Part 4 Growing Up to be a Son
Fatherhood & Sonship
Growing Up to be a Son
Bruce Billington
Sonship is About Maturity
Galatians 3:29 – “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”
Here Paul outlines what we can expect to receive on earth. Firstly, we see that the people of Israel never came into sonship. All that God had for them was kept under managers and guardians until Christ came.
Until Christ opened the door for His people to come into the fullness of the presence of God, sonship was not available. God could not receive us into sonship until we had been made pure and received a heart of flesh in exchange for our heart of stone. So, although sonship is now available to all believers, we cannot enjoy it if we are not in relationship with Christ.
Galatians 4:1-2 – “1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.”
Unless we come to a place of maturity, God cannot give us all He has for us because it would bring harm to ourselves and others. While we are still children God keeps much of what He has for us under managers and guardians.
Galatians 4:3 – “So also, we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.”
We will not overcome the things of the world as children.
1 John 2:13 – “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.”
We can know the Father as children, but we are not mature until the Word of God abides in us, and we know how to overcome the evil one. Note – these things are formative stages of our growth – not signs of maturity.
Galatians 4:44 – “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,”
The fullness of time is now. The Son has come.
Galatians 4:5-6 – “5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
We can now receive full adoption as sons and daughters. Nothing in Christianity is better than this. The Holy Spirit within us cries out from our hearts “Abba”. We come to know God as Father and He takes us into His confidence, shares with us His mysterious ways and calls us to work with Him on our inheritance.
Galatians 4:7 – “Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Every one’s inner being is crying out for this, yet so few actually lay hold of it. It is worth every sacrifice that we ever have to make to get there.
Galatians 4:8-9 – “8 However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?”
A Relationship not a Concept
One of the reasons why we struggle so much in being a son or daughter to God is because we tend to see it as a concept when in actual fact it is a relationship.
A key principle of New Covenant life is that who we are comes before what we do.
Although the New Testament teaches extensively on servanthood, we need to understand that God has called us to be sons and daughters before He has called us to be servants. This is what it means when we say God relates to us primarily on the basis of who we are, not what we do.
In this lies the difference between being driven and being led. People who are driven in the Kingdom of God are normally functioning from the mentality of a servant, not a son. God does commend us for our actions but Jeremiah 17:10 tells us that God searches our hearts for the motives that lie in behind all we do.
Sons and daughters receive an inheritance – servants get wages.
If we work as servants, we are always seeking rewards. If we work as sons and daughters, we are seeking to build up the inheritance, knowing that we are joint heirs of it. The rewards, although beneficial, take on a much lessor importance.
What Are Wages?
Popularity; acceptance; self-glorification; fame; materialism; financial rewards; promotion; healing; power and anointing.
Some of these things may be okay in themselves, but they should not be what motivates us. One day we will all be fully healed and restored. We won’t have to worry about money because the streets we live in will be paved with gold.
Revelation 21:7 – “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”
It is very significant that the final consummation of the ages brings us into the ultimate relationship with God – that of a son or a daughter. Sonship is the final state of joy for humanity and the ultimate role that can be entered into with God.
The Common Obstacle
Despite this the principles of true fatherhood are not only eternal and always relevant, but they appeal to everybody and set a beautiful model for society to be based upon and a fantastic example for us to follow.
They include all of the following – faithful love and care; generosity and thoughtfulness; constant availability with undivided attention; skilful in training us; wise in guidance; helping us to find ourselves in maturity, integrity, and uprightness; every day the same.
Everybody loves these attributes and God is always there to provide them to anyone who will approach Him in sincerity and love. God has already given us a clear earthly model of Fatherhood and sonship in its entirety. He came to earth and demonstrated it Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.
Be assured that we are created to experience the unconditional love of the Father – it is in our DNA. God is the perfect model and pattern of Fatherhood, and He is looking for those who will truly be sons and daughters to Him.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington