Knowing God as My Father Series: From Slave to Child, from Child to Heir (Part 4)

We called God, our Father – Abba Father (the same way children called their father dad or daddy but more). It conveyed the idea of a sense of closeness, affection, and confidence which had not been present before we know God of the Scriptures. Now, to continue the previous article [to read CLICK HERE], the second time the name Abba appears in the Scripture is in Galatians 4:6. To set the context, I quote Galatians 4:4-7: "[But] when the right time came, God sent his Son, born a woman, subject to the law. 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. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba, Father.' Now you are no longer a slave but God's own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir."

This passage declares that God sent the Son’s Spirit to us to make us want to relate to God as our Abba. Is it remarkable that we believers have been so slow to respond to this, so slow to call God Abba. Note the progression mentioned in this passage. God, through the Son, bought us out of slavery. But He didn't keep us as slaves or possessions (even though He "buy freedom for us"). God adopted us into the family and called us His "very own children." This is Good News! At least, it is good news for me. My father has left my family when I'm still studying at university. It is painful every year during Father's Day because I don't really have a biological father to celebrate with. As for me, God knows that need very well. When God adopted me, He did not keep me – and you – emotionally isolated from Himself. He offered and still offers His love. God desires a close relationship with us, so He draws near and nearer to us and allows us to call Him Abba.

But God doesn't stop there! God has not just adopted us. Through His limitless grace, He has done a much more amazing work. We have been transformed from slaves to children, and from children to heirs (the literal meaning of heir is "someone who has been appointed to receive an inheritance." Taken from www.gotquestion.com). God has made us more than stepchildren, He has actually shared the inheritance of the Son with us, the former slaves. In short, that inheritance consists of the fullness and completeness in God – unimaginable, yes – that's the whole point!

I remember a life story that my student told me. His dad had died very suddenly when he was about 7 years old and so he lived with his mother. He had been a very sensitive and somewhat clingy child. But the loss of his dad, the financial burden and the fact that his mother having to work, leave him to spent most of the day with his grandmother. This made him extremely dependent and timid, mama's boy. Sometime later, his mother married a godly man (that was the exact description he used for his step-father). He remembered one day when he was playing with his new father, he said, "Catch me, daddy!" as he jumped out of a tree into his arms. His eyes teared down, "Brother Richard, my dad has made a big difference in my life, my personality and in my manhood."

Wow! If Jesus Christ, the Son, is your Lord and Saviour, then God is your Father. This is not just a spiritual fact, consciously you must realize that intellectually and emotionally that God is your heavenly Father – Abba Father. No matter how old or either you have a biological father or not, good or bad, we all need a spiritual and emotional relationship with God our Father. Surely, it will make a huge difference in your life.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Knowing God as My Father Series: He Is and Wants to Be Our Father (Part 2)

God's offer of Fatherhood – through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ – is one of the most basic and fundamental truths of theology. We cannot know God entirely without accepting His Fatherhood. In unconditional love, God has chosen to present Himself to us as our Father. He calls us and indeed makes us His children when we accept His offer of adoption into His family through His Son (read Romans 8:15, Greek "…you received a spirit of Sonship"). This fact is presented with overwhelming clarity in God's Word.

Old Testament – Father to Israel. Listen to this, Exodus 4:21-23: "[The Lord] told Moses, ‘When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh… tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son. I commanded you, ‘Let my son go, so he can worship me.'" When God announced Israel was His son, He came to Israel's defense. If I were to paraphrase it, it will be like this: "Hey, that's My son! You can't treat him that way. I won't allow it!" That makes me so proud of having a Father like Him, smile deep inside me. I've been with students for about 8 years now, and I can tell you that there are a lot of hurting young people today. I realize how many of those hurt could have been avoided if a dad (or mom) would have stood up and spoken up for his own child. I bet some of you who read this have that anger toward your parent(s) who failed to protect you when you're growing up. Not so with God. When He claimed Israel as His son, He went immediately to Israel's defense.

When God talked to Moses, He did not tell Moses to announce His Fatherhood to the Israelites. Instead, He told Pharaoh, an outsider, through Moses, "Let my son go." Why? Why not? Because God is the Initiator in the Father-son relationship. If you go through the Book of Exodus, you don't read about how Israelites band together and ask God to be their Father. No! God was the One who makes the choice. Before Israel ever existed, God already chooses him. When Israel was still under slavery in Egypt, God loved him. "Israel is my firstborn son." It's like adopting a baby at birth. The adoptive parents are the ones who initiate the action, not the baby. God wants to be Israel's Father.

Many years later, God reaffirmed His promise of Fatherhood through David to his son Solomon, saying, "Your son Solomon will build my Temple… for I have chosen him as my son, and I will be his father" (1 Chronicles 28:6). David himself, a man after God's own heart, once blessed God and prayed: "Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever" (1 Chronicles 29:10, NKJV). God continuously reminding the children of Israel of His Fatherhood through His prophets too. Prophet Hosea wrote: "Yet the time will come when Israel's people will be like the sands of the seashore – too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,' it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God'" (Hosea 1:10). Prophet Jeremiah proclaimed God's Word: "I would love to treat you as my own children... I look forward to your calling me ‘Father,' and I wanted you never to turn from me" (Jeremiah 3:19). These verses and many more from the Old Testament are the proof that God wanted Israel to be His children and Him their Father. But in spite of God's repeated offer (almost ‘begging'), Israel never responded consistently to God.

New Testament – Father to All Who Have Faith In the Son. As God continued to reveal more about Himself and His plan of redemption, I see a significant change in His offer of Fatherhood. The offer first was made just to the Jews, then after Jesus came, God makes it all the more available to all who would accept His Son. For Jesus, "My Father" and "Your Father" meant the same thing (Matthew 18:10, 14). The passages in which Jesus referred to God as our Father are so many that it would be impossible to quote them all. Let me quote one verse that is very familiar to all of us: "Pray like this [Jesus said]: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy…" (Matthew 6:9).

Jesus' teaching of God as our Father was continued as a central theme by the apostles. Paul's letter to the Romans, for example, begins: "May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace" (Romans 1:7). Perhaps one such greeting would not be enough to state the case. But similar greetings also appear in eight of Paul's other letters (see 1 Corinthians 1:3; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2; Philippians 1:2; Colossians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Titus 1:4). Because of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, we have been reconciled (adopted) to God and "to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). God's offer of Fatherhood is now openly available to all who believe in Jesus. "See how much our Father loves us," writes John the Apostle, "for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1). The bottom line is this: God is and wants to be our Father and us to be His children. Would you called Him Father?

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus Welcome "Dogs" (A Reflection on Mark 7:24-30)

No human rules can control Jesus. He lived by God’s commandments. After he had just declared the Jewish outward laws of uncleanness as not valid (read Mark 7:14-23), Jesus went into Gentile territory – which the Jews regarded as unclean areas – “to the territory near the city of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden” (Mark 7:24, GNB). I watched TV news today about superstar diva Mariah Carey was spotted shopping at Kuala Lumpur. I’m sure she understand what Jesus went through: tired and couldn’t stay hidden (with the exception that Mariah intentionally want everyone to know).

Let me tell you first about the Jews’ arrogant attitude of superiority toward other peoples of the earth. They were proud as God’s chosen people. They regarded other races and nationalities as inferior to them. They treated everyone else as less than human. And as such, typically they think others as “dog.” (Familiar with this kind of thinking and discrimination?).

But contrary to what the Jews thought, God of the Bible love all people, and anyone can come to Him through faith in Jesus regardless of race, colour, creed or national origin. There was a Gentile woman – a despised Gentile “dog” – dare to meet and speak to Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. “A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet… She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter” (Mark 7:25-26, GNB). Wow! Notice the attitude of this woman. Again let me reminds you, the Jews referred to Gentiles like her as “dogs,” but that didn’t bother her. She was determined. She boldly come to Jesus and asked for His help.

Jesus reply may sound rude if you don’t understand His thinking and teachings. Jesus answer is not His assertion of superiority (btw, He is superior over all!), but a reflection of typical Jewish thinking. “Jesus answered, ‘Let us first feed the children. It isn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs’” (Mark 7:27). Jesus was saying that His earthy ministry was restricted to “the children” of Israel first then after that His disciples will continue the mission to the whole world. I think Jesus’ answer was partly serious-reminding and partly humorous-testing.

Regardless, the woman responded: “Sir, even the dogs under the table ate the children’s leftovers!” (Mark 7:28). I like her persistence! Commenter R.A. Cole writes, “She had not only persisted when the Lord refused to answer, she now accepted this humble position gladly, and showed that, even on those terms, she still claimed healing for her daughter. God’s abundance for His children was so rich that even the rank outsider could share in it.” The woman would not be turned away. She persisted in her request until she was rewarded. She knew she was not inferior in God’s sight. To Jesus the Son of God, she was not a “dog”! “So Jesus said to her, ‘Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!’” (Mark 7:29).

I know what it’s like to feel inferior. I once thought that I was God’s “secondhands.” I was mocked and make fun of when I was a kid. I was skinny, dark, pimply-faced, disfigured chest, poor, slow to catch up and unattractive. But as I grown up and knowing Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, I came to realize that I was (and forever) of value to God in spite of my feeling of inferiority. I no longer a “dog” but now “children” of God. Faith in Christ makes all the difference! God is not respecter of persons. “God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (Acts 10:34-35, NIV). That means God is not looking for those of noble births or perfect figures, high ranks or elevate positions, superior races or special nationalities – but looking for people like the Gentiles woman, me and you who will look past their obvious weaknesses, who “do what is right,” and to press on with faith come to Jesus and “fall at his feet.”

I mean, “dogs” are welcome to Jesus!

“She went home and found her child lying on the bed;

the demon had indeed gone out of her” (Mark 7:30)

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Part 2: God – The Fatherhood of God (iv)

Actually, this series is from Understanding Bible Truth booklets by Robert Hicks and Richard Bewes (1981), but I have expanded some texts for modern readers (to make it easier to read) and added Scripture quotes (I’m using ESV Bible) into these writings to clarify its points more clearly. My purpose of making this series available in the internet is single: So that you can be clear the essential facts about the Bible’s teaching in a readily understandable form.

First, What Does it mean by calling God “Father”?

Dr. James I. Packer writes, “What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father” Amen to that! Father of every person? No! Father for the children of God. Who are the children of God? Galatians 3:26 answer, “[For] in Christ Jesus you are all the sons of God, through faith”. Only the Christian called their God – Father – through faith in the Son, Jesus our Lord.

The Fatherhood of God is established…

By Creation – of All Things

Although the Bible never designates God directly as ‘Father of all creation,’ nevertheless His creativity is frequently linked with His character as Father. The universe is under His care and fatherly authority.

In the Scriptures, God is portrayed as Father of mankind only in a general sense – because He created us (Acts 17:24-29). The close and intimate relationship that could exist between God and the individual believer was not fully revealed until it was taught and made possible by Jesus Christ. Only through unity in Christ, there is “One God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:6) God is the Father of all people, but only in a very limited sense. This is because of the universal rebellion against God’s authority that has characterized the human race throughout history.

By Covenant – of Israel

In the Old Testament, God initiated a solemn agreement with Israel, by which He would be their God (Exodus 4:22), and the people of Israel would be His people, and would submit to His rule and authority (If you read the book of Exodus especially, you will find that over and over again God declared that He is the God of Israel).

It was in this national sense that God became the Father of Israel, giving to His people guidance, protection – and discipline on the many occasions when He was disobeyed. Oh, you should read how rebellious Israel was (and is) toward God! But nevertheless, God is still the God of Israel. [Don’t curse Israel for their rebellious; instead, praise God for His mercy and never-ending love toward this nation! I’m amaze].

By Adoption – of Christian Believers

It was Jesus Christ who revealed the fatherhood of God towards believers in an intimate sense unknown in any other faith. He taught His followers to speak to God as their heavenly Father.

The LORD is like a father
to his children

As the New Testament teaching develops, we learn that salvation includes, first, giving the new believer forgiveness and the right to stand before God. But secondly, we are adopted into the circle of God’s family, with all the privileges that follow. Thirdly, and better still, we are given the spirit of Sonship, and a change of heart that encourages us to speak God as a child would to his or her own father. We “have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15. Read Romans 8:14-17 and Galatians 4:4-6 to know more about this Father-Children relationship).

Such a relationship knows no human parallel. Those who have entered into such a relationship can truly be said to have been born of God. They are His children.

From Eternity – of Jesus Christ

It is true that Jesus addressed God in His prayers as “Father”, but He never joined in prayer with His friends, nor spoke to them about “our” Father. The exception was the Lord’s Prayer, but even then it was made clear that the prayer as for them to pray, not Himself. [Read the context of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11:1-4. One of His disciples was asking Jesus how to pray, so He teaches them how to pray].

Evidently, Jesus was God’s Son in a way that the disciples were not (we are not!). It is in the Gospel of John that the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son is most clearly seen. For example, He once prayed:

“And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5; see also 17:24)

My Conclusion about the Fatherhood of God

Generally, God is the Father of all men as their Creator. All people are called the offspring of God. This is simply a creature-Creator relationship. Secondly, God is the Father of the nation Israel. “Israel is my firstborn son” declared God (Exodus 4:22). Charles Caldwell Ryrie, however, remarks that “not all in Israel were redeemed, so this relationship was both spiritual (with believers) and governmental (with all in Israel, whether believers or not).”

Thirdly, in a very special way God is the Father of all who believe in Christ through faith in Jesus Christ by God’s grace. This means, for us, Christians, we are the recipient of God’s fatherly care. We can pray confidently and know that God will give us what we need according to His will. And when we’re under God’s discipline because we are His children and He is our Father – we know that it is for our own good and it is an eternal prove that He loves us.

Lastly, and most importantly, exclusively, God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father declared: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.