Make It Real December 2010

Question: I hear a lot of people referring to the Heavenly Father as “Daddy” or “Papa” is this biblical?

Answer: God the Father is referred to as our “Abba” two places in the scriptures. We find this term of endearment for Father God being used by Jesus prior to His arrests in the garden. After Jesus has lifted up the prospect of dying on the cross and the humiliation that He must suffer, He cried out to His Father: And He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible to You; take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will. (Mark 14:36) I believe in the extreme intensity of this moment Jesus cried out to His Father using a term more personal than Father alone. Many scholars interpret Abba to be equivalent to a child crying out “Daddy”. The actual term in Greek means my father and indicates a very intimate and personal relationship with the Heavenly Father.

We find the term used in Romans 8:15 in the writings of Paul. Paul makes a powerful statement that those who are led by the Holy Spirit and not the flesh, have entered into the revelation that God has adopted them Himself and they can relate to Him as a personal Father or Daddy. This understanding of God will free people from the spirit of slavery to sin. We can enter into the revelation that we have are children of God. (Romans 8:15-16)

One of the most powerful truths concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus was His desire to reconcile us with the Father in a personal relationship. In Galatians chapter four you will see that in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son coming forth from the womb of a Jewish woman and therefore being under the Law of God. His plan was to redeem those under the Law that we could enter into the revelation of being adopted into the family of God. God sent forth His Spirit into our hearts that we might cry out Abba, Father. Jesus came that we could have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. (see Galatians 4: 4-6)

The Father was so satisfied with the finish work of the cross and the suffering that His Son Jesus endured that He gave Him the Name above every Name and made Him Lord over all. As we mature in our relationship with this wonderful God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) we will enter into the revelation that we are no longer slaves but sons and daughters of God.

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will heal the broken places in your heart from the attacks of the enemy that you will be able to embrace that God is your Abba, Father. That you would fellowship with Him and His Son Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit continues to lead you into deeper intimacy with the Lord. We are being prepared to have the eternal distinction of being His Bride, the Bride of Christ. May God take you into deeper realms of His Love this Holiday Season as we celebrate the unfolding of the plan of salvation for all of man-kind.