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Pathways Through Paul, Vol 2
Daily Devotional
February 4
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Today's Pathway:
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Yesterday we saw that when we receive the adoption of sons God gives us His Holy Spirit. Paul writes that the Spirit cries,
"Abba, Father".
Jesus Himself referred to God the Father with this term in Mark 14:36 when He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane asking if the cup could be removed from Him. "Abba": is an Aramaic word which simply means "father". However, the fact that all three times it is used in the Scripture it is immediately followed by the Greek word for "father" indicates that there is some special significance to that term. The general idea is that "Abba" is a very intimate word showing the closeness of the relationship that would exist between a child and his dad. A servant would never use such a term in addressing the master of the house where he served. However, Jesus, Who had a perfect relationship with the Father from eternity past used it, and because believers now have the Spirit of Christ, and are no longer servants but are now sons, we may use it as well. Charles Spurgeon wrote,
"Oh, blessed, state of heart to know that now we are born into the family of God, and that the choice word which no slave might ever pronounce may now be pronounced by us, 'Abba'! It is a child’s word, such as a little child utters when first he opens his mouth to speak...Oh to have a childlike spirit that, in whatever state of heart I am, I may still be able to say, in the accents even of spiritual infancy, 'Abba, Father'."
How wonderful it is to be able to have this relationship with the Creator God, and to know that He desires to have this kind of relationship with us!
Paul adds in verse 7 that because we are sons of God we are also heirs of God. Romans 8:16-17 echoes this when it states,
"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."
I Peter 1:4 tells us that when we were born again and brought into God's family that we were promised,
"an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you".
We have been given all the rights and privileges of sonship, including the right to a joint share of the inheritance. We are already heirs, but we will receive the totality of our inheritance in Heaven, and it will be our's forever. It will never decrease nor spoil, and it has been watched and guarded ("reserved") by God Himself. No servant can ever lay claim to something like that!
The Galatians did not understand any of this. They had been freed from spiritual slavery by becoming sons of God, and yet by choosing to return to the Law they were living as if they were still in servitude. This certainly does not mean that they had somehow lost their salvation, for Peter wrote that the believer's inheritance is reserved for him. It does mean that they were not enjoying the relationship with God that He intended for them. Warren Wiersbe listed several benefits of being a son and not a servant:
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The son has the same nature as the father, but the servant does not.
The son has a father, while the servant has a master.
The son obeys out of love, while the servant obeys out of fear.
The son is rich, while the servant is poor.
The son has a future, while the servant does not.
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So, the question becomes, why would anyone who is already a son put themselves into the position of a servant? Remember the parable of the Prodigal Son. When the son returned to his father he requested to be taken back as a servant, but the father ignored that request, and gave to him all the blessings of sonship. This is what God desired to do for the Galatians, and what He wants to do for us today.
Are you enjoying the benefits of being a child of God?
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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