God's Tattoo

Dear Friends,

Jesus never called God “mommy.” The Son of God gave His Father a male identity and so have His followers for the last 2,000 years. The Old Testament refers to God by name (Yahweh) but Jesus referred to God as “Father” 165 times. In Mark 14:36, Jesus used the Aramaic word “Abba” that was an even more intimate and familiar term of endearment closer to our word “daddy.” 

There is a strong feminist movement taking place in the progressive denominations to remake God into a “new and improved” genderless deity. This recent and increasingly militant crusade has been removing the male pronouns of both God the Father and God the Son from their liturgy and prayers. One denomination suggests that pastors edit out any hymn lyrics that refer to God as a male. They’ve used the name “mother” to refer to God and have even stopped referring to Jesus as a man. This movement to theologically castrate God makes the point that God as Spirit has no gender, but then quickly reveals their true agenda by calling Him “mother.” Their explanation behind the feminization of God and their distaste that Jesus was born a male is because they believe that those with “father issues” who were subjected to harsh, judgmental, abusive fathers will transfer that experience onto a Heavenly Father. They correctly identify our tendency to see our Heavenly Father through the experiences we had with our earthly father but the answer is not to neuter God but to know Him. Childhood issues with rejection, family dysfunctions, pain and abuse are healed in the presence of our Heavenly Father. And in His presence we experience His total, committed, genuine, unconditional, never-ending, astounding love for us.

The Father God takes the messiness of your life and molds you into a masterpiece of beauty. He created you in His image and when you accept His Son you will have eternal life with your Father forever. And thanks be to God that His love for you is not based on what you do or don't do. His love for you is based on who He is. 

And He loves you so much that as soon as he created you in the womb, (Psalm 139:13-16) He placed a crown of glory and honor on your head. (Psalm 8:5) You look in the mirror and see flaws. You see the physical and psychological scars. The fat and the zits. The sin and the failures. Your Heavenly Father looks at you and sees only glory and honor. That’s your Abba. Daddy. 

You are covered with His fingerprints and you have intrinsic value in His eyes. God has crowned you with beauty and love. You may look in the mirror, and through the lies of the Enemy, you see ugly. But beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and your Beholder sees only your beauty. Abba. Daddy. 

Let me show you how much your Father loves you. Did you know about God’s tattoo? In the ancient times, nearly everyone had tattoos. They were used to mark family ties or slave ownership. Women tattooed their stomach and breasts with magical symbols during pregnancy to guarantee a safe birth. Tattoos were most commonly used to show devotion to a god or gods. It’s no different today when we tattoo on our bodies that which has captured our own devotion. Whether it's mom, a butterfly, pagan symbols, a cartoon character or Harley-Davidson wings, we display our devotion for the world to see. But because the ancients used tattoos in pagan rituals and to declare allegiance to other gods, tattoos were prohibited by God. (Lev 19:28) Then God turns right around and gets one of His own. Go figure.

And God’s tattoo is not a temporary one that can be washed off. No heavenly laser can eradicate it. It's permanent. And now prepare to be astonished. Because God’s tattoo is you. It's your name. God has written your name on the palms of His hands! That’s how much He loves you! That’s how much He’s devoted to you! He tells the Israelites then and tells us today that He has inscribed us – meaning to cut in or carve onto something. God has engraved your name on His hands. (Isaiah 49:16a) It can’t be erased. It’s eternal. It shows God’s devotion and His head-over-heels love for you! His love is not based on the good things you’ve done or the bad things that you didn’t do. It’s based on what God has done for you. And that, dear friends, is God’s grace. 

You look in the mirror and see “messed up.” He looks at you and sees His priceless jewel. Then He looks down at his hand, sees your name and rejoices over you. (Zephaniah 3:17) Your Father loves you not because of what you’ve done but because of who you are. You’re His son. You’re His daughter. He’s your Abba.  Amen?