“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
Romans 8:15 (NASB)
Those who have been reading my meditations for a while, probably notice that I often write about the fatherhood of God. That’s because it is foundational to our faith, but especially to my personal faith.
I had a father growing up, but he had a stroke before I was born. Although he lived with our family for the next 17 years, he had serious short term memory loss and cognitive deficits. I didn’t have much of a relationship with him, which was no fault of his own, but God has been a good and true father to me throughout my adult life.
There’s a reason that the first line of the Lord’s Prayer is, “Our Father, who art in Heaven”…because God is the origin and inspiration of all good fathers. Some overlook that attribute about God, because they’ve seen so many imperfect fathers in the world. Jesus knew that before we can appreciate all the gifts God has for us, we need to first establish a foundation of knowing we are sons and daughters of a good father.
John wrote, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God.”
(1 John 3:1)
Jesus described a good father as the one who wants to give good gifts to his children, one who would not give his child a stone when they ask for bread. He also told the parable of the good father of the prodigal, who had unconditional compassion and forgiveness for his wayward son.
Paul the apostle, tells us that we have been adopted into the family of God. Every believer has within them a spirit of adoption, whereby we call out to God, saying “Abba, Father!” Abba is the more intimate form of the Hebrew word for father. It’s similar to “Daddy” in English.
We aren’t required to clean ourselves up first, in order for God to love us. We come as we are, and He cleans us up. A human father loves his newborn child before they could ever do anything right or wrong, and God loves each of us in the same paternal way.
I heard a true story shared on a Christian TV show. A couple was considering adopting an older adolescent child, and a concerned relative challenged the idea by asking “What if this child has a lot of problems as he grows?”
The future adoptive parents said,
“We would still rather he be with us than with anyone else.”
That’s the perfect example of the fatherhood of God, who loves us, beyond our emotional baggage, our flaws and our brokenness. He calls us sons and daughters, and He would rather we be with Him than without Him.
We all have the choice of receiving God’s fatherhood, or living as a permanent orphan. We make mistakes and accumulate baggage throughout our lives, but after all is said and done, we’re still better off with Jesus than without Him.
Like any child, we occasionally need lap time with our Father. It doesn’t mean that our problems will all be solved, but it’s a place to rest our soul in security and comfort. His lap is invisible, but His Presence is always with us, calling us to run to Him, and embrace our spirit of adoption as sons and daughters. As we run to Him, we affectionately call out, “Abba, Father.”
Lord, help us to embrace our spirit of adoption, knowing our Heavenly Father loves us as we are. Help us to rest in your Presence and restore our peace, as we cry Abba, Father!” Amen
