When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught a prayer that seemed simple yet was infinitely profound. In the beginning of the prayer, “Our Father…”, He teaches us to see God as our heavenly Father and to address Him as our Abba or Father (Mark 14:36).
All this makes sense only in the context of the Triune God, listening to Jesus and watching the way He lived His life. Jesus shows us what it means to relate to Abba Father and what implications that has for our lives.
Every time we say Abba Father, every time we say the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer that Jesus taught, we are introduced and reintroduced to a relationship with our heavenly Father.
What does it mean to call God “Father”?
The only identity that saves and nurtures us is that which arises from relating to God as His son or daughter. This is the most important identity that will outlast all other identities, for it is connected to the eternal God who created us and saves us.
All other identities are temporary and transient, and will not deliver beyond their temporary and limited horizons. Believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus enables us to be reconciled to our heavenly Father and to become His children (John 1:12).
There are different kinds of religion, whether they are practised in organised or more individualistic forms (as is the increasing trend today) where people prefer to pick and choose and put together their own individualised spiritualities. Whatever form of religion or spirituality, it can be divided into three kinds.
Firstly, there is the religion that focuses on doing. Often, this takes the shape of religious activism and performance of rituals. The underlying philosophy is that we find fulfilment and salvation through our actions and deeds, that is, our good deeds. In His time, Jesus saw much of this, especially as demanded and practised by the Pharisees. He warned against the folly and hypocrisy of such a religion of ‘doing’.
Secondly, there is the religion that majors on being. This often takes the form of a self-focus geared toward self-fulfilment and enlightenment. The underlying philosophy is that it is not what you do that is of central importance but who you are. On the surface, many would find this quite an attractive kind of spirituality but it brings its own dangers to the soul.
In the time of Jesus, this kind of spirituality was popular too, especially among the Greeks, whose culture pervaded much of the ancient world, including the land of the Jews. After Jesus, the apostle Paul had to deal with the toxic spiritual fumes of such a philosophy that promoted spiritual navel-gazing and esoteric forms of spiritual practice that sought secret knowledge that would release the soul from its imprisonment in the material world.
It is the third form of religion that offers true promise for its central concern is not ‘doing’ or even ‘being’ but ‘being with’.
It tells us that ultimately, it is not who we are or what we have done but who we are with that leads to salvation, and true joy and peace. This was Jesus’ central message—as He focused on our relationship with God.
Consider this:
Jesus referred to God as His Father and also as our Father. What does relating to God as a child to a father reveal about your identity?
Excerpted and adapted from Boundless Love by Robert Solomon. © 2014 by Robert Solomon. Used by permission of Armour Publishing. All rights reserved.
