship with Him.
None of these words are the wrong word to use. God is The Father and Jesus' Father and ours. When singing about the crucifixion, it makes sense to remember that Jesus' relationship with God was and is special and personal. And at all other times, it's also important to remember that our relationship with God is special and personal as well.
