Sons and not slaves!

(Galatians 4:7)  “So you are no longer a slave, but a son.”

With a true heart in full assurance of faith let us be encouraged to draw near to our God and King, remembering who it is that we reverently approach, He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the only true God, the great I AM! He is Jehovah God and He is our Father. Wow! Let that thought resonate…

Although we are classed as slaves in principle we do indeed have more rights than a slave; “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1) – We have been asked to live in such a manner. 

We have the right as family members to approach the throne room of grace with boldness to find grace to overcome where and when the need arises. Does a servant have the right to insist and wrestle to have their way? No! We are sons through adoption and heirs to the throne of God: - “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Galatians 4:7)   

All of scripture is there to teach us many truths about who we are and our standing before a righteous and holy God. We must pay attention to the typology of scripture; in Christian theology and Biblical exegesis is a doctrine or theory concerning the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. In other words the pattern throughout the Old Testament often prepares us to receive what the New Testament now teaches us through the Apostle doctrine. The first books of the Bible are full of blessings and promises and it all started with Abraham and then passed on to Isaac, through to Jacob who later was named Israel who blessed his twelve sons. We now have the birth of the twelve tribes of Israel; Who later entered the Promised Land and received the promise passed down from God to Abraham. All twelve tribes and their offspring receive the promise once they crossed the Jordan River. God made good on what He had promised, as He always does, praised his name!

Let us consider Jacob’s role in the matter. Did he do anything to arrive at this wonderful blessing from God? On the surface the answer would have to be no! He was born into that position; God had planned it from before the beginning of time. He had been predestined by election. However once He understood his position before God he took the bull by both hands embracing his birth-right. We too must now find the same resolve. How one may ask? Remember his encounter with the angel and how he insisted that the angel bless him, in fact he would not let the angel go until he received a blessing. And after this encounter he probably walked the rest of his life with a limp; “And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."” (Genesis 32:24-28)

We too now have a new name which we will receive in heaven; “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.'” (Revelation 2:17) - We are now no longer slaves to sin as we once were but heirs to the promise and no different to the promise of Jacob. It is by adoption, but even an adopted son has all the same rights of any other son. The common law of the land even teachers us this truth.

    

The blessings were only ever passed down from father to son – Isaac to Jacob. It was never master to servant and although much of scripture teaches us that we no longer belong to ourselves but have been bought with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus, it now implies the same certainty as it once did, that we are no longer slaves to sin but now by grace, through the promise and as sons we have the right to approach the throne room of grace with confidence. Look at the Apostle Paul’s style of writing as he conveys this truth; “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” (Galatians 4:6-9)

These truths must being to reverberate deep within our souls for when they do the will and must begin to free us to walk with an attitude of thankfulness as we begin to understand that we now belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And yes we must always remember our place with reverence and awe as our God is a consuming fire. But may we never forget that we are no longer slaves to sin but sons to God and we are entitled to the privileges of a Father-son relationship and only because of what Christ achieved on Calvary. And until we understand our position before God, I am not convinced we will have learnt to walk by faith.

Signing off

Tyrone