In the fourth chapter of the
book of Galatians, Paul has been using the example of an heir to
demonstrate the importance of the law of God before the promise of
God came. Once the promise of God arrived in Jesus, the law was
fulfilled and now all who believe in Jesus' substitutionary sacrifice
will not only be redeemed, but also become the very adopted sons or
children of God. There are benefits to being God's adopted kids, and
in chapter four and verse six we learn just how close to the Almighty
God we may become. Paul wrote:
And because you are
sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father.
Paul
begins, “And because you are sons...” Now that Jesus
Christ has made the way for us to be adopted, there is a special
relationship with God. We are not “sons” as Jesus because he was
the “only begotten” Son of God, however, we are adopted sons,
(and daughters of course.) It was by the grace of God that we now
have this relationship with Him, and this was the reason Jesus came.
Paul
continues, “God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Since we now are God's children,
God has added the special benefit of sending the “Spirit of his
Son” into our hearts. Think about this for a moment. God
Almighty, the Creator of the universe, the All-powerful, All-knowing,
and everywhere present God, has sent Jesus' Spirit into our hearts.
This did not have to be, and yet it is. This gift is beyond what we
might ever imagine, and yet God believed it necessary to supply for
one special reason - That we might call Him, “Abba Father.”
The word “Abba” is the Hebrew word for Father, and the word
“Pater”is the Greek word for “Father”. Paul the apostle
employed both words to show the unity of Jews and Greeks when in a
relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The endearing term “Abba”
is like our English word, “Daddy”, and since we have been given
the Spirit of Jesus by the grace of God, we too may have such an
intimate relationship with God that we may call Him “Daddy.”
All
through the Bible we read of God working in various ways to bring
people into a relationship with Him. Redemption is the overriding
theme of the Bible because God desires to have a family. We who
believe in Him and His Son Jesus are now adopted into His family, and
we have such close fellowship with Him that we may call Him our
Heavenly Dad. Perhaps there are some people reading these words today
did not have a great relationship with their dads, and because of
this is it difficult to relate to God as being “Dad”. If this is
the case, just know that the relationship God has in mind is one that
is meant to be so intimate that we may now call Him “Daddy”, not
in any manner of disrespect, but in such a closeness to Him that
every thought we have may be shared with our loving Heavenly Father.
Next time we will
see how we move from servant, to son, to heir, so read ahead, and let
us join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation
to Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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