GodReflection: A Word We Can Count On—Father.
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).
I am among the blessed who can claim a wonderful relationship with an earthly father. Our relationship was consistent and constant. Over twenty-five years have gone by since his death. I constantly think of him.
Although he is gone from earth our relationship remains. He continues to walk with me because I remember his love and his teaching. He will always be my dad. Everyone born on earth has a father. Only the blessed have relationship with a father. It is the bond not the blood.
The most common language in Judea during the life of Jesus was Aramaic. Three times our Bibles cite the Aramaic word “abba” which translates father. It was the only word in Aramaic vocabulary for father. It is the word Jesus must have called his dad, Joseph.
It is also the word he used to address God. Depending on the context, the residents of Judea used the more generic form speaking of “the father” or the more intimate designation of “my father.”
God preserved the Gospels as a personal communication with us, you and me, his children. However, a back-story follows alongside each of the four Gospels. It is the account of the intimate relationship of God and His son Jesus.
Can you image and envision the scene of God rejoicing through the angels at the birth of His son! The 
Gospels tell us that Jesus grew in favor with God as he grew in stature. We see God giving His stamp of approval at the Jordan River baptism.
Throughout the ministry of Jesus, he tells everyone who will listen about the qualities of his father. The Father and Son visit and converse together in places of solitude. Father God works powerfully through His son.
Jesus ministers to the needs of others through the eyes and the hands of the Father. He paints the picture of a father who loves sparrows, flowers, and the children of His creation. People become sons of the Father by trusting Jesus. God is the Good Father.
Jesus came to earth so that God could be our father. It took life, his death, burial, and resurrection for Jesus to repair the broken Father-Creator relationship. The one that Adam and Eve broke with God, their Creator-Father. The resurrection affirms that we can now have relationship with God forever. And the best news is that Jesus passed his relationship to us.
The Apostle Paul provides an insight for members of the church in the region of Galatia. He writes to them, Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6).
Is it too much of a leap to believe that through the Spirit God can live within our very hearts and souls? Shouldn’t that be near enough for us to build an intimate relationship with God as our Father? Why is it so hard for us to envision walking and talking with Father God?
As Jesus prepared for his return to the Father, he said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20:17).
Jesus wants us to see the relationship he enjoys as a son of Father God and to understand that we too, as his brothers, have God as our Father. We, God’s children, can join with Jesus and claim Holy God as our Father. We are sons and daughters of God.
Our Father owns the entire universe. The greater miracle than His creation of the universe is
that He loves us, you and me. We are the children of Creator God. We are members of His personal family.
That is why He wants a personal relationship with each one of us. This is another WOW! Moment. Father Is A Word We Can Count On.
Dr. Gary J. Sorrells
A GodReflection: A Word We Can Count On—Father.
God Reflection 