WHO IS A SON OF GOD?

KINGDOM BUILDERS

“BUILDING THE KINGDOM THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD”

PIERCING THE VEIL

WHO IS A SON OF GOD?

Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

In the scriptures, we are found to have many relationships with and about God. We are children, babes in Christ, Christians, servants, friends, daughters, a bride, the church, sons, brothers, fathers, mothers, pastors, elders, bishops, one of the five fold ministry, Heavenly Jerusalem, the body of Christ, the Lamb’s wife, overcomers, that great city, and the tabernacle of God to name a few. Even as Jesus was the Father and as God, and as the son, as well as the Holy Ghost, it is sometimes hard for folks to see him as the Son of God or the Son of Man as it is spiritually discerned. Jesus said on Peter’s revelation that He was the Christ, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.

I am the father of my children, but the son of my father, the brother of my siblings, the grandpa of my grandchildren, the uncle of my nieces and nephews, and a cousin to my father and mother’s brother’s and sister’s children. But, I am one and all the same person with different relationships. I want to focus on one main relationship in contrast to all the others, the son.

There are two main relationships that we have toward God as the church and as sons. As the church, we are the Ekklesia, a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place or an assembly, or in a Christian sense, an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting, and as a company of Christians of those who, hoping for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, who observe their own religious rites, hold their own religious meetings, and manage their own affairs, according to regulations prescribed for the body. We see many denominations who call themselves the church and hold that Jesus is the Lord who came to die for our sins and be resurrected to the right hand of the Father in heaven. From this unalterable tenet, we have various forms of religion, doctrines, liturgies, policies, administrations, and names, yet they are all called the church. It is the church universal who as individuals have called upon the name of the Lord and are saved out of all nations, tribes, cultures, languages, and customs. These are the called out ones. Of these called out ones, there are leaders appointed over them to teach the word of God such as Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers to guide them as new born babes of Christ to grow up into Him unto the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13. It is here where we begin our understanding of Sons.

We come into the kingdom of God as newborn babes in Christ. We are known as the church. Just like a natural baby, we drink milk, but as believers, we drink the sincere milk of the Word of God. As we grow, we are able to eat pureed foods, then vegetables, then finally after we are full grown, we should be eating meat. Many, however, in Paul’s day had grown to a full age, but had not matured to eating meat. His rebuke was, Hebrews 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered , seeing ye are dull of hearing. 12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil and Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this will we do, if God permit. 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come. Paul’s rebuke was with the immature in Christ. Some folks probably had been members of the church as little children for 20 or 30 years and had not grown. Even today, fathers raise children to be independent, but find that they can’t take care of themselves, and the children become as those that still need milk or need to be taken care of. When you get too many of these in the church, it becomes weak and helpless, can’t go forward with the mission of winning souls for there are way too many mouths to feed. They are still helpless little children needing milk sapping the strength and energy of the leadership having to go back and burp their 40 year old babies.

Those sons who come forth, having learned the basic lessons, graduated from school, and have become independent are now ready to face life, and fulfill the word of God that he has pre-destined to become an overcoming, full grown son or daughter of God who is able to make a difference in the world. So what happened to those who are of age, and are still needing milk? Somewhere along the line they skipped a grade, did not receive discipline, learned the wrong thing, was bailed out of too many of life’s lessons, or just simply wanted to be dependent on someone else.

With these arguments, I think we can see the fundamental differences between sons of God and the Church or babes in Christ. Babies are unqualified. They have come into the world because of the love that the father and mother have for one another. It is out of this love and relationship that the baby is born. Then two other things are necessary. The father and mother must, I say must use their godly oversight as parents to raise their children and discipline them to learn obedience and get knowledge. The child must be eager to learn, endure chastening, and put these life lessons into practice. Hebrews 12:7-8 says, If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. The word chasten means to correct, teach and instruct as well as discipline with the rod. All is training for the babe that he might grow up knowing the word of God and rightly dividing the word of truth so that his life is one of praise to his father and mother. Oh, I know all the arguments why some don’t make it. They have had abusive parents, their parents were alcoholics, they were absentee, they abdicated their position, they were poor, they died unexpectedly at an early age, and the list goes on and on. As an individual, to become a son, you must overcome all obstacles. No excuses are permitted. Shake it off, get a presence of mind about you, take charge of your life. Sons have to be mighty warriors. This is what their calling is. One can’t look back into the past and rue the day they were born, blame their parents, blame their friends, blame their instructors, blame those who took advantage of them. As Paul said, in Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended : but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded : and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

In God, if we are to be perfect sons of God, we must press forward. Looking back is not an option. It would be like Lot’s wife who turned into a pillar of salt, no more earthly good. It is like hooking a ball and chain to your ankle and dragging it from your past into the future. Break off the chains of bondage, begin to think different, and look forward to a great future as a faithful son.

Christianity applies the concept of firstborn to Jesus of Nazareth as "firstborn from the dead", and adopts the Septuagint terminology in the Greek prototokoi to describe the church as "firstborns." In other words, the firstborn son is the first to be born of the father, just as Jesus was the firstborn of all creation from the dead. So too are we firstborns when we are begotten of our Father in heaven as the church individually and collectively.

The firstborn or firstborn son is an important concept of the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic Judaism. The role of firstborn son carries significance in the redemption of the first-born son, in the allocation of a double portion of the inheritance, and in the prophetic application of "firstborn" to the nation of Israel. The earliest account of primogeniture to be widely known in modern times involved Isaac's son Jacob being born second (Genesis 25:26) and Isaac's son, Esau being born first (Genesis 25:25) and entitled to the "birthright", but eventually selling it to Isaac's second son, Jacob, for a small amount of food (Genesis 25:31-34) After Esau sold his birthright, he could not get it back with crying nor repentance. Being a son today is as important to the Spiritual sons as it was to the natural sons of Israel and must not be taken lightly.

We mentioned earlier that the baby is unqualified, that he is born of love through no effort on his own. The true Son of God is qualified. In fact, he must be to take on all the responsibilities of the one who called him to be a son for his tasks generally are monumental. He must train, he must learn, he must be a soldier, he must be disciplined, and he must suffer many things to earn the right as a Son who has overcome. Most of what the church goes through down here is then that training to the end that we can lead as sons.

Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s house as a babe, but he learned public speaking and was a great orator, he learned war as a soldier, he learned politics and how to rule, and he learned leadership all in a 40 year period of time. His leadership skills were put to the test and he failed miserably, so God led him to the backside of a mountain for another 40 years to learn the artful skill of a shepherd, and to learn to really lead using God’s methods. These 2 - 40 year experiences represented his testing years. David learned leadership skills as a lowly shepherd boy and how to protect the sheep by killing a bear and a lion with a slingshot. It was here in this green pasture of God’s tutelage that he gained the skills to defeat the giant Goliath that literally defied the whole army of Israel. David later became a favorite son of God and King over all of Israel. Hannah, whose name means grace, mercy, entreaty, and prayer prevailed with God in prayer. She was the second wife of Elkanah and was childless. It was a disgrace for a woman to be childless in Israel. Because she prevailed, God opened her womb, and she bore a son whom she named Samuel meaning "his name is El". Because she prevailed, she raised one of the greatest prophet, priests, and judges in all of Israel. Jacob was a second born son who through usurpation gained the birthright of the first born and the blessing of his father, Isaac over his first born son, Esau. Jacob had to learn how to be the rightful owner of that position as a firstborn, however, as he encountered an angel of the Lord who wrestled with him all the night. As the morning nears, Jacob finally prevails, and said, I will not let you go except thou bless me, and he is rewarded for the Angel said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. John is writing to the 7 churches, and uses the word overcometh several times. To the church in Thyatira, he writes, Revelation 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. Here he is talking to the churches instructing them in God’s ways. His intent is to grow them up, mature them, and cause them to be overcomers as sons not just children. In Revelation 21:7, John makes it clear he is talking of sons when he said, He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. He did not nor did he ever say that the church would inherit all things, just the son. And he must be an overcomer. The word overcometh is from the Greek “Nikao” and it means to conquer, to carry off the victory, come off victorious, of Christ, victorious over all His foes, of Christians, that hold fast their faith even unto death against the power of their foes, and temptations and persecutions, when one is arraigned or goes to law, and to win the case, and maintain one's cause. Now, we see clearly that a son is one who is qualified. He has entered into life’s battles and prevailed in all things.

The relation of the Father to the son may be grasped in Galatians 4:5-6 which says, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying , Abba, Father. Abba Father is Pater, and it means a title of honour as teachers, as those to whom pupils trace back the knowledge and training they have received from the members of the Sanhedrin, whose prerogative it was by virtue of the wisdom and experience in which they excelled, to take charge of the interests of others. God is called the Father, of the stars, the heavenly, luminaries, because he is their creator, upholder, ruler, of all rational and intelligent beings, whether angels or men, because he is their creator, preserver, guardian and protector, of spiritual beings and of all men, of Christians, as those who through Christ have been exalted to a specially close and intimate relationship with God, and who no longer dread him as a stern judge of sinners, but revere him as their reconciled and loving Father. We see, then that the father’s job is to make or produce sons out of us. It is his highest priority. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:18, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Now the Lord is Kyrios or he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding as master and lord. The Almighty or Pantokrator is he who holds sway over all things, the ruler of all, or almighty God. In Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Again in Romans 8:32, He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Galatians 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. As a servant, we don’t know all the master does. We are strictly under obedience, men of servile conditions, a slave who is devoted to another to the disregard of his own interests. As a son, we are heirs, we become what the Lord is, a ruler, a master, a lord, and a king. Can you not see this is his highest order of the day to make sons of us to rule and reign with him in his throne. 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : but we know that, when he shall appear , we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. WHAT AN AWESOME REVELATION!

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Phillip S. Smith III

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