Abba’s House

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.””

Romans 8:15

When we are led by the Holy Spirit we accept the proposal of the living God to be his children. We see the dawn of a new relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Are we content to know that we are loved so much by God that he has adopted us as his own children? Do we really believe that God would go to any extent to establish a close bond with us? It is the Holy Spirit that helps us establish and preserve this relationship, with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. 

 We see a horizontal relationship structure being described by St. Paul. St. Paul says we are all children of God (Romans 8:14-17). We are all brothers and sisters with the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Father and son, mother and daughter, all come into this new spiritual dimension in their relationships. Can you imagine the joy that one will experience when we are reunited with our loved ones who went ahead? If we are all equal then this will be a harbinger to peace, love and unity. Nevertheless, these relationships are very difficult to perceive with our human intellects. 

 Our relationship with God is not based on fear and trembling as we approach the Holy of Holies or damnation and hell fire when we fail to live a righteous life. We no longer live in fear of endangering our relationship with the living God. It heralds a new relationship where God accepts us as His own adopted children where we can call him Abba, Father. Abba is a term of endearment where one refers to informally in a face to face encounter with ones own Dad or Daddy. It reflects a very intimate relationship.  

It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to establish this relationship with our Father. He encourages us to bring all our needs to our heavenly Father. He gives us the passion, understanding and articulateness to approach God. The Holy Spirit Himself gives us the blessed assurance that we are children of God. If we are children of God, we become joint heirs with Christ, so we may suffer with him and be glorified with him. 

Isn’t this another great promise to be a joint heir with Christ? A joint heir is one who enjoys all the riches of the Kingdom that belongs to the King. We have become heirs to what God gives to all who have the Spirit of Christ living in them. As Christ was the only begotten son of God, we also have become children of the living God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. Part of the responsibility that this relationship brings, is the commitment to share in his suffering. There are many in the world that has rejected Christ and his glory. It becomes incumbent on us at times to share in His suffering. In a Christian Nation it is not so evident. Still it hits us in subtle ways. Many employers shy away from those who are open about there faith. In a world that is driven by the dollar, Christians are difficult people to convince as they are driven to be more compassionate and morally right. To exploit opportunities at the cost of their high moral ethic, makes Christians less effective and viewed as soft in the hard world of business. 

Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:31-39). Isn’t this another great promise that brings us to our knees to thank God for his goodness? Can we measure the depth of the power of God’s love toward us? God loved us so much that he gave his only begotten son to be delivered into the hands of those who denied him justice and crucified him on the cross to die. Through this mysterious encounter, death has been defeated, and evil no longer has dominion over the children of God. Christ has forged a relationship with God our Father for all who believe to eternity. So neither death, life, angels, demons, the past, the present or the future will separate us from the love of our heavenly Father that has been so lavishly given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior through the eternal fellowship of the Holy Spirit.