The apostle Paul also taught about this very topic and the sincerest desires of God to have that relationship of father-child with each believer. Paul wrote For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father (Romans 8:15) and again in another one of his epistles, And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father (Galatians 4:6). This “Abba Father” is the exact same calling upon God as Jesus did the night he prayed in the garden in his appeal that God’s will be done: And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt (Mark 14:36). Every parent knows that special name, whether it be mommy, daddy, momma, or even papa that when our children call it, it really means something special to us. We know we have the hearts of our children when they use those names. Our children say them when they are happy, sad, mad, hurting, sick, or just need that reassuring hug from us. God wants to be there for us as we are there for our children. He wants us to cry to him as our children come to us. When we are brokenhearted, distressed, sick, hurting, mad, sad, and even in times where everything seems to go our way.
It doesn’t end there. The apostle Paul also wrote And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Galatians 4:6-7). Not only does he desire us to have the relationship of father-child with us, he has elevated us to the status of an heir. According to the English common law that most of our states’ laws are based upon, an adoption actually entitles the child with all the same benefits that a naturally born child would inherit from their parents. God is reminding us that as his child, we have the same promises and benefits of Scripture as would a child of Abraham, Issac, and Israel. Providing we accept the free gift of salvation and allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, we can enjoy fellowship with the Father as did the Lord Jesus Christ when he lived on this world.
Paul also wrote about one of the sincerest desires of God, For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world (Philippians 2:13-15). As I have shared my faith with others, occasionally I get the objection that God will want to take them over and make them into “little Jesus fanatics.” Nothing could be farther from the truth; consider how we parent our own children. We want our children to grow up with a firm foundation fully understanding right and wrong. We want our children to be better than what we are academically, financially, and so forth. We don’t want our children burdened by the complications of doing the same mistakes we made in the past and in our youthful ignorance. We guide them throughout their lives – and ours – by modeling the behaviors we want them to emulate, by setting boundaries that keep them safe from physical harm. God wants to do the same for us – not to make our lives miserable – but to keep us from spiritual harm and the physical consequences of sin.
