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By
Robert A. Sabin
God's central purpose in creation was to bring many sons unto glory.
This theme is picked up in the Bible in great generalizations that take into account
eternity past and eternity future. Jesus Christ, bom at Bethlehem, was the first and
only
begotten
Son of God (John 3:16, Colossians 1:15-17). Jesus Christ, the man, has a
unique relationship to God. The man is the begotten son and heir of God. Jesus is the Son
of God, a filial (family relationship) Son. Forget for a moment that Jesus Christ is
actually God Himself manifest in Flesh. Instead, view Jesus as a man born in
history, that is, as a historical figure. View God as the unique being that
He is. He is God Almighty who created the heavens and the earth who was invisible and
immortal. See Him as God, the sovereign, unique being with no equals, no compatriots, no
relatives.
Jesus Christ, the historical figure, was conceived and bom as the
literal Son of Almighty God, the immortal, omniscient, omnipresent unique being. He has,
therefore, an exclusive relationship with God. He is the only Son, one of a kind; and
there is no other relationship like it. The relationship is not only exclusive, it is
reciprocal. The Father is related to the Son as father; the Son is related to the Father
as son. Hebrews 1:5: I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son. Notice
"will be, shall be" which indicate a relationship that came into being and
was not, therefore, eternal. Notice "to Him, to Me" which indicate a
relationship that is mutually reciprocal. No others possessed this particular
relationship. As a result of this mutual relationship, and as a result of the death of
Jesus Christ for our sins, believers can now receive the Spirit of the Son and can
actually also become sons of God.
Jesus chose a word never used before to address God. He called him,
"Abba," meaning, Father (Mark 14:36). The Pharisees wanted to stone him to death
for it (John 10:29-39). In his book entitled I Believe In The Holy Spirit, Michael
Greene, rector of St. Aldate's parish at Oxford University of the Episcopal Church, quotes
Joachim Jeremias frequently. Jeremias states that nowhere in pre-Christian literature does
anyone dare to call God by this intimate, family word, better translated as
"daddy" or "dear father...Abba." Along with "amen' and
"maranatha," they are the three Aramaic words which appear untranslated in the
KJV Bible. It is a mimetic word, an imitative word, a babble word. It is the way that the
Aramaic speaking fathers related to their children. We also speak in baby talk to our
children, saying "da da," or "ma ma." In the same way, Aramaic fathers
would say "ab ba, ab ba." It was a word for the intimacies of the family, not
used in Old Testament times for the worship of God. Jesus, the one set apart by the Spirit
as the Son of God, dared to call God by this name. In fact, he never addressed God
by any other name. It was always Abba. Jesus alone has the right to speak so, for he alone
enjoyed the intimate relation of Sonship with God, his Father.
Abraham was not a son of God. David was not a son of God. Moses was
not a son of God, nor was Enoch or Isaiah or anyone else in the Old Testament. While Adam
and the angels were "sons by creation, and David was considered a "son" in
a special sense as royalty, not one human being in all of history was truly a Son of God
in the familial sense until Jesus Christ was born. It is this Sonship into which his life
and sacrificial death make it possible for us, through the Spirit of Christ the Son of
God, to enter. He enables us to pray the Lord's prayer and say simply, "Abba,
Father." It is the indwelling Spirit of Christ which makes it possible for us to be
adopted Sons of God, which enables us to cry the Abba of little children to our Father and
to be, literally, a member of the family of God.
You have received the Spirit which
makes you sons
(Galatians 4:6). When
we cry, Abba, Father, it is the Spirit
himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children then
heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ provided we suffer with him in order that
we may also be glorified with him
(Romans 8:15).
It is the incredible privilege and status of the Christian to
possess the Spirit of God's Son which makes him a son of God and enables him to utter the
family cry to God, "Abba." Well may Jereniias conclude that the whole of the
good news is concentrated in that single word, Abba. Even though Jesus before his
death told his disciples to pray, "Our Father," it was at that time only
anticipatory. It was not until they had been born again into the family of God
through receiving the Spirit of the Son that they were truly "Sons."
In fact, one is not a son, cannot be a son, without the
Spirit of the Son living in them.
Romans 8:9-11,14:
But
ye are not in the fiesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. But if the Spirit of him
that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Galatians 4:6, 7: And
because
ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God
through Christ.
The central theme of the Bible is that God's
eternal purpose to bring many sons unto glory!
Romans 8:9
tells us that without the Holy Ghost in us one cannot be one of those sons. Romans 8:23:
And
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of our
body.
In Ephesians 1:13 and 14, the Holy Spirit is called the earnest of our
inheritance. It is this firstfruits of the Spirit which makes sonship possible. Romans
8:26:
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should
pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered.
The Spirit that is in us is both human and divine, God and
the Son of God. Not two divine persons, but one who is at once God and man, human and
divine, historical figure and unique being. The Spirit that is in us, the Spirit of
Christ, human and divine, Son and Father, can at the same time intercede for us and reward
that intercession! The Son can intercede with the Spirit of God, with the most endearing
terms, and say "Abba, Father." Romans 8:27:
And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints
according to the will of God.
Romans 8:28:
And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his
purpose. What is his purpose? To bring many sons unto glory. Romans 8:29:
For whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he
might be the firstborn among many brethren.
God determined from the foundation of the world that there would be
people on earth at sometime who would become his sons, adopted into his family through the
Spirit of the Son. "For whom he did foreknow," he knew it from the beginning,
"he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son." To be like
him is to suffer. If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him. "That he might be
the firstborn among the many brethren." God wants to bring many sons unto glory. He
wants the church to be prolific, to be a fostering mother and collaborate with God in
bringing many sons unto glory (Hebrews 2:10 and Romans 9:29).
Thus believers are in a familial (as in the family) relationship
with God. Believers can call God, "Abba, Father." No one was ever a son of God
before Jesus was the Son of God. Though for various reasons designated "Sons of
God," neither the angels, Adam nor any of his descendants were ever Sons of God in
this particular sense. Michael Greene, mentioned earlier, sees that the central message of
the New Testament is that "Jesus was a Son of God and therefore we can, through him,
become sons of God." He writes, "Take first the question of Sonship. Now there
is a very obvious difference between us and Jesus. He was born by the express agency of
the Holy Spirit. We are not. He was the Son of God by right (Hebrews 1:5). We are sons
only by adoption (Romans 8). Nevertheless, it was the possession of the Spirit that set
Jesus apart as the Messianic Son of God" (John 5:18).
According to our text, God's eternal purpose of bringing many sons
to glory was, therefore, his motivation for the plan of salvation before the world began.
2 Timothy 1:9:
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began.
Titus 1:2: In
hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot
lie, promised before the world began.
Ephesians 3:9:
And to make all men see what
is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in
God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. 10 To the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold
wisdom of God. 11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
1 Peter 1:19:
But with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot. 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
Romans 8:30:
Moreover whom he
did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and
whom he justified, them he also glorified.
That is the whole scheme of things that God
will do for and with his sons. He calls them, he justifies them and then he glorifies
them, making them like the glorified Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Romans 8:31:
What
shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
God is for us! Why? Because it is his eternal purpose to bring many
sons unto glory. God's eternal purpose is more powerful than the Niagara River. When
someone gets caught up in it, it is only with great difficulty that he can get out. If you
get into this Niagara River, and if you yield to the eternal purpose of God, you will be
carried to an eternal relationship in the family of God. The Bible says, "If God be
for us who can be against us?"
Romans 8:32:
He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up
for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
What does that
mean? God has already shown what he will do in order to have a son. Jesus was declared to
be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:3). He went
through suffering unto death, was raised from the dead with power in order to be glorified
and exalted. If God put his own human-born Son through that so that he might be glorified,
"how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" The baptism with the
Spirit is the earnest of this eternal inheritance. It would be like buying a $120,000.00
home making a down payment of a $119,999.99 as earnest money. Who would walk away from
that house and not complete the purchase for one cent? God's down payment on our sonship
was every drop of blood that was in his body, every breath of life that was in him. If he
spared not his own Son, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? If God
paid that much for our sonship, when we say to God, "I am discouraged, I need your
help," he will give encouragement. "God, I'm perplexed. I don't know how to
solve this problem." He will help solve the problem. If he spared not his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things.
That is his eternal purpose. The privilege to be a Son of God is extended to everybody on
earth.
Romans 8:33:
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's
elect? It is God that justifieth.
Once in a city where there was a Coca Cola bottling
plant, I stood by the window looking at the bottles as they went by. They were all
glistening and shining, but every once in a while there was a mechanical arm that would
reach out and knock one of those bottles off the conveyor before it was filled with Coca
Cola. I watched that for awhile before I inquired as to the function of the arm I was told
that even though the bottles are washed and sterilized during the cleansing process, once
in a while a little speck or chip in the glass will miss detection until an electric eye
discovers it before the bottle is filled. The electric arm will come out and knock it off
so that every bottle is acceptable before being filled. God, the judge of all men, might
be related to the electric eye. He is the one that can see any spot or wrinkle or blemish.
When we go to heaven, I will not have to stand in judgment by you and you will not have to
stand in judgment by me. We will all have to stand before God's omniscient eye, before God
who can discern the thoughts and the intents of the heart and before whom all things are
naked and open.
What this verse says is that God, through the sufferings of Christ,
has been able to transfer to the Christian the righteousness and purity of Christ. God has
been able to remit sins through simple obedience to the word of God and water baptism,
pouring the spirit of the Son into hearts, making men sons of God, justified, righteous,
ultimately, glorified. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifies. When God sees his sons coming into glory, he says, "They are my sons;
there is no spot in them. There is no wrinkle in them; they are conformed to the image of
my only begotten Son. They are as holy as Jesus was holy. There is no fault in them."
The devil, the accuser of the brethren, cannot accuse the Sons of God of faults. He can
raise no accusation. Why? Because we appear in the very radiance of God's glory, in the
very presence of his all-seeing eye and he looks at us and he says, "They are
justified! They are pure. They are clean. They have no spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
They are holy and without blemish." Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's
elect? It is God that justifies.
I must be careful to point out that it is not that God the Father,
first person of the trinity, is justifying us through the works of God the Son, second
person in the trinity. These terms and concepts are neither found in the Bible nor do they
describe precepts which are explained in the Bible. As was mentioned earlier, Almighty
God, the unique being, is living in and as the man Christ Jesus, the historical
figure. All humanity can be justified and glorified by one sinless human being to the one
true God.
Have we been glorified yet, actually, as it seems to say in Romans
8? No. But in his plan we are already glorified, God can speak of his plan as though it
had already happened. He called those things that be not as though they were (Romans
4:17). He calls our glorification as though it has already happened.
When one receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit he has the spirit
of Jesus Christ in him, bearing witness with his own spirit, allowing him to call out to
God, "Abba, Father," to join God's family and become an heir of God, joint heirs
with Jesus Christ. Jeremias, quoted in the selection from Michael Greene, calls sonship
the central message of the New Testament. It has been God's eternal purpose before the
world began to bring many sons into glory through Christ Jesus our Lord.
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