ABBA! FATHER!
Galatians 4:4-6 - "But when the time had fully come, God sent forth
his Son,
born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'
Romans 8:14-15 - For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you have received the spirit of adoption. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!'
Some people have had the privilege of having an earthly
father that they have lived with and address in some manner. Stop and think of how you addressed your own earthly father.
Some of us called our father, 'dad' or 'pops' - some today think it is great that 'formalities' have come to an end and address
their parents by their first name! In this authors opinion, this is the 'height' of disrespect, showing and
bestowing no honor on the 'head' of the family as ordained by God.
Regardless how you may have addressed your earthly father,
you did acknowledge their presence in your life.
If you are a Christian, how do you address your heavenly
Father?
In our scripture verses today we see that God sent His
Son's Spirit into our hearts to cry, Abba! Father! and as in 'Romans 8:16' this comes about as a witness with our spirits that we
are children of God.
Let us rewind back in history when this loving relationship was broken
because, man sinned in the garden of eden and from thence became seperated
from God as a Father to son/daughter relationship (Genesis 3:22-24). Therefore,
the nations of the world did not know God, and ancient israel could not address
him as their heavenly Father as yet, because everyone was still considered a
stranger to God as sinners (Ephesians 2:12). They, at that time, would call him
by his name such as "Jehovah", "the God of abraham", "the Lord of hosts", etc.
If, when you was a child with no parents, and a stranger walks up to you and
declare you to be his son/daughter, would you then and there call him father?
of course Not!! What if he goes through the adoption procedures and adopted you;
can he then be called your father? Yes indeed! Because you are now his son/daughter
by adoption, and therefore he is entitled to your respect as he being your father.
The scripture says we all are as little children when we are first-time christians
learning about God through his word (Matthew 18:2-3). As Christian beginners, the word
of God is as milk while we learn (1 Peter 2:2), just like being a baby (Hebrews 5:13).
As we continue in the word, we would grow in wisdom and understanding, so that the word
becomes as strong meat to us, and we are then as adults by experience (Hebrews 5:14).
Christ is the one through whom we become adopted as sons and daughters of God,
because of his death and resurrection which covered our sins by his blood;
he broke down that barrier of seperation between God and man and have made us
no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and the
household of God, so that we are reconciled unto God through his body (Ephesians 2:13-19).
Therefore, since Christ death and resurrection, we are now reconciled unto
our heavenly Father by adoption through the spirit of Christ (Romans 8:15).
We must, with respect, pray to God, in the name of Jesus, as our heavenly Father.
We cannot call him by his actual name anymore if we are sons of the inheritance, and of the kingdom (Galatians 4:7).
As many as have received Christ, he gave them the power to become the sons of God (John 1:12).
In Galatians, Paul is addressing the Christians - explaining
Through faith in Christ - salvation
came and God sends His Spirit into our hearts......and we cry, Abba! Father!
How would a father feel if his children always addressed
him by his surname such as, "Hello, Mr. Smith, may I have some money for an ice cream cone?" This seems a little
unnatural to our ears doesn't it? A child addressing their father would be telling us some things about their relationship
to the father........mainly that there wasn't one; even to the point of absolute emotional and social distance.
God wants our relationship with Him to be that of a
loving Father and child, not in such a way that no one could tell if He were your father or not.
I have heard God addressed by many names...by professing
Christians. One can tell how close the relationship is by the way God is addressed. It's sad when it's so formal that
the distance in the relationship is clear.
God wants us to have a close relationship with Him,
so that we automatically call Him Abba! Father!
His Spirit in us calls Him this.
Jesus in praying to God while here on the earth many
times called God, 'Father'...(John 17:1,5,11,21,24,25).
When Jesus taught the disciples how to pray He started
the prayer with.. "Our Father..." thus teaching us to call God - 'Father.'
Many other scriptures record Jesus referring to God
as ...'your Father'. Just read Matthew chapter 5 and you will see how Jesus was encouraging the disciples and those that believe
in Him and His words, to address God as 'Father'.
Why is this so important? What could this mean?
If we address God as our 'Father' it shows we have come
to the point that we are convinced that He is our Father and our relationship with Him is as it should be. We no longer distance
ourselves from Him, but understand our relationship to Him as a redeemed child through faith in the finished work of Jesus.
We identify with Christ and His relationship to the Father...we are 'fellow heirs' with Christ and our letting go of our formalities,
proves we are dependent and submit to His authority over us as our Heavenly Father. He not only has a 'dear' place in our
hearts, but He is respected as our all in all. We show respect for the Word of God that became flesh and dwelt among us by
following His example of a close relationship with the Father.
the Bible clearly teaches what our relationship
to the Father should look like.
God wants our relationship for Himself to be one of dependence
and love; not of formal and unloving.
If we could just get this in our hearts and minds, of how Jesus
came to show us the Father and what He was like....and what our relationship to the Father should be like.....
Abba! is more like..."Daddy!"......a dependent - endearment
attitude.
Addressing God in this manner is not wrong, nor does
it show 'irreverence".....God wants the Christians relationship to Him to be not like the world would address Him or
refer to Him....if they ever do.....He wants His child to approach Him with ultimate faith and trust in His Love for them.
To trust Him as one would; an earthly Father for every possible need.
Abba! Father!
Romans 8:17 refers to..." suffering with Him in order
that we may also be glorified with Him."
A close relationship with the Father will bring suffering.
However, for those of you that address God only and forever as if He were not your Father, but a distant God out there somewhere.....there
will never be any 'suffering'; you have not identified with the life of Christ, and the 'world' will love you for it, therefore
there will be no suffering for you. You have kept your distance and no one could detect that you were really sold out
to God and one of His family. You remained a distant 'follower' at best.
THOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME THY LORD IN VAIN:
altered pronunciations and euphemism for the name "God" such as:
oh my god, or jesus christ, when your vebal conduct has nothing to do with worship. There are also names such as:
gosh, golly, geesh, etc., are all words used in vain which are insultive to our "holy and just" God who
is offering himself to us in spirit, and is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish but that all people should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Jesus instructed us not call any other man 'Father'
on earth in reference to following after God in worship when He said:
"And call no man your father on earth, for you have
one Father, who is in heaven." Matthew 23:9
Abba! Father! a name reserved for our loving God that
through adoption, we are His children and have every right to call Him:
Abba! Father!
Other reserved names for God is "Rabbi" which means master (Matthew 23:8,10),
and did you know that the name
"Reverend" is only use for our
Lord God almighty?
Psalm 111:9
He sent redemption unto his people:
he have commanded his covenant for ever:
holy and Reverend is his name.
Matthew 6:9
(Jesus said,)"Pray then like this:
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name."
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