Tag Archives: sons

Learning To Be A Son – Chapter Five – Slaves or Sons?

Book Reviews, , , ,

CHAPTER FIVE

Slaves or Sons?

Since we have already established that the whole of humankind was intended to be the family of God and that every person is potentially a son or daughter of God, how do we move from potential to actual? The operative word is “faith”. New Testament writers like John and Paul understood what Jesus came to do. He came to reveal the true nature of the Father and to remove the barrier of sin that separated us from Him so that we can be restored to our rightful place as sons and daughters of God.

Jesus calls us to become His disciples, followers of our rabbi so that, in close and intimate association with Him, we can learn to be sons by watching, listening and imitating Him. When we respond to His call, we begin our journey with Him which will take us to the Father if we follow His way, obey His instructions and keep our eyes on our destination.

Sin, the great barrier between man and God, was the outcome of Adam’s disobedience to God’s instruction in the Garden of Eden. Sin destroyed the fellowship Adam and Eve had with God and left them dirty, diseased, deformed and dead – unable to connect with God because their nature had become corrupted. It was because of His great love that He had already formulated His plan to rescue us from the ravages of sin and adopt us once again into His family through the death of His Son.

Through the Holy Spirit, whom He sent on the Day of Pentecost, God confirmed the forgiveness Jesus bought by His death, and restored everyone who believes in Jesus to His family as His sons and daughters. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of adoption. He witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God and, through Him, we can address God as Abba, Father – a term of intimacy and endearment.

Those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God, not those who claim allegiance because they have signed a decision card or answered an altar call. It is because of our status as sons and daughters that we enjoy all the benefits of life in the family of God. This is our “password” to eternal life – not when we die but now, in fellowship with the Father and with the Son in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

We are still fallible human beings, with an old sinful nature that is vulnerable to temptation. Satan has been defeated but he is still active to deceive us when we listen to his lies. There still lurks in us the thought that we are his slaves under his power and that we are subject to punishment when we sin. We try to gain acceptance with the Father through keeping rules instead of living in the truth that Jesus fully paid our debt and that His cry on the cross, “It is finished!” meant exactly that.

Since we have not fully understood the implications of His death, we feel uncomfortable with God. Like the returning prodigal, we want to be treated as slaves and not fully accepted as sons.  But God has not given us the spirit of slavery which makes us afraid of Him. He has given us the Spirit of adoption. We are truly the sons and daughters of God, forgiven and fully accepted. Our response is to come out from the world and be separated to God. He has promised that He will be a Father to us in the truest sense of the word.

When we respond to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him, we leave our old life behind and begin our journey with Him which will take us to the Father, learning from Him what a true son is like and being transformed into His image as we continue to abandon our old ways of thinking and return to His way.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

To order your 0wn copy of either book, contact

Toll free – 0800 990 914 (South Africa)

orders.africa@partridgepublishing.com

www.partridgepublishing.com/africa  or

+44 20 314 3997 (outside South Africa)

ISBN: Hardcover – 978-1-4828-0891-9                                                                                     Softcover 978-1-4828-0890-2                                                                                                              eBook 978-1-4828-0889-6

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

Sons And Heirs

Bible Study, ,

SONS AND HEIRS

“Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child and, since you are His child, He has also made you an heir.” Galatians 4:6-7.

Imagine that! In Romans, Paul said, “Sons of God and co-heirs with Christ.”

Our past as slaves of sin has been wiped out. Now we are God’s beloved sons and daughters, born into His family through the Spirit of God just as Jesus was born into a human family by being fathered by the Holy Spirit. Not only have we been born of the Spirit but we are also indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

We wear God’s name, just as human children wear their father’s name. We belong to the family of God. We can never be “unborn”, no matter who we are or what we do. We have an inheritance because we are legitimate children and not slaves.

When do we receive our inheritance and what have we inherited?

We are not waiting to receive our inheritance at some time in the future. It is already ours because the testator (Jesus) has died.

“In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it because a will is only in force when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.” Hebrews 9:17.

Our inheritance consists of two parts:

1. God appointed Jesus to be heir of all things, and we are co-heirs with Him.

“…In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He also made the universe.” Hebrews 1:2.

“Heir of all things.” What does that mean? Jesus Christ is the owner of everything He made. As co-heirs with Him, believers are also heirs of “all things”. All the resources of His creation are ours through Jesus.

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” Psalm 24:1.

“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:32.

Since God has made all His resources available to us in Christ, why are so many of us still poor, battling to make a living with a promise like that? For at least two reasons: we do not follow God’s instructions to access His resources (Matthew 6:33) and we do not receive when we ask because our motive for asking is selfish (James 4:2, 3).

2. The other part of our inheritance is even more amazing. We are heirs of all things but we are also heirs of God’s nature. Just as children inherit their father’s property when he dies, so we inherit the earth because Jesus died. But we also inherit God’s divine nature, just as human children inherit their father’s sinful nature, which also makes us heirs of eternal life.

God is perfect; He has no sin, therefore He cannot die since it was sin that brought death into the world. When we are reunited with Him by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus, we receive His nature as a gift, just as Adam did in the beginning. God always sees us “in Christ”, perfected and complete, and therefore we also, just like Jesus, cannot die because we now have His nature.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises so that, through them, you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires.” 2 Peter 1:3-4.

While we are still in this life, we are to become what we are, sons and daughters of God who are just like Jesus, having the very nature of God – gracious, generous, compassionate and merciful. God is working it in us as we work it out.

“And we know that in all things God is working for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.” Romans 8:28-30.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

A Never-ending Story

Christian Life, , ,

A NEVER-ENDING STORY

“‘What comes next is very important. I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay in the city until He arrives, until you’re equipped with power from on high,’

“He then led them out of the city over to Bethany. Raising His hands He blessed them, and while blessing them, took His leave, being carried up to heaven.”

“And they were on their knees worshipping Him. They returned to Jerusalem bursting with joy. They spent all their time in the Temple praising God.Yes.” Luke 24:49-53 (The Message).

Luke’s story of the earthly Jesus comes to an end but never has a story ended like this before. His story could never have originated in human imagination; and to have been told as fact and truth if it were not,  would have been the biggest fraud ever spawned on the human race.

Unlike any other story, Luke writes only the first chapter here. He wrote chapter 2, recorded in the Book of Acts, for the same reader, Theophilus, and in the same straightforward, factual style, as a sequel to the life of this amazing man, and the outcome of His life, death and resurrection. What other human figure has impacted humanity as He did?

The first chapter of Jesus’ story closes with His return to the Father; the second opens with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. He had assured His followers that they would not be abandoned as orphans. He would send His representative, one exactly like Himself, with the same disposition and mission who would not only be with them but in them.

Of what value would their three years with Him and everything He had taught and demonstrated, be to them without the power to carry out His instructions? They would be no better off than the Israelites who had God’s teaching, but no inner strength to put it into practice. The Holy Spirit had been present and active in the old dispensation, but there always remained the barrier of sin between them and their God which animal blood could not remove.

Jesus had established a new covenant with them, sealed with His own blood; not just a cut on the wrist, but every drop poured out as an atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world. There was nothing left to alienate humanity from the Father, for in that offering was the forgiveness of sin and cleansing from the uncleanness sin had brought.

The Father was now free to send His Spirit to take up residence in the spirit of human beings once again, when they chose to respond to the invitation to return to their original status as sons of the living God.

The disciples were no longer skeptical and suspicious of Jesus. Had he not opened their understanding and given them the whole picture? They were overflowing with joy as they returned to the city, having watched their beloved Master go back to the unseen realm of the Father’s presence. It seems strange that they were rejoicing at His departure. Did that mean that their faith was so strong that they anticipated with joy the promise He had made?

They waited and worshipped in the Temple, no longer intimidated by the religious leaders who had so terrified them days before. They were convinced and they ignored the very people before whom they had cowered. Jesus was alive and that was all that mattered.

Can We Ask Too Much?

Prayer, , , ,

CAN WE ASK TOO MUCH?

“If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing – you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think that the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask Him.” Luke11:11-13, (The Message).

Again Jesus uses an exaggerated contrast to teach us the scope of God’s generosity to His children. Fathers give their children the simple things they ask for because it is within the scope of what they are able to do. They are generous to their children as good fathers because they are able to meet that need, and they do it because they love their children.

But what about our heavenly Father? How does He respond to the children to whom He gave spiritual birth through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus? According to Romans 8:32, “If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing Himself to the worst by sending His own Son, is there anything He wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us?” (The Message).

In this teaching on prayer in response to the disciples’ request, Jesus pins my attention on three questions:

1. Who and what is the focus of my prayer?

2. What is my attitude to Him?

3. What do I expect of Him?

If I can answer these three questions from His perspective, I have grasped the real meaning of prayer and can expect to nurture my fellowship with the Father as Jesus did.

In His model prayer, Jesus teaches me that prayer is primarily about who and what I must become aware of. Prayer is not prayer if it is all about me and my concerns. Prayer is the simple act of turning my head to face the One who can bear the burden. Why can I have confidence in Him to handle whatever my issues are? He is my Father, my life-source who is as near to me as my breath. He brought me to physical and spiritual birth and He has accepts full responsibility for me as His child.

Although He is unseen, He is real, more real than the world around me. He knows me more intimately than I know myself. I can hide nothing from Him; therefore I can best nurture my relationship with Him by being transparent and direct. As a tiny child comes to its father in dependence and trust, so I come to my Father with an open heart.

Although little children sometimes think that daddy can give them the world, they ask in innocence and ignorance, but there is nothing my Heavenly Father cannot supply according to my need. I have no need greater than the Holy Spirit and He has promised to give Him to me if I ask Him. He has already given me His Spirit and, because He leads me, I know that I am His son or daughter.

And so my understanding of prayer comes full circle back to the fundamental issue of sonship. Prayer is only prayer in the environment of God and me as Father and ‘son’. Prayer is not prayer unless it is the intimate interaction between Father and son.