INTRODUCTION
A story is told about two boys with an alcoholic father. When the two boys grew up, one followed his father’s footsteps closely, became an alcoholic and lived an unruly lifestyle. Meanwhile, the other son vowed he would never touch alcohol after witnessing his father’s undesirable lifestyle. He went on to become a successful businessman and enjoyed a peaceful fulfilling life.
Separately, a case study was conducted in two families. The founding father of the first family spent his life teaching his children the word of God and motivating them to be law-abiding citizens.
In contrast, the patriarch of the second family pursued a hedonistic lifestyle and indulged with hard drugs, had wild parties and never cared to empower or discipline his children.
Many decades later, the case study revealed that descendants of the God-fearing man were pursuing successful careers as judges, senators, lawyers, doctors and engineers, among other decent professions.
In contrast, the case study indicated that descendants of the hedonistic patriarch had turned out to be criminals, prisoners, prostitutes, armed robbers, drug peddlers, among other disreputable occupations.
Despite the different circumstances we often find ourselves in, both stories illustrate that we have total control of the different paths we choose to pursue. Choosing the wrong mentors and embracing negative influence often leads to a troubled future, while choosing the right mentors and deliberately rejecting negative influence often results in triumph.
No wonder, the Psalmist in Proverbs 23:7 declared: “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. I submit that the son’s zeal to model the father’s footsteps transforms the son into a prototype of the father.
EXPOSITION
One of our foundational passages in John 1:12-13 confirms that Christian believers who receive Jesus Christ as their saviour by faith attain a new spiritual birth and earn the status as “children of God”. The passage importantly underscores the reality that the gift of salvation from God to man cannot be earned by works, but is an act of God’s abounding grace.
The author of the Gospel of John is believed to have been a native Greek speaker, who likely lived in or around Palestine. The Gospel of John, dated between 80 and 110 C.E. is first attested in a highly fragmentary papyrus, dated to 125-150 C.E.
The early Christian writer Origen (185-254 AD) states that each of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark Luke and John, presents a different perspective on the life of Jesus. All the four gospels are required to get the complete picture. Origen maintains that book of John was the last of the gospels to have been written and exclusively focuses on demonstrating that Jesus came from heaven and that He is God.
Our second foundational scripture comes from Galatians 4:1-7. Like John 1:12-13, Galatians chapter 4 also emphasizes that by faith all those who trust in Jesus are redeemed, and must not be justified by observing the Mosaic law as proposed by some Jews. Further, the passage explains the adoption as sons of God, which grants them equal status as heirs.
Galatians is one of the thirteen books of the New Testament written by the Apostle Paul to the churches across Galatia, presently located in parts of modern Turkey. He wrote the epistle in C. 50-60 to establish the importance of grace as compared to the law.
At that time, some Jewish believers held on to the Jewish law and traditions and maintained that God’s grace and human effort were required for salvation.
Our main text comes from John 1:12-13 and Galatians 4:1-7. John 1:12-13 (NKJV) says “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”.
Salvation (Romans 10:9-10) is just the first step in sonship. Believers must now learn to worship God in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24) by being doers of the word, and not hearers only (James 1:22-25).
Galatians 4:1-7 (NKJV) says: “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ”.
Since an immature son (heir) does not differ much from a slave in the Kings household, believers must not be spiritually negligent (1 Timothy 4:12-16). Christian believers should “be diligent to present themselves approved to God, workers who do not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
Consequently, as mature sons, they establish intimate relationships with the Holy Spirit, through whom they can cry out “Abba, Father!”
You can only “manifest sonship” as a Christian believer in a place of intimacy with the triune God (God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit). John 1:12-13 explains a believer’s spiritual position as a child (or son) of God, born and led by the Spirit of God.
Additionally, Galatians 4:1-7 emphasizes the crucial need for spiritual maturity for any believer to take up a governing position, and to manifest as a son of God. To be intimate with a person, you passionately strive to please him or her, despite your feelings and emotions. You realize that the relationship transcends the intensity of your unsteady feelings and emotions.
In sonship, the Father’s call is greater than every other thing. You understand that when Jesus calls a man, He bids him “come and die”. This means your body and soul yields to your spirit, thereby enabling you to effectively fulfill your purpose, a God-given divine mandate.
BUT WHAT IS SONSHIP?
John 5:19-20 (NKJV) – Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel”.
To understand sonship, we need to know that the role of the father is to disciple or mentor the son to grow into spiritual maturity. Your spiritual maturity is realized when you understand the word of God and live out its truths diligently.
In different phases of discipleship or mentorship, the father exercises his authority to empower the son. On his part, the son adopts a submissive and contrite attitude. He displays a teachable spirit and a yielded heart to receive everything from the father.
When sons stand on the legacies of their fathers, they effectively transcend their achievements and multiply seeds of a similar kind. An effective reproducible process is evidenced by the production of fruits. In sonship, there exists a relationship in which the more experienced father guides the son towards spiritual prosperity, posterity and success. As sons of God, we therefore strive to accelerate our adoption and restoration to a position of glory and power, as co-heirs with Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:6)
ILLUSTRATION
I heard about the story of a Chinese man, LiFu Yon who was attacked by thugs. He was stabbed around the jaw area, was taken to hospital and stitched. For the next four years, he felt intense pain around the scar, all the way to his brain. The agonizing pain prompted him to go for an x-ray. The x-ray showed a rusty four-inch broken blade lodged in his brain. The blade had apparently broken from the knife’s handle during the attack. LiFu Yon had been walking around with the foreign object in his head for four years!
Some of us are worse than LiFu Yon. We have been walking around with foreign emotional wounds for decades. We need to yield to the Holy Spirit for Him to unearth all manner of foreign objects in our brains and souls. Things like habitual and un-confessed sins, ungodly soul ties, negative beliefs and inner vows, gossip and hypocrisy, addictions, word curses, bitterness and painful memories, guilt, disappointments, past mistakes, strife, divisions, failures and un-forgiveness. The list is endless. We have to let go and yield to the Holy Spirit completely if we are to manifest as sons of God.
HOW DO YOU MANIFEST SONSHIP?
1. You must have a revelation through which you know God and know your governing position in him. You know your specific purpose. You can never rise above your revelation. (Isaiah 9:6)
2. You must cultivate an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. You constantly seek his guidance on what “baby steps” to take towards achieving your divine assignment. (Romans 8:26; Psalm 25:14)
3. You must yield completely to the Lord’s instructions and promptings of the Holy Spirit to effectively exercise your God-given spiritual authority. (Daniel 11:32)
To effectively exercise spiritual authority in Christ, Christian believers must regularly fellowship with the Holy Spirit and constantly walk in obedience to God’s word, to fulfil God’s will. This should ultimately yield fruit, tantamount to the salvation of souls to the Kingdom of Heaven.
4. You should become super-sensitive to the Holy Spirit, to the extent that your spirit man is completely controlled by the Holy Spirit, who further subdues your soul and body.
It is like seeing your shadow and the Lord’s shadow merging to become one. In that state, the Lord’s will is your will, and you therefore become “a battle axe and weapon of war” (Jeremiah 51:20), or an available willing vessel that God can use to dispense His justice.
Romans 8:19 (NKJV) says “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God”. We have entered a season of transition, realignment and restoration.
TRANSITION
The sons of God who have a revelation of who Christ is and have taken their governing position in Christ, should pursue deeper intimacy with the triune God.
Those who are enjoying deep intimacy with the Holy Spirit should yield completely. Let Him explore the depths of the unknown with you. The sons of God who have yielded completely to the Lord Jesus Christ and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, should deliberately partner with others to dethrone territorial powers and principalities controlling the seven mountains. The seven mountains are religion, family, education, government, media, arts and entertainment and business.
RE-ALIGNMENT
We have entered a season when God is merging the graces upon His vessels to dethrone powers and principalities in control of the seven mountains.
This calls for unity and networking in the universal body of Christ. There are various regions across the world where sons of God are already manifesting discreetly; driven by their zeal to execute the Lord’s will without compromise.
Unfortunately, some sons of God have remained in their comfort zones, small independent gatherings or fellowships where they have continued soaking in Biblical truths and witnessing supernatural encounters.
But they have failed to spread the fires of revival. God expects His sons to deliver souls as rewards to the Lamb of God for His sufferings and death on the cross.
RESTORATION
Some sons of God think they have missed the bus and it’s too late to embark on the journey, which feels like opening healed scars.
Because of their unique prophetic and apostolic anointing, they have experienced intense warfare, and have been wounded and isolated by the body of Christ.
Some have condemned themselves to the wilderness and caves for years, while others have continued ministering from positions of disappointment, pain and anger.
Others have simply stopped serving God and quit ministry because of delayed breakthroughs. But God wants to heal and restore us today.
CONCLUSION
The Lord wants to transition, re-align and restore all His sons to a governing position and give them fresh mandates as sons of God.
If you desire deeper intimacy with the Holy Spirit as a son of God, there is hope. Draw near to Him and He shall draw near to you.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gifts of salvation and eternal life. We pray for deeper intimacy with the Holy Spirit and for the spirit of discernment. We pray for divine transition, re-alignment and restoration according to your will. Use us effectively to dispel divine justice. We pray for divine acceleration and the manifestation of every delayed prophetic word and biblical promise in our personal lives as sons of God. In Jesus Mighty name we pray. Amen.