Abba Father

INTO

So we here in NSS have been going over the different names of God that we can find in the Bible. We have just gone over just 3 of them so fare. The first week Pastor Jackson started us off with Yahwah telling Moses that ,I am who I am. Kind of a weird response to “whats your name”. But its ok because we also learned that God’s God and we are not. and thank goodness for that because could you imagine having me for a god. My first decree everyone most watch one peice, and if you dont know what that is just be glade I’m not god.

wk2 we learned that God is also Jehovah Shalom <-> The Lord of Peace. How peace is not just an emotion but a person, God. And we have peace when we have God, or the flip of that is when we have God we have peace.

Last week we looking into Jehovah Jirah <-> Provider. That God not only sees the needs of all of us, but he also meets that need in our life.

So tonight we are going to finish out with another name for God, and before i say that please don’t stop here with this name. I would encourage you to find out other names for God. There are tons of them. And all of them are appropriate to use.

Let me say it this way , if you where to come up to Molly and say “hi molly how are you” that would be ok. Molly is the appropriate name, but if some dude was to come up to Molly and say “hey babe what you doing” you best believe we would have a problem. Why? I call Molly baby! No one else. This is not true of God’s Names. Anyone of these is appropriate to use and i would encourage you to learn them.

DO NOT STOP LEANING ABOUT YOUR GOD

Pastor Jackson said this the first week of Names “ tell me how you see God, I’ll tell you your future” and this is so true. It’s important that you keep learning about our God. Find a name and lean on that hard. And for me this name we are going to be talking about has been a rock in my life. I think its one of my favorites and after studying it more I’m 100% sure its changed and shaped my future.

ABBA

This phrasing “Abba” appears 3 times in the Bible.

Abbe was a term that you would hear children us often when addressing there fathers. It was a personal and interment term. Basically it can be translated to saying “daddy.” So yes one of God’s names is daddy or daddy God.

Now i know that this can sound funny to even say, and i personally don’t go around saying Daddy God, but God is my father. I do call him Abba and hopefully by the end of this you will see the blessing and the miricle of just being able to call God, Daddy.

PRAY

YOUR DAD IS NOT LIKE DADDY GOD

I need you to look at your neighbor and say “your dad is not like Daddy God.” Ok look at your other neighbor and say “your dad might be cool, but he is not like daddy God”

Now the reason i want to start here is because some of you might be thing already right now one of two things. Either you have an amazing Dad. One that was there all the time. Every play and every event. Provided for you to the point where you have never felt lack from your father. Or your on the other side of this, i say father and your like what dad. You might not have ever had a father growing up, maybe he pasted away when you where young, or just never present in you life.

Hear me, Abba God/Daddy God is not like your dad here on earth. I can prove it.

Matthew 7:7–11 ESV

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Your father might be the best dad in the world. He is still evil/sinful. Our best is like dirty rags to God. The God we call Abba is a good father, better He is the best!

Don’t fall into the trap of comparing or using your experiences (good or bad) to paint a picture of Daddy God.

SO WHERE DO WE SEE THE TERM (DADDY GOD) IN THE BIBLE

Romans 8:12–17 NLT

12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

YOUR PART OF THE FAM (God’s Family)

OUR SINS WHERE NOT ONLY BOUGHT, WE HAVE BEEN ADOPTED

Now you go to understand , this is Paul speaking here and to be honest the people hearing with would have just had there minds blown. We cry out “Abba! Father!” This would have been crazy to hear.

I read this when i was studying this week “The Jews, however, did not use it (Abba) as a personal address to God since such a familiar term was considered inappropriate in prayer.”

In Mark 14:35-36 , the other time Abba is used to name God, Jesus is speaking to God in the garden of Gethsemane for he was to go the the cross . That makes since because He was God’s son, but for me to raise my voice and cry out Abba/Daddy God, i mean come on it feels kind of inappropriate to pray to God like that. Or at least it would be if Jesus didn’t do what he did on that cross

Write this down “our sins where not only bought, we have been adopted”

Adoption or adopted // the action or fact of legally taking another's child and bringing it up as one's own, or the fact of being adopted.

So just think about this for a minute here God, creator of the universe, alright cool as long as you believe Jesus and except him I’ll being you up as one of my own children. This is crazy but it’s what happens all the time when people ask Jesus into here hearts.

So because I have been adopted into the best family in the world/universe. I proudly cry out Abba! Father! It’s no longer inappropriate but my right as a child of God.

SO WHAT DOSE ALL THIS MEAN. 3 THINGS THAT COME WITH BEING ABLE TO CALL GOD ABBA/DADDY

JESUS IS YOUR BIG BRO

YOU ARE A CO-HEIR WITH CHRIST

I say this quote while studying over these verce we read in Romans

“In contrast with the control of sin, which enslaves to the point of fear, believers have received the Spirit of sonship. The word translated “sonship” means “placing as a son” and is frequently translated “adoption”. Believers are adopted sons, not slaves ; so they need not be enslaved to sin or in fear. In New Testament times adopted sons enjoyed the same privileges as natural-born sons. In many families children inherit their parents’ estates; each child is an heir and the children together are co-heirs. Since Christians are God’s children, they are His heirs , and they are co-heirs with Christ. They are recipients of all spiritual blessings now, and in the future they will share with the Lord Jesus in all the riches of God’s kingdom.

This is amazing! Co-heirs with Jesus Christ!

It’s kind of like this. I love all you guys in here. Honestly there is not much i wouldn’t do for you ,but as much as i love you there are a select few that can reap the benefits of calling me at any time and getting me all the time. If your name is not Ratliff, i love you but if someone was to call me being a part of my family. Man i love you but i got to go.

It gets worse if the person calling or needing me has a last name of Ratliff and looks like my wife Molly. When Molly married into the Ratliff family she not only gets to take my name but she also shares in all that i offer, and trust me it’s a lot.

But seriously me, you, all of us that call Jesus Lord and savior are co-heirs and share with the Lord Jesus in all the riches of God’s Kingdom. Talk about the best brother ever. Not only did he take our spanking but he shares with us! What a blessing.

How many thinks are we chasing that God already has in His kingdom. Money, fame, friends, girlfriends/boyfriends. O you thought God didn’t have a handsome man in his kingdom for you, or a good looking girl for you. God is also Provider, we has all those things for you and it’s all available because we are part of the fam. Co-heirs with christ.

JESUS IS MY BIG BRO

YOU CAN GO INTO DAD’S OFFICE

ABBA GOD IS APPROACHABLE

So not only do we share in the riches of heaven with Jesus, but the Father in approachable, Abba God is approachable.

Romans 8:15 NLT

15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”

Abba was what kids would call there personal, intimate, approachable dad. There was a closeness in using that name.

I remember this little girl that first introduced my name to here, Eman. She was freaking out that he got to call me ,in hear eye, a teacher by a nickname was huge. She felt that it was so easy to approach me just because of a cool nickname that she got to call me. She experienced a closeness that was different from other teachers she had.

We experience a special relationship with God that people in the Bible before Jesus didn’t experience. God the Father was always there. He didn’t just appear one day say “who’s your daddy, I’m your Daddy”. No He did some crazy things for his people but the ability to approach God like this was not something that people before christ never experienced. That is why it was such a big deal. The high priest was the only one that could come into God’s presences or God’s Office, and they had to make sure they came correct or they would die.

Father God/Daddy God is approachable!

You can run to him say “Abba! Father!” Better yet he wants you to run to him. Like a kids that has hurt themselves and runs to there dad here on earth when you mess up or get hurt run to the Father. Run to Abba God!

Abba/Daddy I looked at the website again, help clean my mind!

Abba/Daddy I got hurt again by that group of people, that boyfriend, that girlfriend!

Abba /Daddy I hate myself and I don’t see value in my life anymore. Help me Abba! Help me Father!

Hebrews 4:16 NLT

16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

We don’t come to the throne room scared or afraid

YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE A DAD

As we close today, I want you to write this down. YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE A DAD.

Some of y’all might know, maybe some don’t but i grow up with an absent father. And i say absent, because I have a father here on earth still. I know there might be some people that there dad died when they were young so thats why they didn’t have a father. Mine is still here but he was not around much in my life.

Now absent fathers is huge in the world we live in now. As i was studying for this lesson i looked up different studies that share results that they find true about kids that grow up without a father present in there lives. Dropping out fo school goes up, ending in jail at sometime in life goes up. Behavior is bad. All kinds of things that are true.

Fathers are important in the life of a kid. Moms are important too, we just celebrated Mother’s day. but Fathers are important

I remember a season of life where i wanted to fit in so bad that i would do the stupidest things to feel excepted, Make friends, and feel a part. During Elementary and Middle School there few days that the principle didn’t meet my mother outside to share with her what i did that day.

Some of that was just being dome ,but i know some of that was probably rooted in the fact that i didn’t have a father.

But remember this truth, Just because I don’t have a dad dose not mean i don’t have a Daddy/Abba Father

A long time ago i decided/learned that God is my Father/Abba. Man i cry out Abba Father and i can because he is my Father.

CLOSER

I want y’all to know that God is your Father. Not fare off but very present and here for you.

But Jesus says in His word “no one comes to the father except through me” you need to have Jesus save you. And tonight you have that opportunity to do so. Let’7s take the time to pray and ask Jesus, His son, into our hearts!