Sonship (Part 2)

Date: 20 September 2008
Speaker: Pastor Kong Hee
Venue: City Harvest Church

There is difference between sons and servants.

Galatians 4:1
Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all,

Being sons is a big deal to God.

Galatians 4:4-5
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Galatians 4:6-7
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Characteristics of a Son

1) A son carries the genetic code of his House in him.

Genesis 13:2
Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

Genesis 13:5-7
Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

Like father like son. The relationship cannot be forced, and it must be a 2-way relationship.

Lot was a self-centered man. Like many of us, he lived for himself and not for his family and his house.

2) A son serves the vision of his House.

Though the 318 men were not Abram's real children, they inherited his spiritual DNA.

Genesis 14:14
Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

Philippians 2:19-20
But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state.

"Like-minded" = Carrying the same mindset.

Sons are rare.

Philippians 2:21
For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.

Your worthiness as a son is shown in the way you serve your House's vision.

Philippians 2:22
But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.

3) A son shares in the pride of the House.

Sons and daughters are to be proud of their parents.

Proverbs 17:6
Children’s children are the crown of old men,
And the glory of children is their father.

4) A son accepts discipline in the House.

Hebrews 12:5-6
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“ My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”

Hebrews 12:7
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

Hebrews 12:11
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

5) A son gives birth to children.

Hebrews 12:2
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.