SONSHIP
SONSHIP
In connecting Christians from among the Gentiles with Abraham, the apostle places our position on the broad platform of faith, and hence on the righteousness of God. Abraham was father of all believers, and had this place before circumcision and law came in at all. God’s subsequent dealings were on narrower ground, that of law; and the object in this is explained in this epistle. The effect of law was to bring in bondage; hence, in order to extricate those who were under it, the Lord came under law. He bore its curse, and now He has a free hand to bring in the blessing of Abraham. It is called the blessing of Abraham, but really it has come in through Abraham’s seed that is, it has taken form in Christ risen from the dead. It is an immense thing to apprehend the liberty in which Christ is as risen from among the dead. In love He underwent the consequences of human guilt, whether under the law or otherwise, and now He is the Vessel through which the blessing of Abraham is effectuated; and this has all the families of the earth in view. In a coming day He will usher the nations into the kingdom, and eternal life. Who could do this but the One who had annulled death and brought to light life and incorruptibility?
In taking up Abraham God really meant to assert His rights, but what came out was that the assertion of God’s rights meant blessing. “In thee shall all families of the earth he blessed” Genesis 12: 3; so that it is to man’s infinite advantage to admit the righteousness of God. The great point in the chapter before us is sonship. Sonship in this epistle refers more to time than to state; it depends on the age in which people live. We are entitled to it because of the time in [p. 91] which we live. The point the apostle makes is that the “period fixed of the Father” Galatians 4: 2 has arrived. No matter how godly a man might have been under the law he could not have been a son: he was not out of the nursery: he was under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father. The apostle uses a figure, and one which would be universally understood: in most countries there is a fixed period when people are said to have attained their majority. But in verses 4 and 5 we get the explanation “When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son, come of a woman, come under law, that he might redeem those under law that we might receive sonship”. The time of sonship arrived historically when Christ arose from the dead: from that time forward God deals with His people on the ground of sonship, not any longer as minors. But there is not only the title of sonship, but that by which alone it could be supported — the Spirit of sonship: “because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father”. Galatians 4: 6. God will never again revert to the nursery. The state of things under the law meant slavery, and God has not pleasure in slaves. He takes pleasure in sons. The Son has set us free, and He abides in the house for ever, hence our place is there also. Christendom has gone back to the nursery; the spirit of the slave marks things there pretty much. This was what the apostle strove to avert, and the only escape from it is Jerusalem above. Jerusalem above is our mother, and she is free: neither she, nor her children have any fear of being cast out of the house. The apostle uses strong language: it was senseless to return to slavery after they had been set free. Think of people wishing to return to the scullery after being allowed the privileges of the drawing room! Sonship means that we have come to full age, and hence are capable of entering into the thoughts and counsels of [p. 92] the head of the house. We no longer enter by the back door, so to speak: we have all the privileges of the house: we enter by the front door. This is all brought out for the recovery of these saints.
Sonship is not limited to the church; it refers to Israel as well, and is applied even to others. One feels how few are in the liberty of it, and how great the tendency to give it up. You get an illustration of this in the second chapter. Peter was affected: one of the greatest men was returning to bondage. Hagar stood for Mount Sinai in Arabia, a desert country. You always find it in a desert. There is no pasture. And this answers pretty much to what is called Christendom. Christendom eventuates in Babylon, which is seen in a desert, Revelation 17: 3. We are really in Christendom, and are ever in danger of being characterised by it. If we depart from the Head we return to bondage.
Paul came under Jerusalem influence when he shaved his head. I know men that are under Jerusalem influence now. The blessing of Abraham and sonship constitute the only security for us. The introduction of Jerusalem above is the only antidote. I think it is always brought in as a means of recovery. Things all around you are in bondage: you have to turn to what is above. I think the understanding of Jerusalem above lies in the apprehension of the liberty in which Christ is as a Son with God. In the Revelation the new Jerusalem is seen “coming down from God out of heaven”. Revelation 21: 2. It is composed of those who are in all the liberty and dignity of sonship. Think of the influence it must exercise on all below.
Abraham had a perfect right to dismiss Hagar at any time: she was a servant, but, morally, he could not cast off Sarah. She was not a servant: she was a wife, free as enjoying her husband’s affections, and thus having all the liberties of his house. Sarah is the free woman, and she represents our mother.
[p. 93] Jerusalem on earth was simply Hagar: it was in the position of a slave, and hence God had a right to set it aside. Christendom having taken up this same position, God will set it aside also, and He will be perfectly righteous in doing so. “The servant abideth not in the house for ever but the son abideth ever”. John 8: 35.
The point with the apostle was to liberate the Galatians. He says, “be as I am, for I am as ye are”. Galatians 4: 12. I think Paul was in the enjoyment of sonship, but his title to it was no greater than that of the Galatians. I could go to any believer and say to him that the time of sonship has arrived, but I should like to say, “be as I am”.
What is the idea of children?
Derivation. Children conveys parentage and character. Sonship involves position; heirship and sonship go together. Children are also heirs. If you enter into possession of a vast estate at the age of twenty-one it is likely to produce very great happiness. We must not endeavour to arrive at sonship through state; it is really the other way about. In a sense we arrive at the state in which we can serve and please God through sonship. State lies in the Spirit of sonship.
There are seven distinct expressions as to time in verses 1 to 9, so far as I can make out. We have been occupied too much with state: it is always bondage to endeavour to work up to things: I think things always come down. State, according to God, is brought about in us by knowledge; the knowledge of what comes down. This is seen in Romans 8. Liberty for the creation is connected with what comes down; the revelation of the sons of God. The coming down of the heavenly city involves liberty for all below. Sonship rightly understood has a powerful effect on us down here, but properly it is [p. 94] outside all the conditions of life in flesh. Knowing it we walk in suitable dignity, in different attire; different deportment. It is a great point to come to, and it is God’s pleasure to give it to us. We are sons as much as ever we can be from the divine side; and access to God is as real as it can be; “through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father”. Ephesians 2:18. It is a secret to ourselves at the present time. We can cry, “Abba, Father”. The manifestation of our position with God is still future.
The time has arrived for sonship — marvellous moment! We have come to everything that is to be displayed in the future. God has already begun in Christ, and there is no other beginning; hence so far as our relationship to God is concerned there can be no change or improvement. Sonship properly belongs to the age to come, and in Romans 8 it is identified with the redemption of the body, but the relationship is as real now as it will be then; indeed, without it there could be no service of God at the present time at all. God is leading many sons to glory. He would hardly lead bondmen to glory. It is most serious to connect sonship with man in the flesh.
I think the point is that God is leading many sons to glory. They are sons before they get to glory. We are not sons as men in the flesh. The Captain of our salvation is made perfect through suffering. It is in resurrection that He is our Captain, and we are of His order. The passage in Hebrews which treats of this proceeds to say that “He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”. Hebrews 2:11. When the Lord arose from the dead the fulness of the time had arrived. Every Christian is a son.
The apostle does not set before the Galatians the [p. 95] gospel, but the heavenly city and sonship. The design of God was that He should be represented in sons down here. The church was set up in the liberty and blessedness of sonship. I think it is only as sons that we are fitted to represent God in this world. You are constituted a benefactor; that is what we shall be in the future. It is impossible for a legal man to rightly represent God.