Spirit of Sonship

Rom 8:15-17  “but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

When we surrender our lives to the authority of Jesus and His rule over our lives the Holy Spirit moves into our hearts and takes over ownership.  The Holy Spirit then puts His imprimatur on our lives.  For those of you who don’t know what an imprimatur is, Webster’s defines it as a mark of approval or distinction, a license to print, an official seal of approval.  Imprimatur comes from the Latin imprimere which means to give your imprint or approbation.  The Spirit imprints us with the image of Jesus so that we will be recognized by the Father as His children.

Let me put this in sports terms.  There are a lot of people that sell NFL paraphernalia; t-shirts, hats, pictures, etc., but a lot of them are knockoffs or bootlegs. If you want to get stuff that is sanctioned by the NFL as official you have to look for the holographic sticker with the NFL logo that says that the product was produced with the official approval of the NFL.

The Holy Spirit indwelling in us is that evidence that we are officially sons and daughters of the Most High King.

Because of that, we have the privilege of calling Him Abba or Daddy.  As a parent there are few things that melt my heart more than when my children call me Daddy.  It is a special relationship that allows them immediate access to my heart.  They know that as long as I am alive I will be there for them.  They also have the expectation that when I am gone, what is mine will be theirs.  They are my heirs.

Now, for reasons beyond my control, none of my children are my natural or biological children.  My oldest two came by way of adoption.  They were four years old and I am all that they know as a father.  They call me Daddy.  Even though they are not my flesh and blood they are no less my children.  A judge declared that they were legally adopted and their names were changed to reflect that reality.  They are both Molina’s.

My youngest two became my children by way of marriage.  They were eight and eleven when I first came into their lives.  While they are no less my children than the older two, they do not call me Daddy.  Their biological father is still involved in their lives and they are torn between their allegiance to him and to me, the man that has raised them and made them a part of his home and his family.  The both retain their biological father’s name Miller.  I don’t love them any less, but they have not adopted that spirit of sonship.

We need to decide who our Father is. 

The Bible tells us that Satan is the father of lies.  He is the father of all those who reject God.  Their inheritance is eternal separation from God.

John 8:44  “You belong to your father , the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

On the other hand Jesus offers us adoption into the family of God.  What is odd about this whole scenario is that we are His creation but we rejected His love and took on an unnatural father who steals, kills and destroys.  In essence, through Christ we are adopted back into our family of origin and are given back the rights and privileges that were stolen back in the Garden of Eden.

When we are adopted the Spirit Himself becomes our witness before the throne by testifying to the Father that we are co-heirs with Christ and therefore have the right to call Him Daddy because we bear His name.

I can call Him Daddy.  That is love that I, who deserved death, was so loved by Him that He made a way for me to call Him Daddy.