Abba – means father in Aramaic and in biblical numerics the number 22 denotes enlightenment/light/revelation
Driven out of the garden, disinherited as a son of God – lost his identity, stripped of his authority, dominion, power, and the honour and glory that the Father had crowned him with, Adam lived on the earth – a vagabond under a curse that would enslave the rest of mankind- the result of his disobedience to God.
But God in His supreme wisdom foresaw this sin and prepared to one day redeem and restore His sons to Himself. Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8
John documents Jesus’ high priestly prayer in chapter 17, this reveals the way the Father would take to bring back home the son whom He had lost.
For any child to have his father’s name removed from his, means rejection and alienation. When Jesus prays to the Father He says, “I have manifested Your name to the men …” The name that He had manifested to them was the name ‘Father’.
To all who would receive His name, our identity is restored in Christ, rescuing us from the spirit of orphan. We are brought back into the family of God, thereby making us sons of God and co-heirs with Christ. Because of Jesus we are no longer fatherless.
Thereafter He says, “I have given to them Your words …” (verse 8). This is the authority that Adam once enjoyed in the pristine setting of the garden of Eden. With this authority we have the privilege to once again rule and have dominion over the earth as the sons of God. We are expected to represent our Father as He is in His character and His nature and govern from a place of safety and confidence in the Father’s love.
Finally, Jesus says, “The glory which You gave Me I have given them …” (verse 22). This, being an all- encompassing glory, carries with it the magnificence, splendour, majesty, reputation, weight accompanying the sons of God.
It is the glory that gives weight to our words. This means that our words will not fall to the ground but it will accomplish the purpose for which it is sent. This was the honour bestowed on the prophet Samuel in the Old Testament.
The scriptures say of him, ”And the Lord was with him (Samuel), and let none of his words fall to the ground.” 1 Samuel 3:19. Such is the weight of this glory.
God’s ultimate purpose for sending His Son, Jesus, was to reconcile and to restore us to Himself, and to re-instate us as His sons. He gave to us His beloved Son as an offering for sin.
Jesus willingly took our place on the cross and emptied Himself of everything. The shame, humiliation and rejection that he suffered at the hands of His own people, the religious sect and the Roman garrison opened a way for us to be accepted in the Beloved, clothed with His glory and honour.
His death, burial and resurrection has atoned for our sins and the transaction that He made in blood would exact the payment of debt we owed and we are released from the curse of sin and death. We have been set free.
This He did fulfilling the requirements of the law given by Moses. Our sins have been remitted judicially and completely. This selfless expression of love has given us a coveted place at the Father’s right hand – a place of His original intent for us, His sons, so that we would be a visible expression of Him on the earth.
This is that place that Jesus spoke of, that He went ahead to prepare for us. “I go to prepare a place for you.” John 14:2. The cross proves and legitimises the sons of God. “Take up your cross and follow …” It is the medium through which the flesh dies and the spirit is raised to life.
If all we choose to believe is that Jesus came to the earth to die on the cross to save us from our sins, while this in itself is not wrong, it is however incomplete, then we will never come into our inheritance as sons of God.
And if the justice systems of this world demand the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then we owe it to the inhabitants of the earth to give to them the whole truth.
