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This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Galatians 4: 6 - 7
Two points about this passage.
It is one of only three places in the New Testament, where the Aramaic word 'Abba' is used. It is always presented as 'Abba! Father!'. In the original Greek, the word for 'Father' is 'Pater'. The reason 'Pater' features is the first readers did not know Aramaic and so needed a translation. Why feature 'Abba' at all? Because it was the word Jesus actually used. The beauty of it is all Christians, whatever their language read 'Abba' followed by their word for 'Father'. Given that to this day in some places 'Abba' is the first word a child speaks, it is a word for all people - all ages and everywhere.
My other point is, what difference does being a child of God make? The text says God has sent the Spirit into our hearts because we are children. So, what does this mean?
The meaning hinges on how we understand the metaphor of a loving father. The slave receives and obeys orders. The good father encourages his children to stand on their own two feet. It is no longer a question of obedience to a dictator God, but liberty supported by a father (or loving parent). To be a child is a commitment to learning to do without the father figure. This includes human father figures such as priests.
When the inevitable questions start about why God allows the good (whoever they're supposed to be) to suffer in earthquakes, for example, our understanding is these are not judgements on human behaviour. We do good in the way we take responsibility for others, as we respond such events.
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