Abba NoG10

Let us look tonight a name for God that is truly personal for each one of us. We are going to look at God as our Abba. The translation for this word is father.

 But it is more personal, it is more like how a little kid says daddy. If your father was around when you were growing up I’m sure you had this sense that he could do anything. That it didn’t matter what happened, your daddy was going to take care of you.

In the same way God is there for us, he is there to take care of us and direct us just the way a father does. We have been looking at all of these names for God that show how powerful he is or how he fights for us, but it is important to know also that he is our Father and that he cares for just like a father.

Jesus refers to God as his Father, and we can call on God as our father Luke 11:2  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

This was an important distinction Jesus was making about how we are to approach God and how the Jews had been doing. If you remember weeks ago when we talked about Yahweh, how the Jews would not even speak that name for God out of reverence to him. I am not saying that we shouldn’t have reverence for the name of God but what I am saying is that we are Gods children, so we should not be afraid to come before our Father at any time. Romans 8:15  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.

Now let us begin looking at the characteristics displayed by God as our Father, we have already looked at some of these in the past weeks. But I know it didn’t click with me that they were all revealed through this one name of God. That is God as our Abba.

We are going to look at God our Father as Love. 1 John 4:8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

We all have people that we love, be it children, parents, or spouses but God not only loves us he is Love so love is from God. If we know what love is and how to show love to other people how much more can God show love to us since he is love. Just like an earthly father shows love to his children, God shows love to us. There are many instances in Bible that shows that God loves us, but the greatest example is the sacrifice of his son on the cross. Just like how an earthly father makes sacrifices for his children God made that sacrifice for us. God love us so much that he has given us the time to come back to him and he gives us a chance to get to know and grow up as Christians.

Another thing that fathers do for their kids is to provide for them. In the same way God as our Heavenly Father provides for all of our needs. Php 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus..

God knows what we need before we ask him, it sounds very simple but all we need do is to ask him and the need will be fulfilled. An earthly father goes off to work every day to provide for the needs of his family. In the same way God works all of the time to make sure that our needs are met. He may work directly to provide us with a job or some sort of physical help but most of the time he speaks with and provides to the counsel we need to make the correct decisions.

Just like an earthly father guides and directs his children so to our Heavenly Father guides us.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

When we are faced with a decision that needs to be made then we need to take it before God and seek out what his will is. Just like how we seek out counsel from our earthly fathers, and other Godly people. But our heavenly Father knows more and he is perfect so his guidance will always be true.

I know in my and Rachel’s life we have been asking God for guidance on what our next steps are going to be. We just are not sure were God is trying to send us or what he wants us to do and accomplish. We must remember to seek out God in all of our life decisions.

Let us think about how little we know due to our short period of time we are on earth compared to God, so we are like very young children in comparison, so we do not know much. So we need to seek the guidance of our heavenly father just like a young child does with his earthly father.  

God not only provides for our needs but just like our earthly father he wants to give us what is best. Jesus makes a very good point about the quality of gifts that God provides for us in Luke 11:11-13  

 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?  Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

This is a very true statement, would you intentionally give something to the person you love that could hurt them? Of course not. In the same way God provides for our needs and gives us what helps us. God’s gifts are so much better than anything that we can imagine. Now our Abba providing what is best for us does not mean that he will provide what we want.  In the same way a parent provides vegetables for the child because they are good for them even if the child does not like them, God sometimes must place us in situations that we do not want to be in so we can receive the gift that he is providing.

Another thing a father does is to protect his children. God protects us as well.

 Psalms 121:5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.

Psalms 121:7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

Just like when children are growing up and the parents try and keep them from harm and put them in good positions, God does that for us. We will face struggles and we will face hurts but our Father is still there, he is making sure that we are protected. Being protected by God does not mean that we will not face situations that hurt but what it means is that God is with us and provides a way for us to survive it and learn from a bad situation. A picture I thought of was when a parent is teaching their child to ride a bike, the child is going to fall and maybe get hurt but the will learn from the experience.

Most parents don’t place a child on a bike without a helmet to protect them falling. In the same way God as our father will place us in difficult positions so that we learn and we may get hurt a little but we will be ok. God will be right there to pick us up and tell us to get back on the bike and try again.

A good father will listen to his children so that he knows what is going on in their lives and so he can know how to be a good father, in the same way God does this for us.

Psalms 55:17  Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

It is not good for someone to be taking care of children if they are not listening to them. Our Heavenly Father is always paying attention to us, he hears us when we talk to him and he will give us answers. God just like any good father is available for his kids. He wants to spend time with us but we are the ones that have to make the time to spend with him. Just like spending time with our parents on earth makes us closer to them so does spending time with our heavenly father. So we need to be communicating with him and spending time getting to know him.

Our Father also is with us, he goes before us and stands next to us.

Deu 31:8  And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

 This part of Gods charter as a Father is similar to listening to his children because he is with us always. He does not leave us. The way I have been viewing this is that God as our Father is looking at us and we are like 3 or 4 year olds. Meaning we are helpless without our Father. Think about that a little kid is not able to care for themselves, or to do things on their own. They are reliant upon their father for everything.

In the same way we as Gods children are reliant on our heavenly Father for all things. Just like a parent is around their child to take care of them so is God with us. Our Heavenly Father cares for us so much so he is available to us whenever we ask. Just like any good father.

Then just as any earthly father does to his children our Heavenly Father disciplines us

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

I know for me growing up I did not like it when I was in trouble and had to be disciplined by my parents but looking back on it now I know it was needed. So God knows this, God knows that we need to be reprimanded if we stray outside of his will. Part of discipline is that children need boundaries that are set by the parents, God sets up very clear boundaries in his word, he provides us the law so we know what to do and what not to do. He also has set up very clear punishments if we fail to do what he calls us to do. God does not discipline us because he is mean or angry he disciplines his children because it is what is needed for us to grow. We need to be growing so that we are more like our Father.

God as our father is an overarching name. Meaning it has a lot of different parts. But the important thing is that they point us toward the fact that God wants what is best for us. Everything that he does is meant to help us and draw us closer to him. We are looking at God not as this big distant scary thing but as our daddy, we need to view God for what he is to his children, a caring and loving daddy.

Galatians 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Through Jesus we have been adopted by God as sons and thus we are able to come to our Abba and talk with him and know that he has our best interest at heart.

Our Heavenly Father has adopted us as his children

Ephisians 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,.

Which we have talked about, but the important thing to remember is back when this letter was written once a person was adopted they had all of the rights of a natural son but more so than that of a natural son, who could have their rights revoked by the father. Not so with someone adopted by the parent. So by God adopting us and deciding to be our Father and our daddy then we cannot lose our rights as his son unless we choose to reject God.

The important things to remember about our Abba is that yes he is God and is all powerful but we are his children and he will never leave us or give up on us and he only wants what is best for us. This is a name for God that shows how much he cares for and loves us. So when we have been going through a tough time or we just need someone to understand then it is time to climb into our daddy’s arms. Try to spend some time with your Abba today.