Abba, Father

Romans 8:14-16

Of all of the names of God that appear in the Bible, only one was revealed to us through the life of Jesus in the New Covenant. Jesus said, “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world” (John 17:6). Jesus never revealed Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Nissi, Jehovah-Shalom or any of the other Old Testament Hebrew names for God; but He did reveal “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36). Jesus brought God from the distant mountain of Sinai to the close mountain of Zion. We now can see God as our Everlasting Father and as our Abba.

The Holy Spirit was so jealous of this word ‘Abba’ that He refused to allow the translators to change it. It appears three times in the New Testament, with the third coming in Galatians 4:6. It means “daddy”, and it remains the most intimate way to address our fathers unto this day. By giving the believer the right to call God, “Abba”, and the Holy Spirit is testifying of the fatherly love that our heavenly Father shows toward us.

“Abba, Father” removes the distance between God and man, bridging the divide that our law-keeping and our sinning have created. No longer do we view Him as angry and judgmental; but now He is our daddy that takes us in His arms and protects us from all harm.

Before we know God as Abba, we fear Him because of our failures and sins. This is why Paul tells us that we have not received the spirit of bondage “again to fear”. We feared God in an unholy way before we met Christ, and this fear was bondage. Now that we are redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus, we no longer are in bondage to fear.

When Paul tells the Galatian church that they can cry “Abba, Father”, he goes on explain to them that they should “Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). Only when you feel the distance between you and God has been taken out will you cry out to Him as your daddy. When you feel that comfort to call Him that, you will know that you have been made free from the Law of performance and works. To go back into that formalism, where God is not your daddy, is to go back to law, which brings back the yoke of bondage.

We have the Spirit of adoption working in us, identifying us as God’s prized possessions. Since we have been adopted into His family, we are joint-heirs with Christ, meaning that we receive everything that He has coming to Him. He has paid it all, and now due to the adoption process of God, we are the recipients!

Never feel condemned for getting on intimate terms with God. Some will tell you that God is holy and august and that if you call Him “Daddy” you are getting too familiar with Him. Don’t you dare say that to my daughter about how she should talk to me! She belongs to me and I belong to her and she has the right to call me “Daddy” anytime and every time that she desires. I never want her to feel so distanced from me that she feels it necessary to call me “Pastor Paul”; that would turn my stomach! If you are that close to your children, how much closer do you think our Daddy God wants to be to us?

He Ever Lives

Genesis 18:23-33

Our text is regarding Abraham praying for the sparing of Sodom due to the righteous people living there. One of those people was his nephew Lot, who would actually prove to be the only righteous one in the entire city. Abraham starts the intercession by asking God if He would destroy the righteous with the wicked, which of course God would never do. He then asks if God would spare it for 50 righteous, then 45, then 30, then 20 and finally, 10. Each time that Abraham lowers the number, God agrees to spare the city if He can find that many righteous.

There are two important things about Abraham’s prayer: the manner in which he prays and the place that he stops. His manner is very shaky, with trepidation and fear, showing us that he fears to even petition God in this way. He calls himself “dust and ashes” (verse 27), he begs, “let not the Lord be angry” (verse 30), and then asks again, promising to speak “yet but this once” (verse 32). He is afraid of a God that just promised to make of him a “great and mighty nation” (verse 18). Why would he be afraid to ask for anything, knowing that God has favored him?

A lack of understanding of covenant is one of the downfalls of the modern Christian. If we knew who we are because of Jesus Christ, we would stop praying as Abraham prayed in this chapter. We need not beg our Daddy God, for it His desire to give us the kingdom: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

We should also look at where Abraham stops his prayer. Based on the prayer itself, can we assume that if Abraham had continued his trend of taking the number down, and had ended at only 1 righteous, would God have agreed to spare the city? God had already agreed 5 times to Abraham’s prayer, so why not ask once more. I have often wondered if Abraham stopped praying too soon!

I used to preach this passage of scripture by saying “Don’t stop interceding! If you stop too soon, people may not get what they need”. I didn’t understand that I was making God distant and hesitant to move. This brought shame to the covenant of Jesus Christ, who never moves because we are persistent or because we are good. If this is not how this passage is to be interpreted, then what should we glean?

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus is now the intercessor! He “ever liveth” to do that very thing. Rest assured that He will not stop petitioning the Father on your behalf. Where man may stop at “will you spare it for 10?”, Jesus will continue on until there is only you! You are of such importance to Christ that while you were an enemy in your mind against God, Christ died for you (Colossians 1:20, 21; Romans 5:10).

Take solace in the fact that your Redeemer ever lives to intercede on your behalf. Nothing can befall you that Jesus has not already conquered. You are deeply loved and highly favored in Christ Jesus.

Abba, Father

Romans 8:14-16

Of all of the names of God that appear in the Bible, only one was revealed to us through the life of Jesus in the New Covenant. Jesus said, “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world” (John 17:6). Jesus never revealed Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Nissi, Jehovah-Shalom or any of the other Old Testament Hebrew names for God; but He did reveal “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36). Jesus brought God from the distant mountain of Sinai to the close mountain of Zion. We now can see God as our Everlasting Father and as our Abba.

The Holy Spirit was so jealous of this word ‘Abba’ that He refused to allow the translators to change it. It appears three times in the New Testament, with the third coming in Galatians 4:6. It means “daddy”, and it remains the most intimate way to address our fathers unto this day. By giving the believer the right to call God, “Abba”, and the Holy Spirit is testifying of the fatherly love that our heavenly Father shows toward us.

“Abba, Father” removes the distance between God and man, bridging the divide that our law-keeping and our sinning have created. No longer do we view Him as angry and judgmental; but now He is our daddy that takes us in His arms and protects us from all harm.

Before we know God as Abba, we fear Him because of our failures and sins. This is why Paul tells us that we have not received the spirit of bondage “again to fear”. We feared God in an unholy way before we met Christ, and this fear was bondage. Now that we are redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus, we no longer are in bondage to fear.

When Paul tells the Galatian church that they can cry “Abba, Father”, he goes on explain to them that they should “Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). Only when you feel the distance between you and God has been taken out will you cry out to Him as your daddy. When you feel that comfort to call Him that, you will know that you have been made free from the Law of performance and works. To go back into that formalism, where God is not your daddy, is to go back to law, which brings back the yoke of bondage.

We have the Spirit of adoption working in us, identifying us as God’s prized possessions. Since we have been adopted into His family, we are joint-heirs with Christ, meaning that we receive everything that He has coming to Him. He has paid it all, and now due to the adoption process of God, we are the recipients!

Never feel condemned for getting on intimate terms with God. Some will tell you that God is holy and august and that if you call Him “Daddy” you are getting too familiar with Him. Don’t you dare say that to my daughter about how she should talk to me! She belongs to me and I belong to her and she has the right to call me “Daddy” anytime and every time that she desires. I never want her to feel so distanced from me that she feels it necessary to call me “Pastor Paul”; that would turn my stomach! If you are that close to your children, how much closer do you think our Daddy God wants to be to us?

He Ever Lives

Genesis 18:23-33

Our text is regarding Abraham praying for the sparing of Sodom due to the righteous people living there. One of those people was his nephew Lot, who would actually prove to be the only righteous one in the entire city. Abraham starts the intercession by asking God if He would destroy the righteous with the wicked, which of course God would never do. He then asks if God would spare it for 50 righteous, then 45, then 30, then 20 and finally, 10. Each time that Abraham lowers the number, God agrees to spare the city if He can find that many righteous.

There are two important things about Abraham’s prayer: the manner in which he prays and the place that he stops. His manner is very shaky, with trepidation and fear, showing us that he fears to even petition God in this way. He calls himself “dust and ashes” (verse 27), he begs, “let not the Lord be angry” (verse 30), and then asks again, promising to speak “yet but this once” (verse 32). He is afraid of a God that just promised to make of him a “great and mighty nation” (verse 18). Why would he be afraid to ask for anything, knowing that God has favored him?

A lack of understanding of covenant is one of the downfalls of the modern Christian. If we knew who we are because of Jesus Christ, we would stop praying as Abraham prayed in this chapter. We need not beg our Daddy God, for it His desire to give us the kingdom: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

We should also look at where Abraham stops his prayer. Based on the prayer itself, can we assume that if Abraham had continued his trend of taking the number down, and had ended at only 1 righteous, would God have agreed to spare the city? God had already agreed 5 times to Abraham’s prayer, so why not ask once more. I have often wondered if Abraham stopped praying too soon!

I used to preach this passage of scripture by saying “Don’t stop interceding! If you stop too soon, people may not get what they need”. I didn’t understand that I was making God distant and hesitant to move. This brought shame to the covenant of Jesus Christ, who never moves because we are persistent or because we are good. If this is not how this passage is to be interpreted, then what should we glean?

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus is now the intercessor! He “ever liveth” to do that very thing. Rest assured that He will not stop petitioning the Father on your behalf. Where man may stop at “will you spare it for 10?”, Jesus will continue on until there is only you! You are of such importance to Christ that while you were an enemy in your mind against God, Christ died for you (Colossians 1:20, 21; Romans 5:10).

Take solace in the fact that your Redeemer ever lives to intercede on your behalf. Nothing can befall you that Jesus has not already conquered. You are deeply loved and highly favored in Christ Jesus.