FROM SLAVES TO SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD
THE REVELATION OF A REAL FATHER
November 17, 2014THE THREE GOD ENCOUNTERS SURROUNDING THE BIRTH OF JESUS
January 7, 2015SERIES: THE FATHER HEART OF GOD
INTRODUCTION:
Two people can be in the same house, same age, same tribe, same education and one can be a slave while the other is a son or daughter. These two people are very different in the way they think and in the way they behave.
Many Christians accept Jesus but they stay slaves instead of accepting who they are as children.
I. WHO IS ABBA FATHER?
Romans 8: 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.[1]NIV
Gal 4: “4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” ESV
ABBA is an intimate way that children in Jesus’ day addressed their fathers. It is closer to Daddy. They addressed their mothers IMMA, just like our kids call mothers Mummy. This is a filial or parental relationship, closer than friendship.
In the Old Testament they called God mostly God and the other names. In the New Testament Jesus asked his follower to call him Father/ABBA.
Jesus used the term 200 times, He invited us to have the same relationship like he already had with his Father.
When you accept Jesus, the Spirit of God comes into your spirit and you have an inner assurance that you are no longer a stranger but a son.
Jesus told Phillip that the best way to know the Father is to see and know Jesus himself. When you get a proper understanding of Jesus you will get to know his Father.
Jesus the greatest Expression of the Father: John 14: 8-10
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
GOD THE FATHER:
Unconditionally loving understanding accepting
Sensitive to my needs honest with his kids available to his kids
Releasing warm and affectionate forgiving
Releasing generous good at communicating
Protective trust worthy.
BEFORE CHRIST WE WERE BOUND TO SATAN AS OUR MASTER
Controlling (no freedom, slaves to sin)
He was judgmental, the accuser of the brethren)
Dishonest (he gave us false promises)
Un-reliable (a lair) Led us by Fear
HOW DO SLAVES BECOME CHILDREN:
1. The master buys them and makes them children.
2. When they stayed long they could buy themselves out.
3. The owner lets them go.
Romans 5: 8 “8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ”ESV
John 3:16 “16“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ”ESV
SLAVE MENTALITY.
It is in the mind and it turns into behaviors.
A saying goes like this: YOU CAN TAKE A PERSON FROM EGYPT BUT IT TAKES LONG TO GATE EGYPT OUT OF A PERSON.
YOU CAN TAKE A PERSON FROM THE VILLAGE BUT YOU MAY TAKE LONG TO GATE THE VILLAGE OUT OF THEM.
CHILDREN vs SLAVES
§ Children live by Faith
§ Slaves operate under the Law.
§ Children act out of love for their daddy
§ Slaves act out of fear for the master.
§ Children serve with joy.
§ Slaves serve out of duty.
§ Children live Holy because they want to please their father.
§ Slaves live holy because they fear the terror and punishment of the master.
§ Children serve their dad well even in his absence.
§ Slaves serve where they are seen.
§ Children know what they are doing is contributing to their family.
§ Slaves know it is not theirs; they do not care for the quality of their work.
§ To slaves, work is dreaded, for they have nothing to gain.
§ Slaves usually have a very bad attitude towards the children of the house. Jealous!
Children know they are accepted, Loved, know they have rights. And they have an inheritance.
YOU CAN BE A CHILD YET HAVE A MIND OF A SLAVE:
Remember the older boy in Luke 15:
He owned everything in the Father’s estate but thought he is slaving for the Father.
He had all the animals to celebrate whenever he wanted but he never enjoyed them he did not believe he was an owner.
HOW DOES IT PLAY OUT IN REAL LIFE?
§ Christians with a slave mentality look at God as: AN ANGRY GOD WHO IS ALWAYS LOOKING OUT TO GET THEM WHEN THEY FAIL.
§ Their prayer life is not a joy, they do what we call penancy. Put pain on their bodies to try and please God. If they want power from God they feel you must sleep on the floor for a month, fast for 40 days.
§ Their prayer time is a begging time. They think God is very reluctant, so their crying, pleading, wailing. No confidence at all in prayer.
§ When they fail or sin a spirit of shame falls on them and they usually run away from God.
§ What is Shame vs Guilt
§ Normal guilt should be: I have done wrong.
§ Shame says: I am wrong. I am bad. I do not measure up.
§ People with a slave mentality always have jealous over other people.
§ They usually have a spirit of judgment.
§ They live a holy life out of fear for judgment and punishment and not out of love.
§ They have a fear for being rejected by God. This fear sometimes is carry of from what they suffered in the earthly family.
§ They have a problem of trusting God, for they believe it is their hard work that earns them a right to receive from God.
§ They are tired, they are exhausted.
§ They are fatalistic. (the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable. All their problems are because God is not happy with them.)
BELIEVERS WITH A CHILD MENTALITY.
· Prayer is a joy for they know they are going to the Father.
· They are bold in their prayers and it is not a duty but a joy to go to the Father.
· When they fail or sin, they run to the father and not away from the father.
· They keep holy because they love God so much, they do not want to break or interfere with the relationship.
· They have so much faith in their Father that they can dare to trust him for anything.
COMPARE THE TWO
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SLAVERY
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SONSHIP
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God as Master
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God as Father
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Law
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Grace
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Performance
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Position
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Doing
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Being
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External show
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Internal reality
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Fear
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Love
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Driven by flesh
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Led by the Spirit
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Distance from God
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Intimacy with God
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Servitude
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Liberty
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Misery
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Joy
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Insecurity
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Security
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Religion
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Relationship
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THE THREE SONS: 2 ARE SLAVES AND A FREE SON
LUKE 15:
1. The younger Son was a slave to Sin
He went away to distant country. Slaves of sin; they get away from the presence of God. They allow their body to be the ruler instead of God being the ruler. They are in bondage. Slaves of sin are wild, no control in bondage to Satan. In chains.
Luke 1513 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.”
James 1: 13-15
“13Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” ESV
2. The older son was a slave to the Law.
Luke 15:29 “ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
Was legalistic, depended on works to please the father, never have had joy. HE DID NOT KNOW HIS FREEDOM”
3. Jesus was describing son-ship from slavery.
The Father reached out to both sons because both were slaves one to the SIN and the other to LEGALISM. He ran to the young son, embraced him and restored him. He went in and talked to the big son and tried to bring sense into his life.
CONCLUSION:
HOW DO WE MOVE FROM SLAVERY TO SONSHIP
1. IT IS AN ACT OF GOD
God the Father decided to make us his children.
He decided to send his son to purchase us by paying for us.
Gal 4: “4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” ESV
2. BY KNOWING and ACT on the TRUTH
John 8: “31So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
3. BY THE RENEWAL OF ONES MIND.
ROMANS 12: “2Do not be conformed to this world,[50] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” ESV
4. BY BREAKING THE SHACKLES OF BONDAGE.
Gal 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
