ABBA, FATHER!
ABBA, FATHER.
I like to believe that I was my late father’s favourite child. He used to call me “My darling daughter.” It had also been said that I was his spitting image, though that is now subject to much debate as I have also become the Xerox copy of my mother. I guess I have taken the best from both of them. When I was much younger and my father was alive, there were certain things I never had to worry about. I remember once at Uni, the protective wire mesh on the windows of my room were torn. When he came to visit and saw them, he promptly went into town and bought a new role of wire mesh complete with nails and all other tools and fixed them. Et Voila! Good as new. As parents we also go over, above and beyond to see our children comfortable. It is the natural thing to do.
So while sitting quietly today, I am reminded of some of the wonderful sacrifices my father made for my siblings and I. And I am suddenly jolted to the reality that even all those things can never compare to what our Heavenly Father has done for us all. A particular hymn that comes to mind is “Hark the herald angels sing” and the bit that says “GOD AND SINNERS RECONCILED!” At creation, God wanted to have an intimate relationship with man. But alas! That was not to be when scheming Satan came and hindered the plan. And it appeared that man began to constantly run away from a holy God. Yet God craved this relationship and He went as far as doing what is almost unimaginable. He gave His only Son to die in our place.
God used Jesus to bring us back to Himself. When Jesus prayed “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 KJV, It was an intimate prayer from the heart of a Son to a Father. And this is exactly how God would like us to approach Him. He wants us to tell Him that most intimate thought or fear that we would not dare share with anyone else.
“For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6 NLT This tells me that God has brought us up to His level. We are now seated with Him because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We are now sons just like Jesus. “And because we are his children God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Galatians 4:6 NLT
All this happened because of LOVE. God wants us to see Him as our Father. Every father loves their child. And God as our Heavenly Father loves us too. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3: 16 KJV.
So let us think back to how we felt when we first knew that a special someone loved us. I believe we were happy, thankful even, excited maybe, always wanting to spend time with them, wanting to know more about them, what they liked and so much more. We always made out time for them. Always. And we never had to be reminded to call them and ask how they were or how their day was going. Someone once told me that if you love someone you will never be incommunicado. You will find a way to get to them no matter how far away they are.
Dear friend, God loves us. And even when we were miles away from Him in sin, He reached out to us by sending His only Son, Jesus, to die for us. He reached out to us. He brought us up to His level, to be seated together with Him in heavenly places. Our earthly father never sent us to sit with the hired helps when it was lunch time. We sat at table with him. And that is what God has done. He has brought us to be with Him. He did this because He wants us around Him, He wants to know how we are doing. We should feel free and come to Him without fear. We should therefore be thankful for His Love. We should be excited about it, joyful even. Let the knowledge of God’s love for us put a spring in our step and a smile on our face. And let that knowledge bring us to intimacy with Him. He wants us to spend time with Him.
He is Abba, Father!
OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS ©