You and I have a loving Father. One that we should tell the world about. The world doesn't know that Jesus came to adopt them into His family. The world doesn't know that Jesus came to be our brother and to make God our Abba, Father. The time is short for people to hear this message.
God's Many Names
God has many names in the Old Testament that witness to His might, His judgement and His character. Here are just a few of His names:
El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty)
El Elyon (The Most High God)
Adonai (Lord, Master)
Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah)
Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner)
Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd)
Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals)
Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There)
Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)
Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You)
Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)
Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace)
Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts)
In the Old Testament, God is also referred to several times as Father. In Isaiah 63:16 Isaiah says,
"Doubtless You are our Father, Though Abraham was ignorant of us, And Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. "
God Is Our Abba Father
In the New Testament Jesus calls God, Father (Abba). Harper's Bible Dictionary (1985) explains:
" He used not only the common Jewish ‘our [or your] Father’ (e.g., Matt. 5:45; 6:9) but also the intimate family word for ‘father’ in his native Aramaic language, abba, which was also appropriated in the later liturgical practice of the church (Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). Not only did the concept of God as ‘Father’ express the personal relationship to God affirmed by Jesus and the church (e.g., Matt. 11:25-27), but in that cultural setting the term included especially the connotations of obedience, agency, and inheritance. Those who address God as ‘Father’ acknowledge God as the one to whom absolute obedience is due (Matt. 7:21; 26:42) and themselves as the agents who represent God and through whom God works (Matt. 11:25-27; John 10:32) and as God’s heirs (Rom. 8:16-17)."
The word "Abba" places emphasis on the personal relationship that Jesus had with His Father and that we now have with God through Jesus. We have become spiritual brothers who will live eternally with our Father God, our "Abba" father. Paul tells us that, as Christians, we all have the Holy Spirit in us which makes us all children of God and spiritual brothers to one another.
"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15
The Best Of Fathers
And what a Father we have been blessed with! Our Heavenly Father knows us better than we know ourselves. He has set a path for our lives before we were even born, a path we shouldn't fear. He guides us and if we allow Him, He molds us into the person that we should become. He is the best of Fathers!
As we are obedient to our earthly fathers, so we should be even more obedient to our Heavenly Father. All He asks from us, He asks out of love. Even if we don't understand, His ultimate goal for us is to mold us into the likeness of Christ.
Abba Father Through Faith
In Galatians 4:6, Paul says that because we are sons of God it is His Holy Spirit who causes us to cry out, "Abba Father". And how do we become sons of God? According to Galatians 3:26, it is through faith! Our faith has made us His sons and because we are His sons the Holy Spirit resides in us. So we aren't crying out "Abba Father" all on our own, it is the Holy Spirit who lives in us who does this. As Jesus and the Father were one so can we be one with our Lord.
We Cry Out With Joy
This "crying out" is not done in sorrow, no, it is done in joy! We cry out with joy that our God loves us, provides for us, and cares for us more than any earthly father ever could.
What does your adoption by God mean to you? Have you ever really thought, really studied, about the relationship that God promises to give you. We are the children, through adoption, of the Creator of the Universe, the one who sent His only Son, slain before the foundation of the world, for us. He is our life giver. Only in Him can we know what life really can be.
Awe Filled Children
As the Lord has told us in Matthew 6:9, our Father's name is hallowed which means holy or sacred. We speak to our Father with humility and thanksgiving. We speak to Him as awe filled sons and daughters. Thanks be to God!
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