Abba

Galatians 4

1 If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up,

even though they actually own everything their father had.

2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set.

3 And that's the way it was with us before Christ came.

We were like children;

we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

(dan note: he means the Jewish law)

  4 But when the right time came,

God sent his Son,

born of a woman,

subject to the law.

5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law,

so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

6 And because we are his children,

God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,

prompting us to call out, "Abba, Father."

7 Now you are no longer a slave

but God's own child.

And since you are his child,

God has made you his heir.

Paul makes some pretty profound statements here.

Because of Jesus, God has made it possible for us to be His children.

Because of Jesus, the God of the universes,

high,

blindingly holy,

all powerful,

all knowing,

eternal,

chooses to adopt us as His children.

And He not only chooses to make us His children, but we are to enter into a relationship with Him that is intimate & familiar,

it is an relationship so intimate & familiar that we are free to call Him “Abba”,

which is an Aramaic term children use for their fathers, something along the line of “Papa”.

Now, absorb that for a second...

The God of the universes (a concept that will short circuit our brains if we think about it for very long) wants to draw us into a relationship with Him in which we are on intimate & familiar terms with Him, as a child to their Father.

And all He has, we have, as His children.

Think about that today.

Think about what He offers us, freely.

And think about what is the only reasonable response to such offer.