Just because
we are related to our family on earth, that does not mean that we may relate to each other. This mantra
have I adopted for myself, convinced that some members of the family are simply
not worth getting to know. Blood may be thicker than water, but the distance
that family members who share one parents can be thicker still.
that his father had a secret life, complete with another wife and family. This
secret marriage was something that he just learned about.
In the end, we do not have to worry about our relatives. I do not worry about my bloodlines. In fact, I am learning more and more about my adoption into the family of God through Jesus Christ.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus declared His deepest intimacy with His Father:
"And he said, Abba,
Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me:
nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt." (Mark 14: 36)
I believe that the Holy Spirit directed Mark to record Jesus address God the Father as "Abba" or "Daddy" so that we would appreciate not only how much God loved His Son, but also how much He would love us, for:
"Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he
is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)
Yet, we have further proof in Scripture that we now enter into the most intimate of relationships with God the Father:
"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8: 15-17)
To the Galatians, Paul emphasized their sonship in Christ, as many of them had strayed from their standing to attempt to earn righteousness through the law:
"To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of
sons.
"And because ye are
sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father.
"Wherefore thou art
no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." (Ephesians 4: 5-7)
The same Holy Spirit who convicts the believer of righteousness (John 16: 9) also convicts us of our most intimate sonship before God the Father. We are heirs of all things promised to Christ Jesus, who sits in highest honor and authority at the right hand of the Father. Our new standing in Christ grants us this boldness to come before our Daddy and ask for anything that we need:
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4: 16)
Do not come to God as if He is some distant and imperious figure. In Christ, God is your Daddy!
.