Sons of God

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We have been studying the first and second chapters of the Book of Hebrews. The writer points out that it is not enough to be forgiven through the blood atonement and filled with the Spirit of God. These experiences, as important as they are, are the merest beginning of what God has in mind for His sons.

(6/19/2005) What is man? Man is God’s appointed rulers of the works of God’s hands, and also God’s appointed judges who will judge the world, and angels as well. There is no higher calling than that of man. Angels have been appointed ministers to these heirs of salvation.

In view of this nearly inconceivable inheritance, we readily can see why the writer of the Book of Hebrews was so concerned lest the Hebrews Christians should stop at being forgiven and filled with the Spirit.

We do not as yet see man in his appointed inheritance. But we do see the Lord Jesus, brought down to death for our sins, and then raised again that He might be the Firstborn of many brothers.

I wonder if we realize what it means to be a son of God and a brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. We might think of this appointment as some kind of religious designation which must be interpreted as an imitation of some sort. Surely we are not a genuine son of God, a genuine brother of Jesus Christ!

To think of such a thing would be blasphemous. Christ is Divine. We are human.

It is right at this point that we stagger at the promise of God because we are unwilling to remove the barrier between man and God. However, it never is appropriate to water down what God has said because of a false humility. God’s unfailing Word declares we are genuine sons of God, not in some religious sense but in an actual (organic, if you will) sense. When we receive Christ as our Savior and Lord we are born of God. This is not a figure of speech. We genuinely are born of God!

What does this mean? It means that like our elder Brother, Jesus, we now are both son of man and son of God. This would have to be the case, wouldn’t it, if we are to be married to the Lamb?

Do we then vaunt ourselves because we are the offspring of God? No, we do not. Like our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, we do not regard being a son of God as something to be grasped. Rather, we humble ourselves and submit ourselves meekly to Christ as our Divinely ordained King. After we suffer we shall be revealed to the world as God’s offspring. This unveiling shall occur at the coming of Christ to the world.

The issue today is not whether or not we actually are sons of God, it is that of obedience. It is God’s will that His Life pour forth from us so that a dead mankind can be brought into the glorious liberty of those who live in the Spirit of God. But all such Life comes only from the Throne of God. So until we are willing to turn over the throne of our life to the Lord, we cannot be the blessing to mankind that God has ordained.

At night we spoke of the two heads of redemption. First, there is the sovereign plan of God. Then, in order to validate the contract, we must respond to all of the experiences into which the Spirit leads us,.

We mentioned also the two great epochs: the first lasting from the creation of the spirit and physical worlds to Calvary; the second beginning with the resurrection of Christ and extending to eternity, ages without end.