Forever Family – “Daddy”

There are many names of God in the Bible.  There are names that describe the extent of His power and majesty:  El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty), El Elyon (The Most High God), El Olam (The Everlasting God), Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts).  There are names that tell us what He is to us or what He does for us:  Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd), Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals), Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There), Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide), Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace).  All of these are very important to who God is and are very special to us.

But to me what is tremendously precious is that when we are brought into the fold of God, when we are healed from our wayward life by the provided way of salvation and given peace – we are adopted into the family of God and then can call Him “Father”.

Galatians 4:4 “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

Redeemed through His own Son, adopted as sons and daughters, heirs through God. Wow!  And we can call Him “Abba, Father”.  This by far above all others has been my favorite name of God. The fact that we can call Him Father does not seem to distance us from Him like some of the other names.  The fact that we can call Him “Abba, Father” evokes an intimacy that even Father cannot.  It was thought at one time that Abba was a term young Jewish children used to address their fathers,  but has also been found that older children and even adults used the name also.  So, the combination of Abba and  Father creates that sense of close familiarity that relates to our English term “Daddy”.

I don’t know about you, but as I have gotten older, my relationship with my father has developed from what it was when I was young, but he is still my “Dad” or even at times “Daddy”.   He is still that person who I can go to for wisdom or for comfort, and even now I can recall those times when I sat in his lap when I was hurt or when I was upset about something.

Christ used the name “Abba, Father” in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest. Mark 14:36″ And He was saying, ‘Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.'”  He was under stress, about to face pain and agony – even death.  And yet, He addresses God with the most intimate name we have for Him – not the ones that bring to mind His power and might, but the one that shows the relationship of Father to Son.

For me this idea of God as Abba, Father – as “Daddy” – encompasses much of what the other names of God reveal to us.  I understand that we cannot lose the power and majesty that some of the other names might reveal that this may not, but I am so struck by the closeness I feel by the thought that I can address God much like I would my own earthly Dad, crawl up into His lap when I need Him and have Him just hold me – because there are times that I need Him to do just that.