Daddy-o part 1
I'm calling this Rant series "Daddy-o" because I tried to get Logan to call me that one time and he said, "You mean, 'Daddy'." That's who I am to him. Daddy. And I gotta tell you, that term kind of melts my heart. Because it's so... intimate. To me it kind of perfectly encapsulates our entire relationship. He's my son... and I'm his Daddy. Guys, that's the kind of relationship God wants to have with all of us! Look at Galatians 4:5-6 (NLT), "God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, "Abba, Father." Now obviously I want to get into the "Abba, Father," part. But first I want to work on the "adoption" part for a minute. And I want to point out that we were slaves to the Law... and we were freed from the Law. We, as a human race, had bought what the serpent was selling. We believed that we had to do in order to be. So when God offered us the Law of Moses it made perfect sense to us. But it was never what God wanted. He didn't want us jumping through hoops, trying to modify our behavior to a place where we might be accepted if we're good enough. Because in His eyes we were always good enough! Jesus hadn't even started His ministry yet when the Father declared, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." He wasn't well pleased with what Jesus did... He was well pleased with who Jesus was! Who WE are! And look, when Logan does something good, I have to admit that it fills up my pride meter. But the times I find myself most pleased with my son are when we are just spending time together. Not "working," but resting. And that's what eternal life is! It's knowing the Father and the One who the Father sent. Knowing God in the context of that unconditionally loving relationship between Father and Son. But that's not something we could experience under the Law. That's not something we could experience without the Holy Spirit. So Jesus came as one under the Law, to redeem us who were under the Law. To bring us out of the bondage of sin and death. To bring us out of the power of darkness, where we couldn't see God clearly. This idea of God as an angry taskmaster is kind of the number one thing Jesus came to do away with. He came to destroy the works of the devil--the lie that the serpent hissed into Eve's ear in Eden's misty garden! So this adoption wasn't God saying, "You weren't part of my family, but now you are." This adoption was God showing us that we always were His! We'll probably pick up on this tomorrow, but in the King James Bible Galatians 4:5 has the phrase, "adoption of sons," and it means, "the placing as a son, Christian sonship in respect to God." And it has connotations of entrusting the son with the family business. Responsiblity. Maturation. Discipleship. Sonship. I guess I'm trying to say there's never been a time God wasn't your Father, and through the Holy Spirit you can call Him Daddy!