Palm Sunday and Passover approaches, and so therefore also the coming of the time of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. The subject of "sonship" came to my mind at this time. You may wonder how or why that subject might be related to this time of year. I was wondering also, but I found a special truth that I needed to look at.
The Apostle Paul wrote about the importance of the sons of God manifesting:
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God...because the creation itself shall also be delivered from the bondage of corruption (decay) into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now."
Romans 8:18-19, 21-22
If we consider these scriptures using a word study, we find that all of creation is anxiously and persistently watching, with head outstretched, for something to happen. All creation is waiting in suspense, waiting to take hold of something with the hand, waiting to receive, embrace, make one's own, approve of this mysterious event. This event that all creation awaits is the revealing of something which up until this point, had been hidden, veiled. Events are even being set up that will reveal, remove, or rending the veil from, this which previously has been hidden. The things that have been hidden up until this point are the sons of God.
We may even be able to say that the rending of the veil of the temple when Jesus was crucified, not only meant that the separation between God and man had ended, but also, at that moment, the sons of God were being revealed-those who previously had been hidden behind a veil.
This is momentous for all of those who are dedicated to Jesus, and to our Father.
Later, in this chapter of Romans, Paul says:
"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." Romans 8:29
The image we are called to and purposed to is the image of His Son. It is a "Sonly" position and purpose.
Many times our Father intervened directly, speaking audibly to declare the Sonship position of Jesus. We know that He did this when Jesus was baptized. He did it again on the occasion of the Transfiguration. It was the Sonship of Jesus that was challenged and then confirmed at the crucifixion:
"And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross...He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said "I am the Son of God." Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with that same thing." Mt. 27:39-40, 43-44
All blasphemed Jesus over the same thing-His position as the Son of God: passers-by, chief priests, scribes, elders, even the criminals all rejected His Sonship. But, again, the Father intervened and upheld the Sonship of Jesus:
"So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!" Mt. 27:54
Those soldiers, who had previously beaten and mocked Jesus could have declared Him to be Messiah, Savior, and all of that would be, and is, true. But the Father, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had them make the declaration that Jesus was "the Son of God". This was the vital truth of that moment for all of us.
Since we know the importance and the scriptures regarding Jesus' Sonship and our sonship, why do we find it so difficult to think of ourselves as sons. Even Paul, though he revealed that sonship truth to us, referred to himself at the opening of his epistles, not as a son, but as a servant, a bondservant or slave, a messenger (apostle), and a prisoner. Paul, himself, revealed the truth that a slave and an heir (son), though they may start out the same in childhood, at the appointed time set by the father of the house, the son comes forth, and Paul says:
"Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." Gal. 4:7
What can be clearer than that? Yet we have difficulty moving in that truth and mindset. There is an obstacle that continually tries to deny the manifestation of that sonship. Perhaps we continually refer to ourselves as servants out of a religious false-humility: "I am just a servant trying to do God's will." How sad that reasoning is, if true.
Does sonship mean that we do not want to "serve" God obediently? No. No one served our Father better, or more perfectly than His Son, Jesus. However, a son serves his Father from a different mind and heart and position than a paid employee (servant) or a slave.
The young man in scripture whom we call a prodigal, wanted to return to his father's house even as a servant, but we found out that his father did not welcome him back as a servant, but as a son, giving him a robe a ring and a banquet:
"...for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found"...
Luke 15:24
Abraham had a servant, a wonderful, loyal, outstanding servant, who was his heir, but he didn't want an employee as his heir. He wanted a son. He wanted someone of his own flesh, his own blood, his own spirit, his own name, as his heir. God understood this desire, and gave Abraham his miracle son. Our Father understood because He has this same desire, a desire for sons who serve Him not out of fear, nor for payment, nor for religious gratification, but in the love and oneness and shared heritage that a precious son shares with His Father.
All creation is waiting expectantly for God's sons to manifest. Paul says the time is now.
Our Father has many sons.
"Lamb of God"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPClih1HLPg
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