“Father” “Perfect Father” “My Father in Heaven, hallowed be thy name” These are the words of a child addressing her divine Father. “Abba, Father,” these are the words of Jesus addressing His divine Father (Matthew 14:36), but also the words of His Spirit, whom God has sent into our hearts (Galatians 4:6).
This is my very favorite and most life-changing aspect of my relationship with God. So, when sitting down to write about it, I thought, “this will be something I will be able to write about!” But when it came to writing, instead of words, I had tears, instead of thoughts, I had story after story of God as my Father. Instead of knowledge/doctrine of God, I have intimate moments, knowledge of God’s love for me, His knowing me, His protection, His provision, His comfort, His assurance, and His counsel. The greatness in knowing God as my Father is in the smallness of knowing that I am His child.
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”-Romans 8:14-15
For more, check out Romans 8:12-17 and Galatians 4:1-11.
"He is contrasting the fear of a slave with the affection of a son. The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to change our slavish fears toward God into confident, happy, peaceful affection for God as our father.” – John Piper
J.I. Packer states, “Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption” and describes adoption as “the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification.” (justification: tried and found innocent)
Not only are we found innocent of our trespasses, our daily strivings for other things over God, but we are adopted into relationship with God our Creator & not just into any relationship, but as a child with God as a Perfect Father! It’s like what Jesus has!
We are children of the Most High; this is our unique & powerful new identity! Being a child of God is a whole new identity. Being a child of God is non-circumstantial. I know no instances in the Bible where people got everything together and everything right in their life and that is where they met God. I met God as my Perfect Father when I was broken and in need of a Father. That is where I meet Him still.
All this is ours in Christ Jesus. It’s all free. And it’s not in response to our worth. Love is not based on another’s worth, it is based on the lover’s ability to love. And in the end, His divine love is an overflow of His worth. In God doing what only God is able, in His passion He went to the cross, defeated death, shattered brokenness and self-salvation to point to what is greater than all things, to what will make us supremely happy forever, namely HIMSELF. He gives us more than a new identity, a new way of life, He points all things to Himself and works to give us what is best, and that is Himself, as our Most Perfect and Supremely Passionate and Intimate Father.
Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
This is the intimacy God seeks to have with us and sends His Spirit to aide in our intimate relationship (“God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’"- Galatians 4:6). In crying to our Father; He knows that we need a Father to cry to in this broken world. He knows me and knows that I cannot find satisfaction apart from Him.
Take some time to be alone with your Father. I have “Father/Daughter dates” with Him. Jesus escaped to be alone with the Father (Mark 1:35); as women and men fighting to be close to God in a distance-prone, individualistic society, we must escape to be alone with Him, for our spirits to cry “Abba, Father!” I can’t do this on my own anymore! After all, how can we be comforted if we’re always comfortable? How can we be counseled if we’re always “okay”? How can we be helped if we don’t need anybody? How can we have a relationship with the Father if we do not know that we are His child?
