Galatians 4

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Gal. 4:4–7)

It is a very odd thing that the apostle Paul does in this passage: in the middle of this letter to the Galatians, written all in Greek, he slips in this one Aramaic word, “Abba” (Gal. 4:6). The word simply means “Father,” and yet immediately after writing “Abba” he then writes the word “Father” in Greek. “Abba! Father!” He writes the same word in two different languages. Why?

Clearly, Paul is thinking of the time when, in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was talking to his Father. There, in that private moment, Jesus called him “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36). With that poignant allusion, Paul holds out to us the breathtaking truth that we Christians are all given the very relationship with the Father that Jesus has always enjoyed.

In other words, when Paul writes that we have received “adoption as sons” of God (Gal. 4:5), he isn’t imagining that we are given the status of being “okay, sort-of-acceptable” to God. We are given the matchless status of the perfect and utterly beloved Son: never to be forgotten, never to be disowned, never to be unloved. Christian, you could have no better standing with the Almighty! The Spirit of Comfort that the Son has always enjoyed has been shared with us, assuring us of our Father’s tenderness toward us and care for us.

And that is just what fills us with such happiness in God: assured by the Spirit that we have the Son’s own status before the Father, we find ourselves filled with confidence and delight in so wonderful a God. Knowing and enjoying his love, an answering love wells up in us as the Spirit who is breathed into us creates in us a deep and passionate heart-cry: “Abba! Father!”

No longer slaves, but beloved children and heirs of the most glorious and generous God! Think on that today, and cry out to him as a cherished and honored child should.
Michael Reeves is president and professor of theology at Union School of Theology in Bridgend and Oxford, United Kingdom. He is the author of several books, including Delighting in the Trinity; Rejoice and Tremble; and Gospel People.