Abba Father
Hello Bride of Christ,
"My dad's the best!" says my youngest son with his hands on his hips and his chest puffed out making himself stand taller. There is so much certainty in this statement. This statement is a fact as far as my son is concerned. As he said these words it was as if he was challenging his older brother to retort it.
Do you think your father is the best?
Some of us may have been fortunate to have a good father who modeled leadership, security, guidance, and protection. Yet some of us may have been fatherless or experienced abuse. Nevertheless, God uses this father relationship to describe Himself in relation to us. Join me today to look beyond the physical earthly father figures we often settle on and lock eyes on God. I believe God used the word father to describe Himself so that we can start from somewhere, but it is not meant to be the end destination.
In the bible the term father is used 30 times in the old testament and over 100 times referred to in the new testament. Jesus referred to God as father about 120 times in the new testament. Its frequency highlights its importance. Why would God want us to associate him to a father?
A father in the Hebrew culture has absolute rights over his children (Genesis 42:13). God has absolute rights of His children. No person or thing can come against us or happen to us without it going before God first. He ultimately decides. He is ultimately in control. He is the creator of the universe (James 1:17) and human race "Have we not one father? Has not one God created us?" (Malachi 2:10).
Also in Hebrew culture children are commanded to honor and obey their father (Exodus 20:12, Leviticus 19:3, Deuteronomy 5:16). God desires to be honored and obeyed by us.
A father represents ancestry and heritage. God has predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself (Ephesians 1:5) so as His children we could inherit every spiritual blessing (Ephesians1:3). "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out 'Abba, Father' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. " (Romans 8:15)
Bride of Christ, God refers to Himself as our father because He desires for you to know you belong to Him. You have an ancestry. You have an identity. You have an inheritance. You are not some far off person to Him. You are the apple of His eye, His beloved, His daughter and son. So may we respond with reverence and obedience from the deepest well of our hearts overflowing with praise as we rise up to shout "my dad is the best!" with as much confidence and assurance as my little son did that day.
