OUR FATHER
ROMANS 8:14-16 NKJV
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Now we move from one of my least read chapters, Romans 7, to one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible, Romans 8.
Our passage for today begins with the promise of the Holy Spirit's help in leading us. The Holy Spirit will lead us away from following our sinful flesh nature. And He will lead us into following the Lord.
Of course, the Holy Spirit helps to lead us in other areas as well. The powerful truth here is that He leads, and we can look to Him for leadership
And the Holy Spirit is not causing bondage or fear in our lives. He is the Spirit of adoption. He is the One that whispers to our hearts that we belong to God. We are God's children, so much so that we cry out, Abba Father.
Bible scholars tell us the word Abba is an endearing word. Much like a little child would say, Daddy. Abba is a word that involves intimacy, not formality. My children, when small, called me Dad or Daddy. They did not refer to me formally. They did not call me Mr. Clayton. That would have seemed strange. We are family. They are my children, my flesh and blood.
In the same way, we are now God's family. He is our very own Father, and we are His very own children.
And the Holy Spirit is involved with letting us know we are God's children. He bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
There is a great insight in this verse 16 with how the Holy Spirit communicates with us. He witnesses to our spirit, not our mind or body. We often call this an inward sensing or knowing. The secular world calls it a hunch.
APPLICATION:
We can not overestimate the value of the Holy Spirit's help in our lives. His leadership is vital. And so is His communication to our spirits that we belong to God. That God is our Father who loves us.
We could not gain this knowledge by feelings or reason. Spiritual truths are higher-level truths. Thank God we have His own Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to let us know what a wonderful privilege it is to be a child of the living God. We can call God Father.
PRAYER:
Thank You, that You are my very own Father, and I am Your very own child.