One of the most important principles and keys to the Kingdom is Sonship. Jesus proclaimed the Good News that the Kingdom of God had come to earth again and anyone who would believe in Him would be re-united in spirit and fellowship with the Father and be restored to their full position and rights as sons of God and citizens in His Kingdom. The Good News of the Kingdom is that we regain what Adam lost. Not only are we restored to sonship but we can also once again assume the place of dominion authority that God intended for us from the beginning.
Gal 3:26 says that we are all sons of God though faith in Jesus Christ. There is nothing we have to do to become sons; it is by birth, not by behavior. Our fundamental identity then as a believer is that of a son. For those not familiar with Greek, the word for son, ‘huios,’ does not have male only connotations as it does in English and many other languages. It is emphasizing the relationship, not gender. In Greek you can have male and female sons of God. The good news is that we don’t have to strive to become sons – God makes it so easy for us by sending the very Spirit of His Son into our hearts (Gal 4:6) – how amazing is that.

As God is restoring the Gospel of the Kingdom (the ultimate sign of the end times – Matt 24:14) it is bringing a fresh emphasis of the need for every believer to rediscover their identity as sons. If the devil can rob us of our identity as sons, he can rob us of our dominion authority. The first test Jesus faced was that of Sonship. In Matt 3:17 the Father declared Jesus to be His son. It wasn’t long before the devil came to Him in Matt 4:3,6 and questioned His Sonship. He knew if he could get Jesus to doubt His Sonship he would have Him defeated. Fortunately Jesus passed the test! We can only be effective in our walk if we understand who we are. We first have to be ‘Human Beings’ before we become ‘Human Doings!’ We have been made in the image of our Heavenly Father – Gen 1:26 – we carry His DNA. He is our Father (Matt 6:9). Jesus said he would not leave us as orphans – Jn 14:18. There is a wonderful promise in 2 Cor 6:18 - “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

The parable of the Sower and the parable of the Weeds in Matt 13: is critical in understanding God’s process and purpose for Sonship. The difference between these two parables is this: In both parables the field is the same – it is the world. In both parables the sower is the same – it is Jesus. The difference in the two parables is the seed. In the first parable the seed is the word of God; in the second parable the seed is the sons of the kingdom. The seed that God uses for the great harvest on the earth is not the word of God but the sons of the Kingdom. The word comes to produce sonship so God can sow the sons. The Gospel of the Kingdom comes with the sowing of the sons, not the sowing of the word. In Church-centeredness there is the false belief that if we just sow the word (i.e. just preach on Sunday), the harvest will come in. But this is just religious and not God’s Kingdom pattern. One of the main purposes of the church is to raise sons (and daughters) so that the King can sow them. The greatest ambition we can have in life is to become Kingdom seed. There can be no better thing than to become seed in the great Sower’s hand so He can sow us – whether it is business, education, health, the arts etc. With the sowing of the seed, it is not a hierarchal thing that is necessary very visible – it is about influence.

Rom 8:19 says that creation is waiting in eager anticipation for the sons of God to be revealed. Creation is not waiting to go to Church, or for the anti-christ, or Judgment Day, but for the manifestation of God’s sons! To contextualize this we can be even more specific: Auckland (and New Zealand) is waiting for the sons of God (you and me!) to be revealed. The Kingdom will begin to manifest and the harvest in the city will begin to come in to join the family of God when the sons go out. The way Auckland will be taken for the Kingdom is when every son exercises their God-given dominion authority and begins to bring heaven to their sphere of influence. Sons carry tremendous authority – we have authority over every sickness and disease, sin, demons, death, situations, atmospheres, snakes and scorpions! Our call is to bring salvation healing, deliverance, freedom, justice wherever we go! Being a Son of the only true God has to be the most exciting thing on planet earth! And we have the help of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) and the angels (Heb 1:14).

Only sons have an inheritance, not slaves! Rom 8:17 reveals we are co-heirs with Christ Himself! And our inheritance is the Kingdom – Matt 25:34. We will inherit the whole earth!!! Matt 5:5.

Let the sons of God arise to be earth-movers and heaven-shakers!

TIM