Hueytown Church of Christ

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ABBA, Father

Ed Rangel
01/26/20 - Sun AM

Series: Godhead Series

Abba, Father

Mark 14:36; Hebrews 5:7; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6; Luke 15

 

Introduction:

1. 1. There are different warped views people have of God:
      1. A cold and stand-offish God who does not really care about us.
      2. A mean and vindictive God who cannot wait to punish us for sin and killing His Son on the cross.
      3. A God that makes it impossible to please Him - too many rules, regulations and impossibility to please Him.
      4. A God that is similar to a schoolyard bully, pushing us around.
      5. A mean God who one day will delight in the destruction of everything He created, and as a sign that He is in power will let only a few people into heaven.
   2. There is no doubt that the Father is God, that He is omnipotent and that He is the creator of all things.
      1. Job 42:1-2; “Then Job answered the LORD and said, "I know that You can do all things And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”
      2. Jeremiah 32:27; "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”
      3. Genesis 18:14; ”Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
   3. I want to introduce you to my Father, the true Father of all.  You will learn of a Father that loves us so much, wants the best for us, cares for us, does not want anyone to perish, that has made Himself available to us to the extent that was can call Him Abba.

 

1. What does Abba, Father Mean?
   1. Abba=Father, Father=Father
      1. Abba was the Hebrew way for children to address their fathers, as our children address their fathers today, “daddy.”
      2. Most of us would never call God the Father, “Daddy,” but that is what Abba means.
   2. Mark 14:36 and Hebrews 5:7
      1. Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying to His Father about the upcoming sufferings and death on the cross.
      2. He pours out His soul.
      3. He asked His friends to stay up and pray, yet they fell asleep.
      4. He prayed with so much intensity that his sweat was as drops of blood.
      5. He opened up to His Father.
      6. “We read here that he prayed “to the one who could save him from death,” and it was in Gethsemane when he prayed in death’s shadow, the cross looming before him.”  (Girdwood and Verkruyse)
      7. Jesus the Lord was reaching out to His Abba!
   3. Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6
      1. Galatians 4:6; The truth is that those who have become Christians have been adopted (gentiles) as children of God.  “The Romans passage especially emphasizes that we are not adopted into a spirit of slavery and fear, but into a spirit of sonship. In our utter extremity, we who are God’s children can call with affectionate intimacy to our Father for help.”  (Boles)
      2. Romans 8:15; The Spirit we received at our baptism does not mark us as slaves, but marks us (places His seal on us) that we are God’s children.  With this intimacy and acceptance, we can cry out with child-like dependence, “Abba! Father!.  (Cottrell)
2. Luke 15, Meet my Abba, Father
   1. A son demands his inheritance
   2. He wastes his inheritance
   3. He lives among the pigs
   4. The son thinks about the life he left behind, but more about the relationship with his Abba that he had wasted.
   5. He returns to his Abba.
   6. His Abba had no doubt made the trip down the road many times looking for His son.
   7. When the son made it home his Abba embraced him, kissed his neck, clothed him and had a “Welcome Home” party, because Abba and son have been reunited.
   8. God is looking, longing and stretching out His hand to save us.  In the rock bottom of our lives, in the mire of our sins, we can come to the Father in submission and with a repented heart knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that we will find an Abba when we get home!  (Black)

 

Conclusion:

1. 2 Peter 3:9 - Does not want anyone to perish
2. 1 John 3:1 - We are called His children
3. Ephesians 2:4-5; “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace, you have been saved”
4. Plan of Salvation - Christ invites us to come—Rev. 3:20; Isa. 1:18  (Pentz)

 

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