Who you are in Christ
The Holy, Mighty, Powerful, Creator, God has allowed you and I the priviledge to call Him Father. Think about that for a minute. Listen to Galatians 3:26-27, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.." Let it soak in. Father. If you are a Christian you are His son or daughter. You have a Father relationship with God. You can call God dad. The relationship you have with God is a love relationship with a Father who loves you more that you can begin to understand or even imagine.
So the questions I have are:
Knowing that we are sons and daughters of God, how should that affect our view our of God? How should that affect our prayer lives? The amount we spend in His Word? Affect our worship? Our faith? How we live? How? Why?
What do you think?
Share your thoughts.
posted by preacherman @ 9:30:00 AM
26 Comments:
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Preacherman- you may; notice I said may, be taking this description (father) of God the almighty Father our creator, and ultimate savior a little farther than intended when you say we are free to call our Creator and Heavenly Father dad, and with a small "d" at that. Just the thoughts of an old Christian who believes we should call no man father,nor our God dad.
I wrote a Bible class curriculum called "Daddies Girls" for middle and high school girls a year or so ago and offended a boat load of people.
Apparently, some don't take to calling God dad. I feel it's because some had or have terrible relationships with their earthly fathers.
I agree with you but know you're opening a can of worms here with some people. Good luck. :)
Glad to have you back, and back to your deep thoughts. Sometimes I believe we run the risk of doing the same as the ancient Hebrews who would not even pronounce the name of YahWeh for fear of taking the name in vain. However, I believe the Scriptures to be the record of God's desire to draw all men to Himself. He wants to have a deep and personal relationship with us.
Rather than separating ourselves from Him by putting up false barriers (man-made ones, I should say), we ought to be looking for ways to draw closer to Him. For a first point, I'd say He is God--we'll never be like Him althought He made us in His image. Moving on, I'd remember that He wants us to be part of His family. He's made arrangements for our adoption. Those who have said, "yes" to the adoptive process made available through Jesus Christ are part of that family. God is our papa.
The Bible leads us to know Him better. Our walk with Him should increase our intimacy with Him. I like the tradition in Russian that requires believers to address God with the familiar you as opposed to the formal You. It brings out the family relationship of a child and their papa.
I think we need to carry that Father "relationship" to an absolute degree. The more you know, the more you 'converse' with, the more you consider, the more you listen to- your Father the stronger the relationship.
And, I must live fully that relationship. He as Father and me as His child. But the relationship must be a very respectful one. Yes, Abba Father... but Abba reminds us Old and New Testaments to "honor" our Father.
Good post...glad you're back.
Well if I am wrong it won't be the first time. I was taught children don't call their parents by their first mame. And you don't call God by any name other than in the bible.
Unless you have a god diffrent than the one spoken of in the gospel. I was taught that we hold God as sacred--(sacred-entitled to reverence and respect)
sac·ri·lege
1 : a technical and not necessarily intrinsically outrageous violation (as improper reception of a sacrament ) of what is sacred because consecrated to God
2 : gross irreverence toward a hallowed person, place, or thing
As for me and mine we will continue to call God heavenly Father.
Preacherman,
The first time Israel is called God's Son is in Exodus 4:22. At that time, the children of Israel had been in bondage and slavery to Egypt for a very long time. The king had begun a slow genocide against them. God had not had a son since Adam (if you go by Luke's genealogy). And in 4:22 God effectively tells Pharaoh, "That's my kid your messing with!"
I think that statement came as a shock to Israel. When I was a kid, I lived in an orphanage briefly. Nothing turned those kids on like a visit from a parent. I think the orphanage is a good analogy for what is happing in Ex 4. Israel is like an abused orphan in a criminal orphanage. Suddenly, the father shows up to take custody. Israel suddenly finds her father.
When Paul tells church in the Galatian letter that they are sons, the amazing thing is that he is talking to Gentiles. A Jew saying that to Gentiles is a disturbing idea -especially for other Jews. He is telling them that they are part of the family now too. The Exodus story is their story now too -and not by birth in the Jewish ethnicity, but by being immersed and clothed in Christ.
Thus, I think the real thrust is that Christ makes Gentiles sons too. The old boundary markers of ethnicity are pointless in light of Christ. He makes us all family.
Many blessings...
Preacherman,
One more thing... unrelated to yours...
I am trying to raise jet pack deficiency awareness this year, since it is 2007 and we still don't have them.
I invite you and your readers to stop by and lend your support.
Thanks, and many blessings...
Laymond,
Abba Father. Abba. Daddy Father. Close relationship. Jesus cried it out in Mk 14:36. Jesus. Romans 8:15 And by him we cry out Abba Father... Gal.4:6"The Spirit who calls out Abba Father..
Abba The word Abba "Daddy" close personal relationship with God as daddy Father. How personal can you get? Non less respectful, no less disobedient.
I respect my dad. I love my dad more than anything. Just because I call my dad, dad doesn't mean I love or respect him any less. He is still my authority over me.
The word father seems distant.
The word dad seems close and personal.
How many of you call your dads, father?
How many of you call your dads,dad, daddy, pop, papa?
The same goes with God.
God has allowed us to have a son/daughter relationship with Him.
PM- When we see our spiritual family as we see our human family if we call God dad; in order to have a functional family as some see it would we not need a spiritual mother if so who would it be.?
Just what was paul saying here?
1Tm:1:2: Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
Was he admitting to being Timothy's dad, or was he just saying he had been Timothy's spiritual leader.?
May God Bless
Doesn't Romans 8:15 say that we have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we [can] cry out, "Abba, Father"?
Abba is a more intimate way of calling God Father, right?
I believe there were many who had the right to refer to God as their spiritual Father. Even before Romans was written.
Jer:31:9: They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Isa:63:16: Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
Isa:64:8: But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
But I have yet to see where one called God dad.
Laymand,
Abba means daddy
The church should function as a family.
God the father.
We are his sons and daughters.
Mother isn't mentioned in the Bible but if I would describe how mother functions in the Bible etc: it would the Holy Spirit. The comforter, counselor, one who speakers to the father on our behalf when our words can't express with words how we our feeling.
PM-We need to do a little research
Easton’s
Abba - This Syriac or Chaldee word is found three times in the New Testament ( Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6), and in each case is followed by its Greek equivalent, which is translated "father." It is a term expressing warm affection and filial confidence. It has no perfect equivalent in our language. It has passed into European languages as an ecclesiastical term, "abbot."
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
Abba, father
American Heritage Dictionary Abba 1: Bible In the New Testament, God.
2: Used as a title of honor for bishops and patriarchs in some Christian churches of Egypt, Syria, and Ethiopia
Hi Preacherman,
Great to have you "back in the saddle!"
Through being a father I feel like I have gained some understanding of how God views us. It is a great comfort to know that he loves me in the same way that I love my children. I know he is a much better father, and loves more deeply and purely than I. What a wonderful place to be, in God's family!
Alan,
Thanks it feels so good to be "back in the saddle".
Your thoughts on the subject perfectly said brother.
I think that one of the biggest factors affecting Christian's view of Father God is their view and relationship with their earthly father.
Motivation for me to be the best dad possible.
Velcro,
You are so right.
Many don't have a good relationship with their earthly fathers and it does affect the relationship that they have with their heavenly father.
We need to understand that God is the perfect Father. Earthly fathers mess up and a make mistakes when God our father does not. Isn't a wonderful thing to think about?
Preacherman- what was it Paul said about changing the image of an uncorruptable God into that of corruptable man.
May God bless and forgive us all.
Laymond,
Just a couple of things. The Bible is full of examples of calling God "father." It is equally descriptive of viewing the church as a family. If that is how God labels himself to his people, how are we disrespecting him by calling him that?
Why does having a spiritual father necessitate a spiritual mother?
How are we changing God's image by calling him by what he identifies himself to us as?
How do you respond to what Jesus said in Matthew 23:9 - "And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven."
Doesn't that imply that we can call God father?
Matt-How do you respond to what Jesus said in Matthew 23:9 - "And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven."
Doesn't that imply that we can call God father?
It does and I do, I call my God and creator "Heavenly Father" every night at bedtime, but I must admit I can't remember ever once calling him dad.
Preachman,
I want to thank you for reminding us of the relationship that we have with God. It is personal. It is a son/duaghter relationship. How close can you get than son/daughter?
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