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Last Updated: Jan 19, 2007 - 12:43:17 AM |
Introduction
God is known by the title “Father”. He is not only the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ but also of all who believe in the Only Begotten Son of God. The concept of sonship is very important to the follower of Christ, for if we are not the children of God then we do not belong to Him, and as a matter of course, eternally lost.
The Jewish concept of sonship
Exodus 4:22-23 reads, “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: and I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.” God was the Father of the nation of Israel, but this does not infer that every individual Israelite was a son of God. Whenever Scripture uses the term “son” in reference to Israel it is always according to the whole nation rather than the individual. “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt” (Hosea 11:1) … “For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn” (Jeremiah 31:9).
The relationship that exists between God and Israel remains national, that is, according to the flesh, rather than spiritual and personal. The Jews consider the idea that a man could be called the son of God offensive and blasphemous. When our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed such a thing of Himself they sought to kill Him, “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God” (John 10:33). This is the reason why so few Jews have a personal relationship with God.
The Gentile concept of sonship
Christless religion, and even many liberal churches, views all men as being equally the Children of God. This concept is based upon pagan tradition rather than the word of God. Whenever anyone says that all are the children of God they speak the lies of Satan instead of the purity of Scripture.
Homer called Zeus (Jupiter) the “father of gods and men” (The Odyssey, 800 B.C.) The apostle Paul alluded to this kind of teaching in Acts 17:28, “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring”, but notice that it is by natural birth rather than the new birth. Paul makes it clear that only faith in Christ can make us children of God, “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).
Those who are without Christ cannot grasp that God, the Creator of all, could possibly condemn any of His children to Hell. Like the Jews, they think that they are automatically children of God and thus reject the very reason why Christ came, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).
The Christian concept of sonship
The New Testament concept of sonship is spiritual and personal. It is limited to those who have been born again, that is, born of the Spirit. Only believers in Christ have the right and the privilege of claiming this precious fact as their own “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not” (1 John 3:1, see also John 1:12 above).
This sonship is not simply a matter of belief but of practice too, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Unless it is evidenced in daily life it is at best hypocrisy, and at the least self-deception. There must be holiness, obedience and the manifestation of Christ’s character if we proclaim that we are sons of God. We must love what He loves, and hate what He hates. “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life” (Philippians 2:15-16).
Knowing that we are the sons of God ought to make us bold in faith without any embarrassment or shame. The “Jews” and the “Gentiles” might mock and persecute us, but we are to stand by what the Scriptures declare to be true concerning the believer.
Conclusion
Some think that they are Sons of God because they are born in a so-called Christian nation or family. Others claim this about themselves because God is the Creator of all. There is no saving power in either national or physical sonship. It must be spiritual and personal to be of any benefit to our souls.
In John 3:3 said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Modern theology may reject this as being outdated, but in doing so they reject God too. It is great wickedness to declare the children of the devil to be the children of God (Matthew 13:38; John 8:44; Acts 13:10; 1 John 3:10).
Thank God that we are His sons through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. “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. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).
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