SONS OF GOD
It should be clear from yesterday’s post that Jesus did establish the fact of the Fatherhood of God and thereby, the brotherhood of man. We should not forget however that Jesus also taught that we are not this body; it could be said that from Jesus perspective and teaching both He and we are sons of men in the flesh and Sons of God in the Spirit.
Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of man more that ninety times in the four gospels. Why, except to relate to us His humanity as well as His divinity. On the other side of this is our theme, Sons of God. Jesus’ teaching is that the body is the temple of the Spirit is seen from this interchange with the Jews “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building , and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.” (John 2:19-21) And this is clarified for us by Paul when he tell us “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
That in the body we are sons of men and the body is the temple of the Spirit should not be disputed and that the body is the temple of the Spirit within is a generally accepted Christian principle although not well understood. There can be seen here the duality of man. He is body and he is spirit and much of the teaching of the New Testament is the teaching of living in the Spirit and not carnally, that is in the flesh. But this is not today’s subject. To see man as a Son of God is however to see him in the Spirit and to know that in every man there is that same Spiritual being that is in Jesus Christ. The difference is that Jesus knew it to be true and while we may like to think that we know it, few there are who can really live in this mortal body as the Spirit within. Realization of this is a first step and realization of the divinity of all men is the second.
While it is taught in the churches that only believers are Sons or Children of God, this was not the teaching of Jesus. Being believers in God and having faith in who and what you are in God can and will make of each of us functioning, awakened and enlightened Sons of God but this does not detract from the reality that we are all the Children of the Most High. Remember that Jesus taught the Fatherhood of God; He didn’t teach it to only disciples or “believers”, He taught it to them all. And when Paul tells the “heathens” in Athens that “we are the offspring of God” (Acts 17:29) he is talking to all men who hear him and not believers only.
The most practical way to address our relationship to the Father is to understand ourselves as Sons on God. We should also realize that we are Spirit and not this bodily form and that it is in Spirit that we are Sons; not in the flesh. Jesus talks about this relationship of body and spirit when He tells the Samaritan woman “But the hour cometh , and now is , when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:23) and again in His discourse with Nicodemus when He says “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth , and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh , and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3;5-8).
There is also much on this in the Epistles and when what is found in the words of Paul and the other writers is looked at with the Fatherhood of God in mind it should be possible to understand these sayings in a different light. An example can be found in “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14). In this saying we can either take it as to say that if a man is not led by the Spirit (interpreted as being a believer and “saved”) he is not a Son of God or we can take it to say that when a man is living the spiritual life and not the carnal life that he is acting the part of a Son of God in the flesh albeit he is a Son of God in the Spirit because of the Fatherhood of God.
To close, if we want to see men as Sons of God we need to look at them as Spirit and not as form. Every form conceals a Spirit man and when we live the spiritual life dwelling in the Kingdom of God we are Sons of God in actuality in Earth. This is living in the Presence of God.
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him (John 14:23). There is no clearer statement in the entire bible regarding our living relationship to Christ and to God. Would that we all could understand the depth of what it is that He says. Let’s be doers of the word and not hearers only.
