On a recent holiday with my Grandparents I spent some time talking with them about their experiences during the war and their life together when they were first married. In the course of a few days our conversation covered 63 years and served to highlight that our lives pass very quickly. As a teenager I distinctly remember feeling like I would live forever, but since moving beyond these years I now have an acute awareness that I have been allocated a finite number of days. 1 Peter 1:24 says “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls”. This highlights that the length of our days on Earth are as the grass and again like the flowers in the field which are here one day and gone the next.
Since ancient times, man has searched for immortality, and today people still give much time and resources towards remaining active and fit. However, even with these concerted efforts, the average life span of 81 years in Australia is a still far cry from immortality. Reflecting on matters of aging and death can appear to be quite a morbid topic. However, being willing to engage in this type of thinking can lead us to a place where we can see that God has so much more for us than a life that is constrained by the weakness of our flesh. God the Father’s hope is that we will be ‘born again’ as His sons. No longer limited by time, but born as ones whose lives will continue for eternity. As John 1:12,13 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become sons of God, even 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.”
But how do we become sons of God? Is it just a matter of making a one time commitment in calling on the name of the Lord Jesus and accepting that He has paid the price for our sins? Or is there an ongoing commitment that includes some accountability on our part? Do we believe in the ‘once saved always saved’ statement or do we believe that there is a continuing salvation process by which we are ‘being saved’? It is true that through the blood of Christ we know salvation and we have been brought to a ‘position’ of a son. However, to fill out this place and gain our full inheritance we need to be ‘born’ of God. So rather than just being satisfied in our ‘position as a son’, we need to be ones who will continue on to be ‘born as a son’. That is, born as one who is God-like and lives a life whose works clearly reflect the Fathers heart.
But how can we be like God? Isn’t God perfect? Yes it is true that God is perfect and it is also true that in our own strength we could never become like God. However, the Father hasn’t just given us the command to ‘be holy as I am holy’ (1 Pet 1:16) and then left us to get on with it as best we can. He has placed into our hearts the Spirit of His Son which is the very life of God Himself. As Galatians 4:6.7 says “…because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba Father’.” And just as in the natural, where we are born into a family; in the spiritual, He has placed us into a family, the church, to be nourished on the word of God and encouraged to grow from being a babe into mature sons of God. It is in this context that we discover the unique word that the Father has for us. This ‘word’ is the seed of sonship, which contains within it all that we need to be a son of God. As 1Peter 1:23 says “for you have been born again … of seed `which is …imperishable…through the living and abiding word of God.” So to be born as a son of God is more than having a title of ‘Christian’. It is an exciting journey where we daily discover more of the Father’s heart and His plan for us. It is a journey that at times includes sorrow and difficulty, but is also a journey that has much joy and peace as we continue to grow in maturity and fill out our inheritance.
And what a rich inheritance it is. As sons we are heirs of the Father and co-heirs with Christ. And so there are many exciting promises and rewards for our sonship. But that’s for another time.
Adele Parkinson
