Faith and Sonship

A few weeks ago I shared about the journey I'm on related to a new understanding of my "sonship" and how I'm asking the Holy Spirit to teach and empower me to live more fully as a good daughter of a perfect Father.

In asking Him this, He has directed me to look at my older Brother Jesus, not only as an Example of how to relate to God the Father but also as the One who leads me to the Father, opening the way for me to know and relate with this perfect Father.

In this journey, my understanding of Jesus as my older Brother is growing a little. Yesterday I was in conversation with a friend in which we were talking about being prepared for the Day of the Lord when He will come and destroy all His enemies and establish His kingdom here on earth. The Scriptures call it a "great and terrible day" that will be so intense that many will die from fear alone; there's never been such a time in human history nor will there ever be again. Because of this, the Holy Spirit makes very clear in the Word that we must be prepared so that we aren't deceived when that day comes.

In the conversation, I was struck with how easy it is to shift, oh-so-slightly, into spending emotional energy on doing all the right things, such as prayer and fasting and studying the Word and serving, etc., in order to present myself before God as righteous and prepared, rather than expending energy on staying in the place of faith in the sacrifice of my elder Brother Jesus Who stands on my behalf to make the way for me to the Father and to prepare me for what is ahead.

Of course, to stay in the place of living faith in Jesus requires that we fast and pray and serve and search the Scriptures; the issue is one of heart motivation. Two people can be doing the very same things (such as prayer and fasting, etc.). One of them does it in the attempt to "get his act together" to present himself as acceptable to God, while the other does it because he knows that it is God's prescribed way of connecting into the life of His Son Jesus whose blood and righteousness pleads for him to the Father.

Living as a true son or daughter of the perfect Father requires faith in the one all-sufficient and perfect Offering of the life of our elder Brother. The fight (expenditure of energy and time in watchful prayer and fasting and obedience) in the Christian life is for faith in His blood and righteousness. It is a fight because of the massive pull in fallen humans towards seeking to be found acceptable in our own goodness.

After warning the Philippians of confiding in self-righteousness and then giving his own credentials for being accounted righteous because of his adherence to the law, the Apostle Paul says in Phil. 3: "But whatever gain (righteousness under the law) I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ...For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith..."

The writer of Hebrews speaks of our confidence before the Father on the basis of the perfect High Priest Jesus, our Brother. And Jesus Himself said that no one can come to the Father except through Him (John 14).

Only the Holy Spirit can detect the slight shift into slavery and unbelief in me, and so I pray often for His ministry in my life to alert me when this is happening. So Spirit of God, thank You that You know so well the movements of our hearts and that You care enough to correct and realign in loving discipline as often as necessary. Come and show us Jesus and His perfect Offering on our behalf and strengthen us in faith as we wait in prayer and fasting and the Word for the day of His coming. Keep us fighting for faith in His righteousness and alert us when our fight has shifted to depending on our own righteousness. Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayer!