For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship, and by him we cry, Abba, Father. Romans 8:15

Mankind and human nature have been haunted and plagued by fear ever since sin came into the world. It has been said often that there is no greater power in the natural world than that of fear.

Everybody knows what fear is. Fears are many and varied, all the way from a child being afraid in the dark to the anxieties and apprehensions that something terrible may happen in the future, coupled with fears of frustration and confusion. Someone once gave a report that there are in man 101 secret fears. It has also been said that the basic cause of all fears is the fear of death.

As we stand on the threshold of another new year and think about the future, there are many conscious and subconscious fears of the unknown. Older people would be very surprised how much children and young people (in our day and age) are gripped with many fears. There is the fear of parents regarding their children, for their physical and spiritual welfare. Anxiety there also is regarding national and international conditions. If there are a 101 secret fears, here may be a 1001 conscious fears.

Why is it that way? Surely man was not made that way. Has it alway been this way? The true answer we find not with atheistic psychology, but in the Word of God. This particular text in Romans 8 speaks of being a slave of fear. What a dreadful thought! A slave belongs to someone else; he is not on his own, he does not belong to himself. As a result his will is bound. He can’t do what he wants to do. The word slavery always reminds me of that animal walking round and round in a cage, not being able to get out. So the natural man is in the “cage” of sin, and as a result also in the “cage” of fear. Fear grips him constantly; he can’t get out of this “cage.” No one can help him. That’s his life.

Such people also celebrate New Year. Deeply aware they are living in a world of fears. How much they long for and wish each other a happy new year. And there’s nothing wrong with this, of course not. People surely may do what they can to overcome those fears and avoid them. But the truth of the matter is that man can’t get rid of these fears. He never will, by himself. By nature he is a slave of sin. What a dreadful power sin is!

Solomon says that the wicked flee when no man pursues, but that the righteous are as bold as a lion. Moses tells the Israelites that if they disobey the Lord they will flee when no one is pursuing them. Stupid people, you say? That is the fear of bondage. David says in Psalm 53 regarding the wicked that they were in great fear where no fear was. In our sophisticated modern age it is nothing short of amazing how many tens of thousands of people resort to astrology and the reading of the zodiac to know something about the future. They are afraid.

How different is the life of those who are in

Christ. They have been adopted to be children of God. And by the Holy Spirit they have the spirit of sonship. As adopted children in Christ they know that this adoption took place completely outside of their own choice, as is nearly always true with adoption even in our world.

But what a natural parent cannot do, God can and does do, He also gives to those adopt ed children His own “nature” so that they have the image of God in them and the Spirit of sonship . . . . And they have the blessed awareness and sense of belonging to Christ, and are not their own. God is their Father, they are His children. As a result they say, Abba, Father.

The term Abba, Father is a combination of the Aramaic and the Greek words for Father. Jesus Himself used it in Gethsemane. Quite probably it became a rather patent expression in the church or among believers of that day.

Itsets before us the analogy of children, little children. A little child, where all things are normal, knows that he belongs to his parents. Also that they love him and care for him. He has the spirit of a child, knowing that he is a child of those particular parents. He knows of their loving care and protect ion. As a result that little child who has so many needs every day, uses the word Mommy perhaps a 100 times per day. And in times of trouble or fear, or pain even though it is so slight he comes running to his Mommy crying for help and comfort. This child has confidence of being heard. In his mind there is no doubt about it. He just knows that Mommy loves him, and cares about him. He has that real sense of belonging to his mother.

The same kind of language God’s children should use and often do use, as adopted children, who also possess His Spirit. Surely they should also use it at the beginning of the New Year in a world filled with fears of the unknown future. They also have great needs; they, too, are so often afraid. But as children of the heavenly Father they turn to Him, crying Abba, Father. They do this, but by implication are also admonished to do this throughout their lives. After all, it is their Father who will control all of 1980.

And that gives wonderful, wonderful peace!

Therefore say Abba, Father when you think of this New Year, with all that lies ahead. Say it in the awareness that if He has adopted you as a lost sinner only by elective grace, He surely will hear you when you cry to Him, saying Abba, Father. Say it with your heart, with trust and confidence, as well as with your mind. Say it when you face each day and you really don’t know what the day will bring. But you know that He does, even controlling it all. Say it regarding the needs of your family, and the many great needs of the church in the midst of an apostatizing church and an anti-christian world. Say it in the quiet time of each day. Say it slowly and calmly with concentration and meditation.

Great blessings are enjoyed by those who practice this kind of faith. Basically 1980 will be no different from 1979. Tensions, problems, anxieties and fear s will still be there. But a better life it can become for those who grow in this faith and daily cry, Abba, Father.

That’s the kind of faith that overcomes the world, in our own hearts and lives.