Sonship

Fathers

Introduction

As the sons of God possess the Kingdom, the procession is not one of wild cheering and boisterous exuberance. To the contrary, it is on hobbled legs that the saints go marching in, just as Jacob leaned on his staff and worshipped at the end of his life. If such an entrance into the Kingdom sounds pessimistic, consider that the image of Jacob leaning on his staff and worshipping was presented by the writer of Hebrews in his great chapter on overcoming faith. This image was the crown of Jacob's life. "By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff." Jacob never recovered from the Angel of the Lord touching his thigh. He hobbled the rest of his life. This is indicative of how God touches each one of His sons in such a way that they become wholly dependent on Him. All the soulish energies of Adam are removed from our lives as Christ's own sonship is formed in us.

Those whom God brings near to Himself as sons are first love slaves.

Ex. 21:

1 "Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them:

2 "If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing.

3 "If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.

4 "If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.

5 "But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’

6 "then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

Walking as a love slave unto the Lord is a deliberate choice we make. But if the servant plainly says... All of God's sons will have pierced ears. When questioned by the Pharisees, Jesus stated plainly that the first and foremost commandment is "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." This commandment was fulfilled in Jesus, and it shall be fulfilled in all His sons.

To walk as sons is to walk in a divine lineage. It is Christ's own nature that is formed in them. Paul stated that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. All of God's sons learn to put on the new man, created in the likeness of God in righteousness and holiness of the truth. This definition of sonship may not sound appealing to the religious side of our adamic nature. It is not meant to. But as Adam dies, all the joy of the Kingdom of God becomes ours. Great is the heritage of God's sons!

All Scripture references are taken from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise indicated. Capitalized passages indicate quotes from the Old Testament.

Sonship: A Love Relationship

Sonship is about one thing: The love of the Son for the Father. It's the love of the only begotten son, Jesus Christ, for the Father that defines what it means to be a son. Make no mistake about it, there is only one son, Jesus Christ. Well, what about those many sons God is bringing to glory? What about the fact we are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus? It's rarely understood, even among groups that teach sonship doctrines, that it's about the life of the Son re-created in the many sons. We will never walk as sons apart from the life of the Son in us. We will never call ourselves sons without a deep, abiding awareness of His life filling us. Many well intentioned Christians make the mistake of teaching how we are to be like Jesus, acting as He would act, speaking as He would speak. Imitating Christ is the phrase that is used. But this is false! We cannot alter our behavior to conform to how we think Jesus would do things. And even if we could present a reasonable facsimile, it would still be worthless, for what is born of the flesh is flesh and profits nothing. There is a big difference between imitating Christ and Christ's life coming forth in us. This is what Paul meant when he said, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

The deceptive thing about this concept of imitating Christ and striving to be like Him is that it creates a separation between us and Him. This is the satanic intent. All the strivings to be like Christ originate in the old, adamic nature. But Christ does not bear the nature of Adam! He bears the divine nature of the Father. Apple trees cannot produce oranges. Neither can Adam produce the life of God. Jesus said it's the Spirit that gives life and the flesh profits nothing. It's the Spirit of Christ in us that comes forth crying, Abba Father, testifying to our sonship in Him. Separation from God is the result of original sin in Adam. God is not interested in the old, adamic nature attempting to please and serve Him. It's a new creation that must serve and walk with God!

Gal. 6:

14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

The new creation, which is Christ in us, has its expression in us the same way as it did in Paul. I have been crucified with Christ is Paul's testimony. It's the cross of Christ operating in us that crucifies Adam and allows Christ's life to be expressed. As strange as it may seem, it's not God's kindness and blessing as the religious world defines them that produces the love relationship of sonship. It's the devastation of Adam that creates it. The chastening of the Father upon His sons is what creates the pure love for Him. Our deepest innate need is the one for a Father. It's the Father's chastening upon our spirits that enables us to know we are loved and received as sons in Christ. We can hold doctrines of sonship until the cows come home, but those doctrines will never be a living reality for us until God's chastening enables us to accept the relationship. The chastening of the Father upon His sons is a deep mystery. In the natural we tend to run from what causes us pain. But in the Spirit it draws us right into the Father's heart.

On two different occasions Jesus spoke of how the Father loved Him. There is a love relationship between Father and Son that cannot be comprehended in Adam. We can never in ourselves love God with any degree of adequacy. It must be Christ's love for the Father created in us. When we stand with hearts bursting because of our love for Him, we can know it's His love that has filled us. We are to be sharers in the greatest expression of love the world has ever known.

John 14:

15 ¶ "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

18 ¶ "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

19 "After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.

20 "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

21 He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.

22 Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?

23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

25 ¶ "These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.

26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

These verses are deep and can be difficult to understand. Jesus is speaking to His disciples about the coming indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Verse 23 speaks of the love relationship between Father and Son. Jesus said, "We will come and make Our abode with him." Here it is! It's the love relationship between Father and Son living in us! The indwelling of the Father and Son in us becomes so entwined each life is lost in the other. It's a great paradox how His life and identity in us will always be preeminent and distinct, yet our lives are so fused into Him there is no separation.

As we grow in God, we pass through many levels of emphasis. At a certain period in our spiritual growth, the most important thing for us seems to be to walk in a ministry and minister to others. That is not being downplayed here, but ultimately, as we continue to grow and mature, we find there is only one emphasis that abides and doesn't diminish: The love of the Father in the Son. Jesus came into this world to minister because He loved the Father. He was sent forth from God.

Many different points of emphasis hold our interest and satisfy us along our journey into God. What we feel we must have today to be satisfied will give way tomorrow to something else. When all is said and done, it will be the Son's love of the Father created in us that is our satisfaction and fulfillment. This is how true sonship is defined and it abides forever.

Sonship: Who We Are in Christ

Everything begins and ends with Christ. We are nothing apart from Him. It's being in Christ that gives us substance and meaning. Phrases like we are Christ, or, "Jesus