In His person God is Abba Father of the believers. “Abba” is an Aramaic word, thus a Hebrew word, and “Father” is the translation of the Greek word pater. Such a term was first used by the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane while praying to the Father (Mark 14:36). The combination of the Hebrew title with the Greek expresses a stronger affection in crying to the Father. Such an affectionate cry implies an intimate relationship in life between a genuine son and a begetting father.
The Father is the source of life. This is indicated by the Lord’s word in John 5:26: “The Father has life in Himself.” In the New Testament, especially in the Gospel of John, the Father denotes the source of life. Even in a human family the father is the source of the life of that family. As the father of a family is the very source and origin of life, so the name Father reveals the Father as the source of life.
The Father, the source of life, is for propagation and multiplication of life. The Father’s life is for propagation and multiplication. Of the Father, who is the source of life, and who is for the propagation and multiplication of life, many sons are born for His expression (John 1:12-13).
The name Father is very much related to the divine life. Without having the divine life, God could not be the Father. How is it possible for a man to be a father? It is possible only by life. A father is a producer. A father produces not by manufacturing but by begetting. A father has a begetting life. Likewise, the Father has begotten us through His life. Whenever we call Him Father, we need to understand that this title is realized by the divine life. Without His life, the name Father is merely an empty term, without content or reality.
What is the revelation behind the name Father? Father is the name for the relationship of life. When I say, “Abba Father,” I indicate that I have His life and that I was born of Him. In the New Testament God is revealed as the Father who regenerates many sons. He is the source of life;
hence, He is the Father. It is His intention to bring forth many sons by regenerating them with His life. In the book of Matthew the Lord taught His disciples to call God Father, saying, “Our Father who is in the heavens” (6:9). Whenever we call God our Father, we should realize that He is our genuine Father. He is not our father-in-law, and we are not His adopted children. Our Father is our Father in life, our genuine Father. We call Him Father because we were born of Him and have His life.
When the two terms “Abba” and “Father” are put together, the result is a deep, sweet sense, a sense that is exquisitely intimate. “Abba, Father” is sweetness intensified. Therefore, the sense we have when calling in this way is very sweet and intimate.
Although the Spirit of sonship has come into our spirit, the Spirit cries in our hearts, “Abba, Father.” This indicates that our relationship with our Father in the sonship is sweet and intimate. For example, when a son calls his father “daddy,” there may be a sweet and intimate sense deep within him. However, the sense is not the same if he tries to say the same thing to his father-in-law. The reason is that with the father-in-law there is no relationship in life. How sweet it is when little children, enjoying a relationship in life with their fathers, tenderly say, “daddy.” In like manner, how tender and sweet it is to call God, “Abba, Father!” Such an intimate calling involves our heart as well as our spirit. The Spirit of sonship in our spirit cries, “Abba, Father,” from our heart. This proves that we have a genuine, bona fide relationship in life with our Father. We are His real sons, His genuine sons, and He is our genuine Father.
In the New Testament God is clearly revealed as being the only God. First Timothy 1:17 says, “Now to the King of the ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory unto the ages of the ages, Amen!” In Romans 16:27 Paul declares, “To the only wise God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever and ever! Amen.” Jude 25 says that God our Savior is the only God. Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 8:4 and 6 Paul says that “there is no God but one” and that “to us there is one God, the Father.” Our God is uniquely one; He is utterly distinct from the many false gods.
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