FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE ADOPTION OF SONS
Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of Elohim in
Messiah Yahushua.
It is my belief that Paul (and pretty
much all the writers of Scripture) drew heavily upon contemporary regional
culture for language and illustrations that would convey spiritual truths. One might say all of Messiah's parables are
just such cultural stories so the hearer would be without excuse to understand
what he was saying (Matthew 13:15 For
this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be
converted, and I should heal them.).
One
such illustration used by Paul is often misunderstood because his terminology
no longer means today what it did in the early years of the church.
Paul referred to adoption three times; the adoption of sons, once, and the adoption of children, once, in the following passages:
Romans 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage
again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father.
Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for
the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Romans 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of
Elohim, and the promises;
Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Yahushua Messiah
to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
I normally try to refrain from
referring to the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Scripture; but as I explained in
earlier lessons in this blog, there are inherent problems with all translations
due to the inability of the receiving language to adequately portray what is
happening in the original language. It is needful to understand that there are
three different words in the Greek text each of which are translated,
"children."
nepios
- non-speaking infant (refers to the earliest stages of development)
teknon
- juvenile (refers to the phase of development from early speech up to, but not
including, adult behavior and
responsibility)
huios - mature sons, capable of adult behavior and
responsibility.
Nepios
and teknon
are not used in any of the verses above regarding adoption. The word used in all five verses is huiothesia, which literally translated means: the adult son placing.
It is important, first, to acknowledge
that none of us are "adopted" into the family of Elohim, in the sense
that we understand adoption in our culture, today. The Father did not look upon us as orphans
needing a family to take care for us. He
did not sign some legal paper to bring us into his family to begin being
treated as His children, though not being of His own family. No, we are BORN
into His family. The new life created
within us by the exercise of the exact same power He used when he raised
Messiah from the dead (Eph 1:19-20) birthed us into His family. This is why Messiah is no longer called the
only begotten of the Father; but rather, the firstborn among many brethren (Romans
8:29; Colossians 1:18).
In the Greek culture, in families of
property or business, there was a formal ceremony shared by family and friends
when a father would formally acknowledge that his juvenile son (teknon)
was now a man. It was a formal declaration that his child had become a man, a huios. Invitations would be sent to all whom the
father wanted to share this glorious time with his family. It was at this point
that the name of the family business would be changed; for example, from
“Stephanos Carpentry” to "Stephanos and Son - Carpentry," as the father’s
child, now recognized as an adult son, assumed a responsible role in his
father's business. This was the “adoption,” the “adult son placing,” the “huiothesia.”
Now, looking again at our five
passages of scripture referring to the adoption, it becomes apparent that there
is an "upward call" in the disciple to the mature adult walk before
the Master.
Compare these adoption verses with:
Philippians 3:7 But what
things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Messiah.
8 Yea doubtless,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Messiah
Yahushua my Master: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but dung, that I may win Messiah,
9 And be found in him, not
having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Messiah, the righteousness which is of Elohim by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
12 Not as though I had
already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended of Messiah Yahushua.
13 Brethren, I count not
myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Paul's passion betrays an inward
upward call to maturity, to responsible behavior, to becoming as perfect as is
possible in his body of flesh in order to win the “the prize” of that ”high/upward
calling.” He clearly
understood that such a prize could not be won by keeping the law of Moses. He acknowledges that the path to that prize,
the path to apprehending that for which he had been apprehended of Messiah
Yahushua, is to “follow after,” which is to say, explicit obedience to the law
of the Spirit of life in Yahushua Messiah.
Following after, specifically, would bring him to:
The experiential knowledge of Messiah Yahushua,
The experiential knowledge of the power of Messiah Yahushua’s
resurrection, and
The experiential knowledge of the fellowship of Messiah Yahushua’s
sufferings.
Such a heart that pants after these
things quite literally separates the men from the boys. Most believers are willing to have the
proverbial "ticket" to Heaven; but where are the "men" in
the Body of Messiah that are daily laying down their lives as dead men to know
the power of His resurrection; with a heart that is prepared to suffer daily
for His name's sake?
All who have been born of the Spirit
have this upward call within them, the call to the adoption, the adult son
placing; but not all have the heart to allow that call to draw them unto
perfection. Most resist it in order to
retain a certain level of selfish control over their lives and their personal circumstances. The quality of our repentance dictates the
nature of the development of our "childhood." Many forever remain nepios. Many enter the teknon stage; but only the elect
attain unto the huiothesia
of the Most High.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children (teknon) of Elohim.
All of creation was subjected to the
effects of death working through the sin of man, the bondage of corruption; yet
even in nature there is hope for the deliverance that will come to it when the
“children of Elohim” are liberated from childhood and the manifestation of
their adult son placement is revealed.
Frankly, it would be a devastating
reality to discover that I might not have laid down all that is necessary,
might not have pursued all that is required, might not have experienced all
that He desired for me such that I am not appointed a huios in that day. This, certainly, was the heart of Paul; and
absolutely the kind of heart that he sought to train in others. It is this heart that is the very objective
of the gospel; and it is this heart that is fundamental to our discipleship.
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