“. . . They are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:14,15).

Charles Wesley’s great hymn, Arise, My Soul, Arise concludes in the fifth verse with a stirring testimony of the joy of salvation.

My God is reconciled; His pardoning voice I hear. He owns me for His child; I can no longer fear. With confidence I now draw nigh, (repeat) And, “Father, Abba, Father,” cry.

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 5:17,18). As our text explains, once we have received the spirit of adoption, we are the sons of God—He owns us as His child. This is a “new” thing. We who formerly were estranged from our Creator have been reconciled to Him. “Old things” such as the bondage to fear, are “passed away.” The close-knit ties are strong, “for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. . . . I will not fear what men shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:5,6).

Now that He is our Father, we have direct access to Him. “Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8). As an earthly father desires the best for his children, “how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?” (Matthew 7:11). “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: And . . . we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (I John 5:14,15).

This father/child relationship goes deep. The term “Abba, Father” reflects a most sensitive and loving bond, perhaps best rendered “O Sweet Daddy.” “We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (II Corinthians 5:20). JDM