Abba Our Father: Three Faces of Fatherhood

Introduction

This Father’s Day Sunday, Église Hillsong Paris took time to hear three complementary messages on fatherhood. Roger reminded us that God is our Father, the one who runs toward us. Corentin revisited what God expects of a father within his family. A third brother spoke about the restored father; the one who no longer imitates Adam but Jesus. Together, these three voices paint the same portrait: that of a God who redefines fatherhood and comes to heal ours.

Message outline

1. God is our Father : the Father who runs (Roger)

• Many religions present God as creator, king, or judge. The Gospel reveals something more astonishing: the sovereign King of the universe wants to be called Father (Romans 8:15).
• A slave does not freely enter his master’s house, but a child has direct access to his father. This is the access Jesus came to open by giving us a spirit of adoption that cries out “Abba, Father.”
• In the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:20), before the son even finishes his speech of repentance, the father runs, embraces him, and restores the robe, the ring, and the sandals. “He does not welcome us because we have changed; he welcomes us in order to transform us.”
• Psalm 23 describes a shepherd with fatherly traits: he provides, he gives rest, he restores the soul, he does not abandon us in the valley, he honors his children before their adversaries. The promise is not that life will be easy, but that his presence will be there with his blessings until the end.
• For those who have been wounded by their earthly father; rejection, harshness, abandonment, silence; the good news is that God is not an amplified version of our human fathers. He is the perfect model of what a father should be: “a father to the fatherless and a defender of widows” (Psalm 68:5).
• We are not merely tolerated in the kingdom; we are welcomed into a home. We are not merely forgiven; we are adopted (Galatians 4:7; 1 John 3:1). Before your mother and father even knew each other, God already knew you (Jeremiah 1:5).

2. The role of the father : consecration, service, protection (Corentin)

• The word “patriarchy” comes from the Latin pater (father) and arca (command): literally, “the command of the Father.” Far from militant caricatures, the Bible puts this term back in its true context: an order designed by God to bless the family.
• According to 1 Corinthians 11:3, “Christ is the head of every man, the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.” The man is spiritually responsible for his household before Jesus. His first ministry is his family.
• This ministry requires service and sacrifice. Adam let the serpent speak to Eve because he did not hold his place as protector of the garden (Genesis 3). The question for today: how do we break free from the passivity in which many men live?
• Ephesians 5:22–29 is not a text about domination. The Greek word for “submission” (hupotassō) means “aligned with the mission,” “under the mission.” Against Roman society, which gave fathers the right of life and death, Paul reverses the lens: the man must love his wife as Christ loved the Church, by giving himself up for her.
• The presence of a father; physical, emotional, and intellectual; has a measurable impact: it reduces the risk of depression and anxiety in young women by nearly 40%, and the risk of dangerous behaviors in young men by more than 50%. The greatest gift a father can give his children is to love their mother and show it.
• Two practical applications of this role: provide materially, emotionally, and spiritually (1 Timothy 5:8), “let us not be fathers who fill the fridge while leaving our children’s hearts starving”, and protect the identity and atmosphere of the home (Ephesians 6:4), by placing the shield of truth between the lies of the world and his household.

3. The restored father : not Adam, but Jesus (the third message)

• Genesis 2:7 reminds us that man has life only through the breath of God. When we move away from him, we lose that breath and enter “the cave”: that silent fortress where many fathers retreat when they are tired, wounded, or overwhelmed.
• Our reference is not Adam but Jesus, the “second Adam.” Adam sinned and hid: “I was afraid and I hid” (Genesis 3:10). Even today, wounded men hide behind work, screens, and phones. Christ, however, did not hide: he exposed himself on the cross for his bride, the Church.
• The enemy attacks the father because the father is a gateway. When the devil wants to attack a family, he starts by silencing the father: Jacob’s blessing cannot be passed on if the father’s mouth no longer speaks. The father is also a priest for his household.
• A restored father looks like Jesus: strong yet gentle, powerful yet compassionate, full of truth but also full of grace. He knows how to correct, but he also knows how to lift up. He knows how to speak, but he also knows how to weep. “Who told you that a father cannot cry, or ask for forgiveness, or come home with gentleness?”
• The image of the heroic father who, in a fire, enters the flames to save his family points to Jesus, who entered the fire of judgment to take our situation upon himself, carry it, and bring us out; by dying in it himself. This is the Gospel: your heavenly Father loved you so much that he gave his Son so that you could come out.
• Mark 5 shows us Jairus, a synagogue leader, who is not ashamed to fall on his knees before Jesus for his daughter. Unlike Nicodemus who came at night, Jairus comes in broad daylight, unashamed of his status. When a father has faith and knows how to raise the altar in his home, he is able to bring Jesus where death has already struck. “Talitha koumi; little girl, arise” (Mark 5:41).

Key takeaways

• God is not an amplified version of your earthly father: he is the perfect model of fatherhood, and he runs toward you before you even finish your sentence.
• Your first ministry as a man is your family. Before the church, before work, before projects.
• Loving your wife as Christ loved the Church is the greatest gift a father can give his children: his sons will find a standard in it, and his daughters will find a model they will refuse to settle for less than.
• A true father provides on three levels: material, emotional, and spiritual. He does not settle for filling the fridge; he also nourishes the heart and the faith.
• The model for a restored father is not Adam who hides, but Jesus who exposes himself. Hiding in the cave of silence is betraying your calling; returning with gentleness and truth is restoring it.

Personal application

1. When you say “Father” to God, is it merely a figure of speech or a reality that changes the way you believe and pray? Take a moment this week to say “Abba” while meditating on Romans 8:15.
2. Where do you stand with your first ministry: your family? Is there an area (time, presence, listening, prayer) where you have let the serpent in through your passivity?
3. In what very practical way can you, this week, love your wife (or spouse) “as Christ loved the Church”? A specific gesture, word, or sacrifice.
4. Of the three levels; material, emotional, spiritual; which is the weakest in your life? What can you change to stop “leaving your children’s hearts starving”?
5. Are you more of a man who hides (like Adam) or a man who stands and intercedes (like Jesus and Jairus)? Before God today, step out of the cave: who do you need to ask forgiveness from, return to with gentleness, or carry in prayer?

Verses cited

• Romans 8:15 · the spirit of adoption that cries “Abba, Father”
• Luke 15:20 · the father who runs toward his son
• Psalm 23 · the Lord, my fatherly shepherd
• Psalm 68:5 · father of the fatherless
• Galatians 4:7 · no longer a slave but a son
• 1 John 3:1 · children of God, and so we are
• Jeremiah 1:5 · before you were born, I knew you
• 1 Corinthians 11:3 · Christ, head of every man
• Ephesians 5:22–29 · love your wife as Christ loved the Church
• 1 Timothy 5:8 · provide for your own
• Ephesians 6:4 · raise your children in the Lord
• Genesis 2:7 · the breath of life
• Mark 5:21–43 · Jairus, a father on his knees before Jesus

Frequently asked questions

What does “Abba” mean when the Bible speaks of the heavenly Father?

“Abba” is an Aramaic word that Jesus himself used to address God. It does not express the distance of a subject before his king, but the intimacy of a child before his father. Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6 say that the Spirit of God comes into our hearts crying “Abba, Father”, in other words, to make this direct, filial, fearless relationship with God a tangible reality.

How can God be a “good Father” if my earthly father hurt or abandoned me?

God is not an amplified version of your earthly father. He is quite the opposite: “a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows” (Psalm 68:5). He comes to restore what sin and wounds have destroyed. Many believers discover, while meditating on the parable of the prodigal son or Psalm 23, a Father who runs, who provides, who walks with them through the valley; until their inner image of “father” is healed.

What can a man practically do to fulfill his role as a father in his family?

The Bible offers three very practical directions: consecrate your life to Christ and place yourself under his mission (1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5); provide not only materially, but also emotionally and spiritually; be present, lead in prayer, model an active faith (1 Timothy 5:8); protect the identity and atmosphere of your home against division and deception (Ephesians 6:4). A man’s first ministry is not the church or his job; it is his family.