Beloved Sons

Sunday Sermons

Mark Dunagan
03/04/07 - Sunday Morning

Beloved Sons

Most people who have heard about Christianity seem to understand that Jesus Christ offers the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), yet there is also much more. “Forgiveness was made available to each of us so that we might come home to the Father. Forgiveness is not the goal. Coming home to the Father is the goal” (The Way of the Wild Heart, John Eldredge p. 30). Thus, in a world where many people, both men and women feel fatherless, the gospel offers the most sought after blessing of all, a close relationship with a loving Father.

· “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ (Romans 8:15).

· “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26).

· “In order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:5).

God wants to Love Us

This is dramatically seen not only in the price that God was willing to pay for our adoption, but the eagerness at which God is awaiting for the return of His lost son or daughter, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him…for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found” (Luke 15:20,24). God earnestly wants to have a close Father/child relationship with each one of us, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him” (John 14:23). How priceless that no one has to live as if they were fatherless any more.

God’s “Relationship” Track Record

As we read the following passages we learn that God is wanting to offer praise, He is not fickle, He is a dedicated Father, always having time for us.

· Jesus:

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

· Israel in the Old Testament:

“When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son” (Hosea 11:1); “Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them in my arms…I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love” (11:3-4); “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? My heart is turned over within Me, All My compassions are kindled” (11:8).

The impact of knowing one is a Beloved Son

· Confidence:

When one reads the previous passages in this lesson, one realizes that now in Christ one is cherished, noticed, and one matters. God delights in us, He wants to often send time with us in conversation (prayer) (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He takes pride in our accomplishments, is always cheering in the stands when we are “up to bat” in life (Hebrews 13:5; Luke 22:32 “I have prayed for you”). When a child knows that they are supported, cherished and loved, they have the confidence to go out and joyfully face the challenges presented by the world. A small boy feels safe and secure in his Father’s arms; safe in the presence of a man who seems to be able to handle anything. How much more should we be motivated to live confident lives, knowing that we are cared for by a truly all-powerful Father.

· Confidence in Prayer:

“Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me. And I knew that Thou heartest Me always” (John 11:41-42).

· Joy:

“Jesus had the Heart of a Son….knew Himself to be the Son, felt very much like a (Beloved) Son, looked on God as ‘Abba’, His dear Father, and lived in a Father-Son relationship. The divine relationship Son-Father filled His heart; it was His secret, His joy; a constant awareness; a basic attitude that determined His behavior” (A Biblical Spirituality of the Heart, Jan Bovenmars).

· A Radical Shift in Priorities:

“For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50). “But in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God” (1 Timothy 3:15). “A radical shift has taken place for those of us who have come to faith in Christ. We have been embraced by our Father in heaven. He has taken us into His family. We are his sons. We really are. We have a new legacy, for we shall be like Him (Romans 8:29). We are free now to love our families here on earth, for we need not live under any of the false guilt, false pressures, or false inheritances. Our view of ourselves as men (and women) can be healed. Our view of the life before us can be renewed. We are free now to take up our journeys with a Father who cares, who understands, who is committed to see us through” (Eldredge p. 36). Like Jesus, we can say, “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). What this means is that I am His Son; His family is everything. My life is now subordinate to the needs of my new spiritual family.

· Power Against Temptation:

There are various motivations that people use in the attempt to resist temptation. Some seek to derive motivation from avoiding the unpleasant earthly consequences and or the horrible eternal consequences, and these are legitimate motivations, “Rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28); “The one who sows to the flesh will from the flesh reap corruption” (Galatians 6:8). Let us now add another powerful motivation, that is, not wanting to undermine or harm a wonderful and close relationship with a loving Father. Joseph would resist temptation by saying, “How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). Added to this, the fact that God grieves when we sin (Ephesians 4:30), we see that resisting temptation, even when it is very difficult, is worth it, for among other things, it is protecting our Father’s heart.

· Walking in His Steps:

If we are surprised and, or intimidated by passages that exhort us to imitate our Heavenly Father (Matthew 5:48; Ephesians 5:1), we should readjust our thinking. What son who loves his father does not want to be exactly like his dad? A healthy relationship in this area often includes the attitudes of, I love being with you, I love to do what you do, I want to be like you. We see this attitude or adoration in Jesus, who said, “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him” (John 8:29).

The Beloved Son and Trials

“You have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives” (Hebrews 12:5-6). “Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness” (Hebrews 12:9-10).

· Notice that love and discipline go hand in hand, and that an absence of correction means an absence of love (12:8).

· Children not only need to hear the message that they are loved, but they need a very important second message as well, that discipline conveys effectively, that is, “You are not the center of the universe”. Without love a son will grow up insecure and uncertain, and without discipline, “he will grow up selfish, self-centered and assuming that everyone else’s agenda bows to his own. No doubt you know both sorts of men” (Eldredge p. 71).

· “Discipline teaches us obedience, and immediate and unquestioned obedience is a great gift to endow in a body, a quality of character that will serve him the rest of his life. For it is an essential truth of life to know and appreciate the fact that the universe does not find you at its center. Rather, it demands things of you, requires you to live within its limits. No matter how much you wail and bellow, the rain will fall, the summer will pass into winter, and a two-by-four will hurt you if you drop it on your toe. Welcome to reality. Learn to live within it. How much more true this is for a man before his God. You are loved immensely, and you must obey” (p. 71). This is the first secret of holiness---you are loved and you must obey.

· The purpose of discipline is to impart goodness, “discipline after all, is ultimately the means to freedom. My boys don’t clean their rooms so they can do it again; they clean their rooms so they can go play” (p. 73).

Children often look to their Fathers as the source of unlooked-for surprises, and the source of wonderful things. In like manner our Heavenly Father is the source of all real blessings (James 1:17), and one wonderful surprise is the fact that God wants us to live as happy and free sons in His world and the next.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017