Abba! Series

HEBREWS 12:5-7, “AND HAVE YOU ENTIRELY FORGOTTEN THE ENCOURAGING WORDS GOD SPOKE TO YOU, HIS CHILDREN? HE SAID, ‘MY CHILD, DON’T IGNORE IT WHEN THE LORD DISCIPLINES YOU, AND DON’T BE DISCOURAGED WHEN HE CORRECTS YOU. FOR THE LORD DISCIPLINES THOSE HE LOVES, AND HE PUNISHES THOSE HE ACCEPTS AS HIS CHILDREN.’ AS YOU ENDURE THIS DIVINE DISCIPLINE, REMEMBER THAT GOD IS TREATING YOU AS HIS OWN CHILDREN. WHOEVER HEARD OF A CHILD WHO WAS NEVER DISCIPLINED? "

EVEN IF WE REJECT HIS DISCIPLINE, REBEL AGAINST HIS BEST FOR US, AND BRUSH-OFF HIS LOVE, GOD OUR FATHER, DESPITE IT ALL, STILL HAS GIVING YOU HIS BEST IN MIND. ROMANS 5:8, “BUT GOD SHOWED HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US BY SENDING CHRIST TO DIE FOR US WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS.”

THIS IS SIMPLY A GLIMPSE OF WHAT A FATHER IS LIKE BIBLICALLY. THIS IS THE TYPE OF INTIMACY AND RELATIONAL COMMUNION WE CAN HAVE WITH GOD AS “ABBA-FATHER.”

BUT IN ORDER TO TRULY DISCOVER AND EXPERIENCE THIS AND TO BE ABLE TO LEGITIMATELY CALL HIM “FATHER” IS TO ALLOW HIM TO ADOPT YOU AS HIS SON OR DAUGHTER.

YOU DO THIS BY ACCEPTING HIS GREATEST FORM OF LOVE THAT HE HAS GIVEN UNTO US: HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST. JOHN 3:16, CLEARLY STATES, “FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON, SO THAT EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.” HOW MUCH MORE LOVE COULD A FATHER POSSIBLY HAVE FOR HIS CHILDREN? HIS PEOPLE?

THE WORK OF CHRIST’S SACRIFICIAL DEATH IS GOD AT WORK, GOD SAVING THE WORLD, GOD EXTENDING HIMSELF INTO THE CONDITION OF OUR HUMANITY AND BRINGING ABOUT OUR REDEMPTION AND OUR RECONCILIATION. THAT IS LOVE.

THE CROSS OF CALVARY IS THE WORK OF GOD ALL ALONG. JESUS CHRIST CAME TO EARTH NOT IN ORDER TO CHANGE GOD’S MIND ABOUT US, BUT TO EXPRESS GOD’S MIND IN HOW MUCH HE TRULY LOVES US AND DESIRES NOTHING MORE THAN INTIMACY.

GOD, AS OUR FATHER, WORKED THROUGH THE BLOOD OF HIS SON JESUS CHRIST TO GIVE HIS CHILDREN INTIMACY THAT IS CLEARLY PURE, PERSONAL, LOVING, PASSIONATE AND ETERNAL.

COLOSSIANS 1:19-20, “FOR GOD IN ALL HIS FULLNESS WAS PLEASED TO LIVE IN CHRIST, AND BY HIM GOD RECONCILED EVERYTHING TO HIMSELF. HE MADE PEACE WITH EVERYTHING IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH BY MEANS OF HIS BLOOD ON THE CROSS.

I THINK IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT GOD DESIRES PARENTING AND BEING YOUR FATHER. HIS DESIRE IS ADOPTION AND SAVING YOU FROM THE CLUTCHES OF SIN SO THAT HE CAN HAVE YOU BACK AS A SON AND AS A DAUGHTER IN HIS FAMILY.

HIS PLAN, ALL ALONG, WAS TO RESCUE YOU FROM THE DEFEAT OF SIN, THE DEATH AND THE ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM HIM THAT IT BRINGS SO THAT YOU MAY BE RECONCILED TO HIM AS HIS CHILD. THAT IS A FATHER’S LOVE. THAT LOVE IS TRULY ABBA-FATHER.