Chapter 3 - Sons
Identifying, raising up and releasing the next generation.
Psalms 127: 3 - 5
Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate…
We saw in the previous chapter the value of the kingdom relationships of Paul with Titus, and that of Paul with Timothy. Paul called them ‘sons in the faith’. There is something powerful about such relationships which can transform our way of building the Church and furthering the Kingdom.
Sonship is the very heart of God and at the very core of the Kingdom of Heaven. God’s ultimate expression is in His son (Col 1:19). His son is King of God’s Kingdom (Psa 2), and Son over the Church (Heb 3:6). Also, God’s intention for His people is that they become sons, through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 3: 26), and they have thus received the Spirit of Sonship (Rom 8). In Hebrews 2:11 it shows us that Jesus, as a result, calls us His brothers. In Hebrews 12 we see that the Heavenly Zion is made up of sons, whom God cares for, disciplines and brings to Himself as Father. We, through Him are heirs of salvation and of the Father’s protection, provision and promises. This of course is for male and female. We all receive the spirit of Sonship through faith in Jesus Christ.
God’s heart for mankind was always to do with sons, living in a continual state of pure communion under the Father, with His son and King. It is this that creation, the fall, the choosing of a small nation, the Messiah and His cross, the ascension and outpoured Spirit, and the final age is all about. From beginning to end, God, through His Son, wants to father people who love and work for Him as sons. It is to sons that He will give the inheritance of the future age, today and to come.
So what does sonship look like? Does it only have relevance to the future age? Or does it relate to the work of the Kingdom on the earth today through the Church? There has been much debate over this in the recent decades. Some have reached out for all the privileges of sons and yet missed the nature of sonship; others have rejected sonship and its relevance altogether. We will find out that it is both at work today, and yet it is something God is working toward; a future expression of the ‘Son of God’ and the ‘sons of God’ in the age to come (Rom 8:19).
Scriptures, paint a picture of the family of God relating through spiritual connections in a way consistent with our relationship with God. Sonship, as shown by Jesus with his natural relationships, is also an experience we enter into practically through spiritual family relationships. It is not that earthly spiritual fathers or parents are to somehow take the primary place of God, but it is certainly something that God uses to practically teach us about His Fatherhood. God gives such earthly relationships to develop us, without in any way replacing the immediacy of our walk with Jesus, and our dependancy upon Him. He does this through imperfect yet called leaders in the Church of Jesus. The reason we need to grasp something of this is because we will need to see a sending of many mature spiritual sons and daughters into the world to build God’s family - the Church, His way. They will become the spiritual parents to another generation.
Sonship is patterned by Christ.
All that God does in the Kingdom is through yielded sons. Rebellious children cannot inherit the promises and immature children can end up forfeiting much of God’s best in this life.The great revelation of the last days is that God has revealed His Son (Heb 1: 2), and that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (Jn 3:16). To grasp the enormity of this revelation of God, is not only a foundation for our salvation, but also for our walk as children of God (Jn 1:12). Jesus is our pattern Son.
We also see in Scripture that God has sent His Son to be heir of all things (Heb 1:2). He has made Him Son over His House (Heb 3:6) whom we are. He has made His Son to be King of the Kingdom, and given Him the names of ‘everlasting Father , prince of peace’ and so on (Isa 9).
In Jesus we see that sons are not just born but they are raised to become fathers as they submit to the divine fatherhood of God and His discipline in their lives. Even the Lord submitted His life to earthly parents (Lk 2:51), and learnt obedience by the things He suffered (Heb 5: 8). Everything God does is in relation to sonship. He is making humble rulers out of yielded spiritual children. This applies to men and women in Christ, since we all have the Spirit of Sonship in us.
So the Son of God as the author of our salvation, causes us to be adopted into the family of God, but He is also the pattern for our walk as sons or children of God. And just like Jesus, this is not only a spiritual status that we inherit as a name at new birth, but also a practical walk to be submitted to in real-life terms by the leading of the Holy Spirit. For this, God gives us the family of God - the Church, to walk these things out.
Maturity vs immaturity.
With sonship, there are principles to be obeyed and unhealthy imbalances to be avoided. We can do this by focussing on Scriptural teachings and learning of Jesus.
Sons are called to gain wisdom in order to lead well - Prov 13: 1. Too many budding leaders choose to remain in ignorance and immaturity because of a failure to relate to fathers. Conversely, too many others are kept in infancy by the older generation because of a lack of training and mentoring. The hearts of fathers must to turn to the sons, for the sons to turn to them. Mal 4: 4 - 6
Sons are raised for the purpose of being sent out and released - Gal 4: 4 - 5. The development of spiritual sons is not for the purpose of keeping young budding leaders under the control of senior leaders, but rather for their release into spiritual maturity and authority, whilst remaining tethered to Godly fathers for wisdom. Sons in the natural leave their home to establish a new family unit. Likewise, sons according to Scripture are to be sent out for the purpose they were called. (Ps 127.)
Sons are given to govern and lead - Is 9:6. Spiritual sons and daughters are to become spiritual fathers and mothers in their own right based upon maturity. Leaders must carry God’s family concern for His Church. We should avoid installing leaders who do not carry this quality.
What distinguishes a son from one who is not?
A spiritual son is not merely mentally aware of his status as a forgiven sinner before God, but he must become deeply certain of of his position of sonship before God, because of grace. When we realise the enormity of the provision of grace in making us God’s children, we can securely and joyfully allow God the Father to deal with us through our earthly relationships, even tests that can come through them. Hebrews 12 says that discipline is a mark of true sonship.
As an example, we can learn from Jesus. He had His Sonship affirmed at His baptism, then had His Sonship tested in the wilderness (not removed), and came out in the power of the Spirit as a young man. The Son of God was both affirmed and tested by God, and proven in the experience! He was given Kingdom authority.
In a similar pattern, we see that 'young men’ in John’s first epistle ‘know how to overcome the evil one’. Therefore, we can say that sons are those who have been tried, tested and proven in the Lord. They are those whom God can entrust with senior responsibility. These are the ones we can send out as spiritual fathers - the ones John says ‘have known Him who is from the beginning.’ This is how God works in raising leadership.
There are some, however, who have been called to be sons, who have run from this process. Jesus spoke of the hirelings who run from the wolf rather than guard the sheep. Sons guard God’s house, whereas hirelings leave it to the prowler. (Jn 10: 12)
What value is a son in the Kingdom?
Psalms 127 shows us:
That sons are God’s reward or heritage.
They are key to guarding a city (a people)
They are key to building the house (a family).
Sons are also called ‘arrows’ in the quiver of the sender.
They are the ones who contend with the enemy at the city gates.
In order to see the realised vision of a regional or city eldership with strong local churches overcoming the enemy through Christ, we must understand that the kind of elders and leaders needed for this are those of the above quality. Whilst they certainly aren’t always the finished article, nor perfect, likeminded sons (as scripture shows), are the proven process by which God works. God puts His authority into such people. This is how we win our regions.
If one who claims to have authority is not under authority, he will behave as a hireling not a son. He will eventually jeopardise the regional building of God’s house and not carry the purpose of God to its fulfilment. Sons and daughters willingly become battle ready, yet remain humble; they become fatherly and motherly yet remain related; they become wise yet still stay teachable. They are proven in little, and rewarded with much. This is the value of building with spiritual children. This is how God advances His work and defeats the enemies of God. Sonship is God’s way for us - to victory.
Hebrews 2: 11 - 13
Both the One who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. 12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters in the assembly I will sing your praises.” 13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”