“Baba Yetu” is Swahili for “Our Father”
Matthew 6:9-13
“This, then, is how you should pray:
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliber us from the evil one."
We should think about why Jesus asked us to pray this way.
Firstly we should think about what it is that makes God our Father?
In Genesis God created man (Adam) in His image. It is only 2 chapters later that God says “the man has now BECOME like one of us” (Gn 3 v 22). If you are created one way – in the image of God almighty – and you become something else, surely it means that you are no longer the way God created you to be. And since this is taken in context after Adam and Eve sinned due to the serpents deception in Eden, we know that after they listened to Satan instead of God, they became people with sin in their hearts! Satan knows both good and evil – he wascreated good and became evil, just like Adam and Eve(Gn 6 v 5-6). When that happens God leaves men, because God cannot dwell with evil, He is all good. (Gen 6 v 3). The point I am wanting to make is that since the appearance of Satan, not all men are made in God’s image any longer. Therefore, not all men contain God’s spiritual DNA.
God’s seed (DNA) is his word (Lk 8 v 11). In Jn 6 v 63 Jesus compares the words he speaks to both spirit and life.
Therefore God’s SEED = WORD = SPIRIT = LIFE! right? Isn’t it true that if Adam had listened to God’s word he would have had eternal life? Sin would never have entered man’s heart and so death would never have been part of the equation.
Jn 3 v 3-5 tells us that we need to be born again of spirit and water. Well if Jesus is saying that His words are spirit then the answer is not so abstract! I agree with poor Nicodemus, in that having someone tell you to be born again is a pretty far-fetched and unfathomable idea. But with the explanation and hind-sight we have today we can clearly understand that it is those who understand Jesus’ words and Love him (bearing in mind HIS definition of Love Jn 14 v 15 & 23), who are being born again, back into God’s image. Why must we be born again? Because of the fact that men are descendants of Adam’s… and Adam was no longer God’s son, he was no longer made in God’s image, because He betrayed His creator. For us to be like Christ (Christians) we need to follow the instructions in 1 Pet 1 v 23! We need to be born of God’s “imperishable seed”, the “living and enduring WORD OF GOD“. Then our hearts can resemble God’s heart and we an pray for things putting Him first. (Mt 6 v 33).
The reason I got no response in the supermarket all those years ago, was because the man I thought was my father was really a stranger. He did not recognize my voice because I wasn’t his child, and so I’m sure the stranger would’ve eventually turned around and said – ”little girl, I don’t know you!“… Luckily my real dad, loved me enough to hear me when I needed help and despite not getting my chocolate milk, I was so relieved to have found my father!
We should make sure that we are truly God’s children…this means that we need to not only call ourselves his children, and be self-proclaimed Christians, but we need to be the ones who are acknowledged by God. In the end we stand before no one else, we have only God to answer to, no friends to support you, no others to blame…we will each be held accountable because God’s word has been given to us so that we are without excuse (Rom 1: 20-21).
Let’s all be those who belong to God, and are born of his spiritual seed,so that we can be part of his kingdom and priests
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