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SONS AND DAUGHTERS
But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but God’s child; and since you are a child, God has also made you His heir (Gal. 4:4-7).
Now we are sons and daughters of God, and no longer slaves and orphans. We have the distinguishing marks of sonship – we have a name, a home, and an inheritance. God is our Father; we have been accepted as brothers and sisters of Jesus, and we share in all the privileges and benefits of being God’s children (Eph. 1:3-14).
- We have been given the Father’s name
Until Jesus came, the name of the Father was not known. In Jesus, we see the nature of God fully revealed – God with us and God with a face.
I have revealed Your name to those You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word (John 17:6 – Berean Study Bible).
http://biblehub.com/john/17-6.htm
Jesus revealed the Father’s name to His disciples so that, by His Spirit they (and we) could call on and use His name.
- We have a home.
A slave and an orphan have no home of their own. They live on borrowed property and can be removed at any time. They do not belong to a family. They have no roots and no security.
Not so God’s children.
Not only do we dwell in Jesus now, but we also have the assurance of a place in the Father’s house in eternity. David stated with great confidence:
I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psa. 23:6).
On the eve of His death, Jesus promised His disciples:
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms’ if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be with me where I am (John 14:1-3).
Amazing as it may sound, not only do we dwell in the Father, but He also dwells in us. So intimate is our union with Him through the Holy Spirit that He has made His home in us.
I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (Eph. 3:16-17a).
- We have an inheritance.
We are not only God’s children but joint heirs with His Son. What does that mean? What does Jesus inherit?
In these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe (Heb. 1:2).
God appointed Jesus to be the heir of everything He created, i.e., the entire universe and everything in it, and He appointed us to be joint heirs with Jesus. How awesome is that! But there is something else we are to inherit. Let me explain.
Firstly, we must understand that we receive an inheritance from someone who has died. It is not we who must die. We do not have to die before we receive our inheritance from the Father. It is ours now and available for us to use now.
To find out what our inheritance is, we must go on a Bible “treasure hunt”. The first clue, as we have already discovered, is in Rom. 8:17 and Gal 4:7 – the Father has appointed us to be His heirs and co-heirs with Christ.
The second clue is found in Heb. 6:12 –
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Aha! We are getting closer. Our inheritance is contained within God’s promises. But how do we gain access to His promises?
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And through Him, the ”Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God (2 Cor.1:20).
We make God’s promises our own by endorsing what He has said and standing in faith on His Word. We ask Him to make good on what He has promised.
Now we are getting close to the treasure. What has God promised that we can claim as our own because we are His appointed heirs?
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (2 Pet. 1: 3-4).
God made His promises available to us so that we can participate in the divine nature. As we take hold of His promises in every situation, we become more and more like Him, filled with His love, joy and peace. What a life in the midst of our world’s chaos.
Sons and daughters? That is what we are!
Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son - The Way to the Father's Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You'll love it!
ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3, eBook 978-4828-0511-6
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