I AM MY FATHER's SON

 

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ..….for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

(Gal 3:26-29 KJV)

Some centuries ago when the known world was ruled by royal empires, when there were no air planes  and when people’s wealth was directly linked to the expanse of land they owned, giving birth to sons was absolutely serious business, almost literarily. If you were rich and you had not given birth to a son it was as if you didn’t have anything and for practical purposes you didn’t because when you died there would be nobody to perpetuate your name and your servants would most likely inherit your wealth. That was why Abraham was so concerned when he hadn’t gotten a son and he already concluded his chief servant was going to inherit all he had [check Genesis chapter 15]. Sons, especially first sons, were the very epitome of the glory of a family; they were supposed to exemplify the virtues, wealth and character of the family. When you see the son you see all the family has to offer.

Beyond that however, in those times in history, as it is now, whether male or female child, the quality of your life depends on the wealth of your parents. If your parents are rich, other things being equal, you exhibited traits of wealth: you wear more expensive clothes, go to better and more expensive schools, etcetera. There are just some things you expect from a child from a rich family as opposed to one from a poor background. These days, though the bias for and attachment to sons is still visible, especially in African societies, females also now effectively represent their families well. We now see both male and female children taking over family business across the globe. The point I am trying to make here is that as long as the world exist, children generally are expected to reflect the wealth or otherwise of their parents.

With that background let’s look at our lives as Christians. In the part of scripture quoted above we see clearly that we are referred to and we actually are children of God through Christ Jesus. In other words we are born of God, we are his offspring. Romans chapter 8 vs 15-17 states that we have received the spirit of adoption that makes God our father. Consequently, going by the same analogy, it means that as children of God we should of necessity reflect the glory [virtues, wealth and character] of God. When people interact with us they should be able to know that God is our father. So if God is royalty, we are royalty, if God is righteous then we are righteous, if God cannot be sick then we have divine health, if God is not poor then we shouldn’t be poor.  I believe you are catching my point.

The issue of fatherhood or parenthood is very significant because whatever our father has we have access to. All what he has is our inheritance by the simple fact that we are born of him. If our experiences therefore do not reflect to whom we belong, then there is a big problem. Now let’s juxtapose this with the experiences we have as Christians and we will readily see that our lives many times go contrary to the claim of who our father is. Both our character and the quality of our lives greatly fall short of this truth many times, why is this so?  Chapter 4 vs 1-2 of Galatians tells us why:

 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

(Gal 4:1-2 KJV)

Wow! What this scripture is telling me is that I might be the child of my father but as long as I remain a child and do not grow into a son, I am not different from a servant. The bible says though this child is the lord of all [being the heir and owner to all his father has], he would have the experience of a servant as long as he remained a child because a child cannot TAKE ADVANTAGE of what he has. This is the key to the reason why we have experiences that do not reflect the image of our Father. As long as we remain a child we cannot adequately appropriate the advantages we have in Christ. This scripture shows us that the child would be under tutors and governors [that is, teachers] till appointed time [till he grows to maturity]. 

At first glance we might suppose that it is the father who has determined the appointed but actually it is the child. This is because nobody but the child can determine how fast he would grow to maturity. Consequently we are the only one who can determine how fast we grow into maturity in Christ; whether we want to remain a child or grow to become sons. The use of son in this discourse does not refer male or female as we see in the opening scripture that there is neither male nor female in Christ but to a state of maturity. Let us all strive to grow into maturity in Christ so that we can BE ALL WE CAN BE, HAVE ALL WE CAN HAVE and DO ALL WE CAN DO. So I put this question to you: Are you your Father’s son?