The Names of God - Abba Father

Introduction
A few weeks ago, a friend told me a funny story I thought you might like.
God said, it’s not good for man to be alone.  So God brought various animals to Adam to see what he would call them and see if any would be a good companion for man, but none were a good match.  So God made a companion for man.Now, you know God created a woman from Adam’s rib to be his perfect companion. But here’s a funny joke about God’s trial run.

First, God said, “I will create a companion that will reflect My perfect love for you.  Regardless of how
selfish and childish and unlovable you may be, this companion will always accept you just as you are and will love you as I do, no matter what.”  And God built the animal and it came up to Adam wagging it’s tale and licking his face.  And Adam said, “Since you are a reflection of God’s love, I will name you ‘DOG’!” 

Everything was going well, until a Satan complained to God. “Dog loves Adam so much he will become puffed up with pride.  Dog thinks Adam can do no wrong!  Adam needs to learn humility!”  

So God created Cat to be Adam’s companion along with Dog.  And Cat would not obey Adam.  And when Adam gazed into Cat’s slitted eyes, he knew man is not the supreme being. And Adam learned humility.  And God was pleased.  And Adam was pleased. And Dog wagged it's tale.  And Cat didn’t care one way or the other. 

This summer, we are studying the names of God from the Bible to learn what God is really like.  God is infinite, and His character is vast.  I challenge you to expand your thinking about God and consider the many beautiful facets of His character.  Most of all, I want you to follow God as the fulfillment of your life’s true purpose. 

So far, we have learned that God is Elohim—that He is many and one, both plural and singular.  This is something beyond human language and logic.  Thus is the mysterious character of God.

We also learned God is El-Shaddai—that He is Almighty and All-Sufficient; He’s all you need.

Today, for Father’s Day, we consider the name Jesus used for God; a name we can use too—Abba, Father. 

Romans 8:15-16
¹⁵ So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.

Abba Father
According to Dr. Deborah MacNamara: “Cross cultural research on baby’s first words shows that the clear winner is Dada. Tardif and colleagues found in over 900 babies, age 8 to 16 months from English, Cantonese, and Mandarin speaking homes, Dada was the most common first person identified. Mama is not far behind…”[i]  This is surprising because most linguists agree Dada is harder for babies to say than Mama.  MacNamara goes on, “When mothers are the primary attachment, babies are still quite fused to them well into their first year of life. The first separation they see from themself is to their father. Dada is usually the first person they identify outside of the mother and baby bond.” 

Romans 8:15 says that because of what Christ did for us on the cross, we can call God “Abba, Father.”  Abba is the Aramaic word for Father.  Actually, Father may not be the best translation.  Abba is an easy word for babies to pronounce.  Babies don’t say “Father”.  They say, “Dada” or “Papa” or (in Aramaic) “Abba”. 

So in this Scripture, we see that Christians have the right to go before the Infinite, Immortal, Holy, Lord of the Universe, and call Him Abba (or Dada).  That’s an incredible revelation if you think about it.  So many people feel dread in God’s presence or like they have to talk to God with very religious language.  I am always perplexed when I hear someone pray to God using King James type language: “Oh Lord God, we bow before Thee and ask for Thine help!”  Who talks like that?  Why would Christians talk to God like that?  Especially when we understand He is our spiritual Dada! 

Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3) Yes, God is holy and infinite and immortal.  But He is also a loving Father, a perfect Father, who shelters and protects and welcomes his little children into His arms.  If you trust Christ and believe His teaching, come to God like He is your perfect Father, because He is. 

Did you have a good father?  If you did, you know something of God’s character.  No matter how wonderful you father is, he is only an imperfect reflection of the God Christians call Abba.  Not everyone had a great father.  If you had problems with your Dad, I want you to know, Abba Father is the perfect Dad.  He will never let His children down.  Everything you wish you father was for you, God is and more. 

Are You A Child of God?
Now I need to make something clear.  Not everyone is a child of God.  This is something that confuses many people.  It is quite popular these days to say, “We are all God’s children.”  Now that may be true in a general sense because we are all created by God.  And it is true in the sense that no race or nation is more important to God than any other.  We’re all equal before God in this respect.  But Romans 8:15 says, “You received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” Why would God need to adopt us if we are already His children?  God needs to adopt us because sin has separated us from God.  

Sin is not just a minor separation.  Sin is an absolute separation.  It’s not that God left us.  No. We left God through Sin.  And the separation caused by our sin completely severs our relationship with the Abba Father.  God is not a Father to those who do not follow Christ. 

The Pharisees were surprised to hear this truth from Jesus in the 8^th chapter of John.  As biological descendants of Abraham, the Pharisees believed God was their father through Abraham.  Jesus set them straight.  He said their evil actions showed they were not God’s children; the devil was their father.  Being part of the family in the Kingdom of God is not biological.  It’s about faith and choice and action.  It's a choice we make to repent and follow Jesus as Lord. It's a choice God makes to adopt us and save us for eternal life.

Sin separates us from God.  But the Good News is, Jesus we can be adopted into the family of God.  God wants to be your perfect Abba Father.  He wants to love you and nurture you and protect you and bless you, and give you eternal life, but you have to choose Him.  You have to turn to Him through Jesus Christ. 

Now, if you are not a child of God—adopted into God’s family because you turned away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus death for you on the cross—the conviction you feel before God is justified.  It’s no wonder you dread His presence.  You feel guilty in God’s presence because you are guilty.  But when you pray, “God, please forgive my sins!” and you invite Jesus to be the Lord of your life, then you are no longer a fearful slave.  You are adopted as a child of God.  You can call God “Abba Father!” just like Jesus does.  In fact, Jesus is your brother! 

Galatians 4:5-6 it says, “⁵ God sent [Jesus] 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.” 

This tells us that Jesus own spirit comes to live inside a Christian’s heart when they become a Christian by believing in Jesus.  So when God looks at a Christian, He doesn’t see a sinner.  He doesn’t see someone who has hurt Him or rebelled against Him.  He doesn’t see in a Christian anything that would upset or disappoint Him.  If you are a Christian, God sees Jesus in you and God calls you His child and you can call Him “Daddy”.  Isn’t that amazing! 

Invitation
And so today Jesus pleads with everyone listening.  If you want God to be your Abba Father, you have to make a choice.  Why don’t you make that choice today?

Here's a prayer you can pray that can help you make that choice today.

Abba Father, I'm sorry I've been living my life my own way.  I repent of all that today. Please forgive me.  I want to follow Jesus as my Lord from this day forward.  Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and show me how.  Surround me with Christians who can help me and hold me accountable.  Cleanse me and and heal me so I can become more and more like Jesus.  For it is in His name that I pray. Amen.

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[i] https://macnamara.ca/portfolio/mama-or-dada-what-do-babies-say-first-and-why/

Things Fall Apart, Episode 4 - When All is Lost

Introduction

A long time ago, in a land far away… 

The Egyptians feel threatened by the growing numbers of Hebrews in their land. 

The Egyptians have forgotten how the Hebrew, Joseph, saved Egypt from starvation. 

They have forgotten the contributions of the Hebrew people to the greatness of Egypt. 

Most of all, the Egyptians have forgotten the One, True God the Hebrews worship. 

Attempting to weaken the Hebrews, the Egyptians treat the Hebrews cruelly, 

forcing them to serve as slaves. But God continues to bless the Hebrews 

and they thrive and multiply. 

Pharaoh, the leader of the Egyptian empire, hatches a dark and evil plan. 

Every male child born to a Hebrew family is to be drowned in the Nile River. 

Now we hear the tale of how one Hebrew family copes when 

Things Fall Apart... 

Exodus 2:1-10

About this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. 2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. 4 The baby’s sister then stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him.

5 Soon Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, and her attendants walked along the riverbank. When the princess saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her. 6 When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. The little boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This must be one of the Hebrew children,” she said.

7 Then the baby’s sister approached the princess. “Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” she asked.

8 “Yes, do!” the princess replied. So the girl went and called the baby’s mother.

9 “Take this baby and nurse him for me,” the princess told the baby’s mother. “I will pay you for your help.” So the woman took her baby home and nursed him.

10 Later, when the boy was older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son. The princess named him Moses, for she explained, “I lifted him out of the water.”

A Dark and Evil Time
I can’t even imagine the devastation for these Hebrew mothers.  Remember Pharaoh’s decree from Exodus 1:22, “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.” I can't imagine being a Hebrew mother with a baby growing in your belly for 9 months, becoming so intimately attached, and so fearful for your baby.  They must have prayed that their children would be born girls.  And I can't imagine the terror for these mothers when they birthed baby boys.  What could they do?  Pharaoh had absolute authority.

I can’t imagine any mother facing the impossible decision to "abort" their child.  In China for several decades, the government had a policy that limiting families to only one child and because of cultural pressures that the child be a healthy male, women often felt forced to give up a child (either through abortion or adoption) because the child is not what they expect (China's "one child olicy" ended in 2015).  Even in America, young mother's who do not plan for a pregnancy (or who for whatever reason feel they are not ready or able ot care for a child) will often seek an abortion.  According to the latest statistics I could find, there were 862,320 abortions in 2017 (according to Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.[1])  I'm not judging the women who has face the terrible decision about whether to abort a child or put it up for adoption.  I don't know what they are going through; I can't even imagine how difficult that must be.  I pray for God's mercy and grace in the midst of what must be an incredibly overwhelming and devastating choice.  

Moses' mother faced that choice due to an enforced condemnation of every male baby born to a Hebrew mother.  One wonders, how did the Egyptians enforce Pharaoh's edict?  I can imagine young Hebrew mothers trying to hide their babies, but how do you hide a crying baby? Eventually you’re going to be found out. Maybe a neighbor turns you in (for money or favors from authorities).  That would be a horrible environment to live in too, one where your neighbors and friends and maybe even family are the same ones who are condemning you.  And so eventually, a mother would be found out and I guess Egyptians soldiers showed up at your door to enforce the death of your child. And what would the punishment be for trying to hide your child? Maybe you are tortured? Maybe your whole family is tortured and/ killed? I don't know, but it must have been terrible punishment in order to convince a mother to cast her child into the Nile River. 

Moses' mother manages to keep her baby hidden for three months, but eventually, she is found out (or about to be discovered) and so, she does the only thing she feels like she can do.  She makes a basket and covers it in pitch and tar so it will float, she puts her baby in the basket, and she sets it afloat on the river.  This story has been told thousands of times.  It’s hard to separate fact from fiction.  I've heard some tales having Moses' mother or sister caring for the child each day to keep him safe.  But that's not what the scriptures say.  What do the Scripture say?  They say. “She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. The baby’s sister then stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him.” (Exodus 2:3-4) 

I imagine this almost as a mournful ceremony. If the evil Egyptian authorities say you have to throw your baby in the Nile River, then (I suppose) this is the most loving a mother could do it.  Perhaps, decorate the vessel with flowers and send the child of with lamenting songs as it floats away on the river, probably thinking you will never see him again.  Technically, Moses' mother has done what Pharaoh required.

In the midst of this hopeless situation, when all seems lost, Pharaoh’s daughter finds the child.  Have you ever considered that not all Egyptians agreed with Pharaoh evil, genocidal plan?  Pharaoh was a cold-hearted sociopath, but that doesn't mean all Egyptians were.  In fact, I would venture to say most Egyptians weren't.  Most people have compassion in their heart--especially for babies.  We tend to lump all people together into one group, forgetting each person is an individual.  We may think all "black people" or "white people" or "Hispanics" are all the same and we assign stereotypes to them.  We even lump groups like politicians all together, assuming they are all the same.  But that's not what God sees.  God sees us all as individuals.  And the Egyptians were all individuals.  Unfortunately, they had to obey Pharaoh--he was an absolute monarch.  Or did they?  Apparently, Pharaoh's daughter took a chance and disobeyed her father's edict and rescued the Hebrew baby boy.

Rescued Through Baptism
The Hebrews were in a dark and evil time in Egypt.  But God was working to rescue them.  And we will find that water plays a key role in the full story of how God rescued His people. 

In the story today, we see Moses being rescued from the river. He was lovingly placed in the river (in a basket) by his mother. Then Pharaoh’s daughter rescues him and he starts a new life in Pharaoh’s court.  He was given a new life.  He started out as a boy condemned to death, but was rescued through the water for a new life as a royal prince in Pharaoh's court.  Later, the Book of Exodus tells the tale of how the Hebrew slaves escape the Egyptian army when Moses parts the Red Sea and the Hebrews walk across on dry ground to start a new life on the other side as free people, God's holy nation.  Did you know these are both symbols of what God wants to do with you and me? God wants to rescue us from the hopeless consequences of our sin and give us a new life as free, holy, sons and daughters in His royal Kingdom.

Just as Moses’ mother had no choice but to put her baby in a basket on the Nile river, we are hopelessly separated from God by our sin. No mater how badly we want to be free, to be washed clean, we are cannot affect the change ourselves. We are slaves to the sinful nature.   Thankfully, Christ died on the cross to set us free. Jesus is our Moses who delivers us from slavery to sin.  And what is the mark of our deliverance? What ceremony do we celebrate to mark the beginning of a person’s life as a Christian? We celebrate Baptism. 

Baptism marks the beginning of a Christian’s new life as they follow Jesus as Lord.  We use water to symbolize being cleansed of the stain of sin – as when we wash the baby’s head with sprinkled water Baptism also symbolizes dying with Christ and being raised to a new life – as when we submerge a person under the water in baptize a lift them up to start a new life as a born-again believer.  Baptism is and outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace-work God does for us—cleansing us of sin and recreating us as a new, holy person.

Here is what the Word of God, the Holy Bible, says about people who repent of their sin and choose to follow Jesus Christ as their Lord. 1 Peter 2:9-10: “…you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”

Closing/Invitation
I want you to know something.   No matter what you did in the past—no mater how horrible you feel your sin was—God can forgive you and give you a fresh start. You may feel like your sin was so bad it is unforgivable. It isn’t. God can and will forgive you, because of what Christ has done on the cross. Through the blood of Christ, God’s grace washes away your sin.  

If you ask God to forgive you, He will and you can make a fresh start.  What’s more, He will fill you with His Holy Spirit to help you live a new way as His adopted son or daughter.  God puts it this way in the Message paraphrase of Ezekiel 11:19—He says, “I’ll give you a new heart. I’ll put a new spirit in you. I’ll cut out your stone heart and replace it with a red-blooded, firm-muscled heart. Then you’ll obey my statutes and be careful to obey my commands. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!”

Is that what you want? You can have it today. Turn to God, pray, and receive His grace. 

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[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/number-abortions-u-s-drops-lowest-they-became-legal-nationwide-n1055726