The Father’s Will
In the garden, His thoughts flew to Abba - Father, His close relational bond, (a fellowship to which we can aspire – one achievable in the power of the Spirit) It was in the place of deepest pain that He prayed, not My will but Thine be done. (an unachievable prayer when our will takes precedent over Thy will – but an achievable plea in the heart of a man – in love with the Father)
that I am forgiven; Faith in the Servant King – Who broke the power of sin and death in me – that I have access to the throne room of the Father, and I am permitted to call Him Abba, Father.
He was presenting the embryonic gospel of grace, which was to be more fully revealed by the ministry of the apostle Paul – to include the Church as the Body of Christ in Union with Him – a new creation and joint-heirs of God’s Son – a heavenly citizenship and the indwelling Holy Spirit as a down-payment from God the Father – our Abba.
He is Abba - Father to all believers - but not to all mankind.
Those who believe in the sacrificial work of the eternal Son of God are not under His condemnation, but have the right to approach His throne of grace and call Him Abba - Father.
Those who believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God have been given the authority to address our Creator God as Father: For we have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba-Father.
We received the permanent presence of God's Holy Spirit within our hearts when we were adopted as God's own children so that we are enabled to call Him 'Abba, Father'.
It is only by faith in the sacrificial death and glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that we receive the right to be called children of God and to address God as Abba - Father.
It was for our sakes He set Himself apart unto God, by going to the cross and by drinking the bitter cup - so that we could be set apart unto God, be adopted into His family and call our heavenly Father - 'Abba'.
We cannot begin to imagine the depth of agony that our Lord Jesus Christ experienced in Gethsemane, when three times in succession He asked Abba, His God and Father, if it were possible to remove the bitter cup He was about to drink, for He knew that all things are possible with God.
He has brought about our adoption into son-ship, and through Him we are enabled to cry, Abba, Father, as we boldly approach the throne of grace, for mercy to find help in time of need.
As believers on the Resurrection side of Calvary, we are partakers of the divine nature by grace through faith in Christ, and as a child of our Heavenly Father we may call Him: Abba, Father.
Just as the women at the tomb were told, He is My Father and your Father; My God and you God, so we, who have been born into His family, have access to His throne of grace and the authority to call Him Abba.
And we are to REMEMBER that before salvation we had no hope in the future and were without God in the world - but now, we have a blessed hope in Christ and have become children of God, who have the right to call Him, Abba - Father.
We have the right and the privilege to cry out to our Father God in the most intimate of terms - my Abba - my dear precious Father - in assurance that He hears and He will answer.
If we would but rest in Him, in our Abba, that spirit of fear would be replaced by the calm assurance of faith in God.
Instead, you have received the Spirit of adoption by Whom we cry out, 'Abba!
for although we are privileged to call Him, Abba - Father, and are given access to His throne of grace, through the merit of Jesus Christ our Lord - we should never forget He is the One Who judges the day-to-day thoughts of our heart and the imaginations of our mind.
What a wonder of divine love and grace that we, who were once at enmity with God, have been so favoured by the Father that we should be called 'sons': and because we are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba!
It is the Holy Spirit of God's own dear Son Who has been sent into our heart, Who communes with us, and cries affectionately, Abba!
The proof of sonship is the permanently indwelling Holy Spirit of Christ without Whom we would tremble as we approach the Father, but Who cries in our hearts, Abba, Father.
No name or title for the eternal, Almighty Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth, could be more profoundly personal nor intensely intimate than that of Abba - dearly loved Father.
Throughout His earthly life, Jesus showed us how to maintain close, adult fellowship with the Father, and throughout our earthly walk we are to walk as Christ walked and to live as Christ lived, in sweet, mature communion with Abba, our dearly loved Father.
For it is as we maintain spirit to Spirit communion - the human spirit with Christ's Spirit - through the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit, that our hearts can whisper in steadfast prayer, joyful praise and intimate communion, Abba, my Father.
It is the Spirit of Truth Who guides us into all truth, by means of the unchangeable Word of truth so that we can cry out 'Abba' and have an inner assurance that God hears us and answers our call.
Indeed, the Lord Himself told us that in this world we would have tribulation and would be called upon to suffer for His names sake... But as members of His body, we know that the more we suffer for righteousness sake the more we are comforted by this great God of all-comforts, Who has purchased us with the precious blood of His only begotten Son, and has graciously adopted us into His heavenly family - so that we may now address Him as Abba-Father.