15 January 2024 - ABBA Father

Galatians 4:6(NASB) Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!

ABBA is one of the most significant names of God in understanding how He relates to people. The word Abba is an Aramaic word that means Father. It was a common term that expressed affection, confidence and trust. Abba signifies the close, intimate relationship of a father and his child, as well as the childlike trust that a young child puts in his father.

Abba is always followed by the word Father in Scripture; two elements of Abba. The two elements are: intimacy and obedience.

Mark 14:36(NASB) And He was saying, ‘Abba! Father! All things are possible for You.’

Both elements (intimacy and obedience) are present in Mark’s account of Jesus in Mark 14:36. Jesus is in a trying time in the garden of Gethsemane, so He withdraws to be alone with God in prayer. This is an intimate experience with the Father. The substance of Jesus’ prayer that begins with Abba expresses a willingness to obey. Jesus was connecting intimately with the Father and expressing his submission to God. That’s why he prayed, Abba Father.

Romans 8:15(NASB) For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’

First, notice the similarity with Jesus’ prayer as Paul uses Abba for a specific purpose, which is to express both intimacy and an obedient heart. Obedient children use Abba when they pray. So, praying Abba means Father, I will obey you.

God promises believers that He will be a father to them in 2 Corinthians 6:18 (NASB) And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me, Says the Lord Almighty.

Because of the great love the Father has bestowed upon us, we are called children of God - 1 John 3:1(NASB) See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

“Oh, blessed, blessed state of heart to feel that now we are born into the family of God, and that the choice word which no slave might ever pronounce may now be pronounced by us, “Abba”! It is a child’s word, such as a little child utters when first he opens his mouth to speak, and it runs the same both backwards and forwards, AB-BA. Oh, to have a childlike spirit that, in whatever state of heart I am, I may still be able to say, in the accents even of spiritual infancy, “Abba, Father”!” – Charles Spurgeon

“I am taking my children with me, and I notice that it is not difficult for me to remember that the little ones need breakfast in the morning, dinner at midday, and something before they go to bed at night. Indeed, I could not forget it. And I find it impossible to suppose that our heavenly Father is less tender or mindful than I… I do not believe that our heavenly Father will ever forget His children. I am a very poor father, but it is not my habit to forget my children. God is a very, very good Father. It is not His habit to forget His children.” - Hudson Taylor