Pastor's Blog

Father’s Day is a convenient time to reflect upon the biblical truth concerning God’s relationship to us who are regenerated believers.  That relationship is one of fatherhood.  In fact, even many non-evangelicals have as the first article of their creed belief in the Fatherhood of God.  One liberal hymn writer has penned these words (still sung in our evangelical churches):  “Thou our Father, Christ, our Brother—All who live in love are Thine.”  Well actually that’s not true; all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and receive the gift of free grace belong to Him.  Yet it is true that God is our Father.  But in what sense?

This can be a difficult concept, since we also know that the Bible indicates that the first person of the triune Godhead can be described in many other ways:  Creator, Master, King of Creation and (in the OT) King of Israel’s theocracy.  He is infinitely holy and dwells in blazing light upon which no man can gaze.  He is worshiped by myriads of angels, and in many ways is transcendent—far above us.  And yet, He is called “our Father.”  In fact, the Lord Jesus taught His disciples that when they began to pray, they should say, “Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name.”

One word appears in the original text of the NT that is especially precious in this regard.  It appears only three times.  It is the Aramaic word “Abba.”  The word was originally the language of small children:  “abba” meant “daddy,” and “imma” meant “mommy.”  Eventually, these were words even used by adult children, more or less equivalent to our “dad” and “mom.”  It was a term of endearment expressing intimacy and warmth.

The ancient Jews never used such language in addressing God, but during His earthly life and ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ apparently did, although we have only one recorded instance, and that was in the Garden of Gethsemane as He prayed:  “Abba!  Father!  All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will” (Mk 14:36).  At this point, our Lord had declared that His soul was deeply grieved to the point of death (v. 34).  In the moment of His most severe need, He audibly cried out to God as “Abba, Father.”  In so doing, He set an example for us.  How can we be sure of this?  How can we be sure that if we address God this way, we are not being irreverent?

The Apostle Paul provides the answer.  In Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6, he authorizes this way of addressing God.  Here’s Romans 8:14-15:  “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba!  Father!”  In other words, by virtue of our relationship as adopted sons of God through grace by faith in the Lord Jesus, we now have the right to speak to God in this way.  It is a right the Israelites never had; it is a right no unbeliever has, for God is their Judge.  But He is the Father of all believers, and as Paul goes on to point out, because the Lord Jesus is God’s Son and we are sons of God by adoption, we are with Him fellow heirs.  That’s why we can, as it were, climb up into our Heavenly Father’s lap, address Him as “Daddy,” and present our need to Him.  We have no right to be irreverent; God is still God, and we must not forget that.  But God is also our Father—and we must not forget that either.  We do have a right to be spiritually intimate with Him.

To address God as “Abba, Father” therefore takes our relationship with God, especially in our time of severe need, beyond merely an article of doctrine—that “Fatherhood of God” so popular in liberal theology—and places it in the context of a warm and loving personal family relationship of father and child.  This Father’s Day, when you tell dad you love him, don’t forget to tell your Heavenly Father that you love Him too!