Have you ever met someone who tried manipulating you to do something? Like the humans who are always in urgent need of 2K? Or someone who will make you feel so bad because you were not there for their usual emotional dumping? These are the kind of people who will try and force you to do something that you don’t really want to, in the name of, “You are a Christian, You should always help everybody.” If you allow yourself to give in to their manipulation, you may find yourself constantly drained. You may even end up trekking home from work since you had to give your fare to someone whose need was more “urgent.” However, if you know the position that you occupy as a son of God, you will not allow yourself to be manipulated to do something that your spirit does not bear witness to. Knowing who you are will help ensure that people do not manipulate you. It will also give you the wisdom to deal with each case as it comes.
We set off on an exciting journey last week regarding a believer’s identity. Please find part I here.
Sonship is not a title. It is a position. A title can be taken away from you. For instance, you may be a manager today in your workplace, but that can change tomorrow. However, if you were to go home and someone told you that you are no longer a child of that house, then things can get a bit messy. You may even stay for years without going home but that does not change the fact that you are still a child of that house. The prodigal son (the younger son) is the perfect example of the permanence of sonship. Though he spent years away squandering his wealth, he was still regarded as a son in his father’s house.
Journey of Faith: From Servant to Son to Friend
When the younger son had wasted all his wealth, he returned home saying, “servants at my father’s house have enough to eat and spare, and here I am, dying of hunger.” What the younger son did not realize earlier enough is that he was a son, but not mature enough to set out on his own yet. As a result, he became a servant in a faraway country and went through torture until he came back to his senses. But thanks be to God who has saved us from servanthood and made us into sons:
Gal 4:7 (NKJV)
Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
The journey of salvation is a beautiful journey since it transforms us from servants and slaves of the world into sons and heirs of God’s eternal kingdom. But guess what, this transformation does not end there:
John 15:15 (NIV)
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Do you know it is possible to become so close to your parents that they regard you as a friend? When that relationship graduates to friendship, your parent can share things with you, not just as their child but as their friend.
In our salvation journey, we can become so close to Jesus that he regards us as His friends, making known to us everything that He has learned from the Father. This is the kind of relationship that Abraham had with God that God would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah without letting His friend Abraham know. And you know what? Jesus is still in the business of making friends.
So, other than feeling good about being called a son and a friend by the Most High, what does this really mean for us?
Positional Advantage of Sonship
Ephesians 1:20-21 (NKJV)
which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Ephesians 2:6 (NKJV)
and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Becoming a son is not just a feel-good thing; it has an end game.
We are seated with Christ in heavenly places, far above principality and power so that we can become an extension of God here on the earth.
When you become a son of God, you receive something invaluable: Zoe life (God-life).
It is this life that allows us to represent Jesus on the earth. It is in this life that we can heal, we can set free in Jesus’ name’
Acts 10:38 (NIV)
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with him.
Since we carry the Spirit of God, this means that we have been empowered to function as gods in this world. That we can go around (as Jesus did), doing good and healing ALL. Note that Jesus did not heal some, He healed ALL. This means that even as we follow His example and pray for the sick, we should do it in the revelation that we are not called to heal some but all and if you pray for someone and they do not get healed, then you should go back to God and find out if something is amiss ‘cause you have been called to heal all.
God has made us gods and sons of the Most High, and He has given the earth to us, so that we may have dominion (Control, rulership).
How man lost dominion
Luke 19:10 (KJV)
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
The man lost something after the fall. Jesus came that He may seek and save that which was lost. He came that we may be restored to God.
Have you ever imagined what it was like before the fall? When God would just walk around the garden and have fellowship with man? Don’t you wish you could experience that intimacy; that fellowship like Adam and Eve did?
The fall separated us from God. The man did not only lose that beautiful relationship, but he lost what was given to him by God as well. But thanks be to God that we were not left in our fallen nature.
Jesus came to restore us, so that we may have such a fellowship with our Father. However, we, at times, see ourselves as the younger son saw himself after squandering all the wealth: unworthy of being sons. He (the word) became flesh so that we may be transformed into mature sons.
Transformation by the renewal of the mind
Transformation is by the renewal of our minds. The process of renewal is a continual process, to the degree that you submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the supremacy of the word of God. The word of God is the only material that has been given to us for transformation.
Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
As a son of God, the word of God changes our mindsets and belief systems, so that we no longer conform to the patterns of the world. This is why a believer will be doing well amidst tough economic times. Remember the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath? God expects us as believers, to see things as He sees them. A son who has received this transformation sees as God does, not as the world does.
Renewal of the mind
You need the word of God to influence your mindset. As this word infiltrates our thought patterns, we begin to speak as God does. We know that the word of God does not fail. However, this word will only work in your life to the degree of your belief in God and in His ability to perform His word. As this word becomes alive in you, it becomes a sword, working to ensure that the word you have released comes to pass. This is why when you come across a sick or even a demon-possessed person, you can speak healing and deliverance to them. When you release such a word, it means that you are choosing to partner with God and His angels who enforce that particular word. Since God cannot fail, nor can His word, you will get to see the words you have released, as a transformed son, begin to manifest in the physical world.
The word of God is infallible. It can be trusted. When you put it to work, it will do wonders. As a believer, the greatest disservice you can do to yourself and those around you is to take this word of God lightly as the world does. Understanding your position as a son in the kingdom means that you have this word working in your favor.
My dear reader, your position as a son of God is not an honorary title. It is not there just for show. There is power in the position you occupy as a son of God. When you understand who you are, and the power that God has given you in His word, you will move differently, you will speak differently and the people and the creation around you will glorify the Lord ‘cause of it.
Pray with me?
“Father, as I continue to understand my identity as the son of God, help me to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. Help me become one with the word of God, that I will set an example with my speech, my conduct, and my lifestyle. May this word come alive in me. May it bring transformation by the renewal of the mind. For the honor and glory of your name.”
And sons of God said Amen.