May 18 2024 60 mins
The powerful truth of divine sonship is a fundamental doctrine. In today's teaching we dive into it from a biblical perspective.
The truth is powerful when applied appropriately, but when exaggerated, it can become dangerous. While it is meant to bring freedom, it becomes burdensome when there is a lack of balance or a lack of capacity to handle it.
Balance is power. Without it, you will have a distorted view of God, yourself, and the world. The enemy will do everything possible to twist the truth. If you believe you must earn God's love, everything you do will be an attempt to earn it, even though it is given freely. Holiness is a fruit that you bear; it cannot be achieved; it is the outward manifestation of an inward reality. When you host a holy God, you produce a holy life.
Our principles and practices must bear scriptural evidence. While someone may have powerful and life-changing spiritual experiences, these cannot be turned into doctrines. The Word is our boundary! We don't base doctrines on experiences; our doctrine is subject to the Word of God, which is unchanging.
God leads people based on a heavenly reality. Moses was instructed to model the earthly tabernacle after the heavenly temple, which was a reflection of a heavenly model. Therefore, every doctrine or truth we believe must mirror a heavenly reality. It is a truth because it points to a heavenly precedent, reflecting how God has fashioned things.
There is a truth and explosive power behind the doctrine of 'sonship''; it mimics a heavenly reality. Spiritual sonship is a domestic application of a divine, pre-existing truth. We cannot fully grasp spiritual sonship without understanding divine sonship.
“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29)
Many come to God for various reasons, such as healing, restoration, and breakthroughs. They seek what God can do for them and often turn away after receiving help, being healed but not saved. But this is not God's design; the ultimate goal has always been to have a loving relationship with the Father. The purpose of salvation is to know Him. God desires us to know Him as our Father.
The eternal identity of Jesus is that of a Son, and when you are saved, you become a son or daughter within the Son. This truth is the cornerstone of our beliefs. Sonship is a privileged position; all other identities are transient, but your identity as a son is eternal and cannot be taken from you. Sonship cannot be earned; it is given to you. The primary message of salvation is not about an eternal destination but about an eternal relationship. You go from being an orphan to a son; this transformation is primarily in the relationship, which then changes the destination. Sonship is eternal!
As we read in Romans 8:15, the Spirit of God came and transformed our relationship with God into an intimate one, where we get to call Him the ‘Abba Father’. The cornerstone of our faith is that we are restored to a relationship with God and everything else flows out of that. Divine Sonship is the solution to all your problems.
If sonship is not your identity, then you're striving to obtain one, relying on your works. However, as a son, you don't have to work to get an identity; you function from a place of identity. Nothing can change this relationship, which is sealed by the blood of Christ.
You are not merely a son, but God's legal inheritor. An heir inherits all that belongs to the Father, and in Christ Jesus, you inherit a kingdom that will never pass away.
The poverty of thoughts comes from the lack of revelation of divine sonship; for in sonship, nothing is out of reach!
Child of God, do you recognize your identity and the inheritance from your Heavenly Father?
May this truth of sonship liberate you!