When the Bible tells us that God is our Abba, it doesn’t mean we should be frivolous in the way we approach Him. We must, therefore, be careful to draw that distinction. The teacher in Ecclesiastes had a helpful word for his audience about how to approach the house of God, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to approach in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong” (Ecc. 5:1).

God desires intimacy with His people. It has always been this way.

• When God created the first humans, He looked for them as He walked in that garden in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8-9).
• He ordered the construction of the tabernacle for Him to dwell in the midst of His people (Ex. 29:45).
• John tells us that Jesus became flesh and literally “tabernacled” among us (John 1:14).
• Jesus taught His disciples to pray not from a distance but with an expression of this intimacy by calling God “Father” (Luke 11:2).

That term, Father, expresses His desire well. God desires to relate to us as a heavenly parent, not in isolation, but in intimacy. God wants to be in a relationship with His people that’s not marked by fear but love. Not apprehension, but an appreciation of His great grace and compassion.

He Wants to Be Our Father Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ

That’s where the love of God takes us. John described it like this in 1 John 3:1: “Look at how great a love the Father has given us, that we should be called God’s children.” God’s great love doesn’t make us His servants. It doesn’t make us “the people He puts up with.” God’s great love makes us His sons and daughters.

God is committed to making sure we understand the nature of the relationship we have with Him. In fact, He wants us to know Him as Father so much so that one of the primary functions of the Holy Spirit is to remind us of the reality of His closeness:

“All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies together without spirit that we are God’s children” (Roms 8:14-16).

The Holy Spirit of God that lives inside of us is there for many reasons, but a big part of His role is to rise up in us and remind us of our true identity.

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