Sonship

M. Robert Mulholland, Jr., writes in “Invitation to a Journey”:

I once heard a woman tell of her struggle with this reality. Her mother was a prostitute, and she was the accidental byproduct of her mother's occupation. Her life's pilgrimage had brought her to faith in Christ, blessed her with a deeply Christian husband and beautiful children, and given her a life of love and stability. But she was obsessed with the need to find out who her father was. This obsession was affecting her marriage, her family, and her life.

She told how one day she was standing at the kitchen sink, washing the dishes, with tears of anguish and frustration running down her face into the dishwater. In her agony, she cried out, "Oh, God, who is my father?" Then, she said, she heard a voice saying to her, "I am your father."

The voice was so real she turned to see who had come into the kitchen, but there was no one there. Again, the voice came, "I am your father, and I have always been your father."

In that moment she knew a profound scriptural reality. She came to know that deeper than the "accident" of her conception was the eternal purpose of a loving God, who had spoken her forth into being before the foundation of the world.

Linguists tell us that babies of virtually all cultures use similar syllables for addressing their parents. It is easy for maturing babies to say the “Ah” vowel and “B, D, or M” consonant sounds. Parents of all cultures teach these primitive words as the titles for “Mother” and “Father.”

French: “Maman and Papa.”

Norwegian: “Mamma and Papa.”

Swahili: “Mama and Baba.”

Mandarin: “Mama and Baba.”

Chechen: “Naana and Daa.”

Every follower of Jesus knows our primal name for God—Father, or in the Aramaic, Abba, Dada. Or Daddy.

Christmas is a celebration of a real event, according to most Americans. Just don’t expect them to know exactly why Jesus was born and came to earth. A new study from Lifeway Research finds close to three in four Americans believe Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Even more say Jesus is the Son of God the Father, but less than half believe Jesus existed prior to being born on that first Christmas.

According to a Lifeway Research study:

• More than 9 in 10 Americans (91%) celebrate Christmas.
• For most of those celebrating, Christmas is about a historical occurrence.
• More than 7 in 10 (72%) say the Jesus Christians believe in was born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago. Few (9%) disagree, while 18 percent aren’t sure.

• Most Americans (80%) agree Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Father, while 10 percent disagree and 10 percent aren’t sure.
• The average person isn’t quite as sure about the Son of God’s existence prior to Jesus’ birth. Around 41% say God’s Son existed before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. 32% of Americans disagree, and 28 percent say they’re not sure.

The religiously unaffiliated are least likely to agree with any of the statements surrounding Jesus’ birth and identity:

• Almost half (48%) believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Father. A third (33%) say Jesus was really born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago. Fewer (15%) believe the Son of God existed before Jesus was born.

• Among Christians, those who attend church four times a month or more, are most likely to believe each of the statements about Jesus and his birth: 98 percent believe Jesus is the Son of God the Father, 95 percent say he was born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, and 63 percent agree the Son of God existed before Jesus was born.

Aly Femia keeps an Amazon-branded smart speaker in the room with her son so he can listen to lullabies. But she had no idea how comfortable her baby had become with the speaker. In the footage from her baby video monitor, she overheard a conversation that her son was having with … well … Alexa.

Having woken during the middle of the night, the boy turns and says, “Alexa,” which turned on the smart speaker, “I need daddy.” Now that Alexa is listening, it replies with, “What should I add?” The toddler replies, “daddy.”

We’re going to guess he was hoping Alexa was going to go get his dad. Maybe so he could get him another glass of water before he falls asleep. Or some other bedtime procrastination technique that kids are good at—another bedtime story.

Alexa then hilariously replied, “I’ve added daddy to your shopping list, is there anything else?” The adorable boy replied, “Urm … no,” which might be the sweetest thing ever.

Femia posted the video on TikTok where it has totaled over 3.7 million views because it’s simply hilarious and adorable. Commentors on social media have been wondering what exactly Alexa put on its shopping list, but industry analysts are sure that, whatever product it is, Femia will be seeing ads for it on all her devices for weeks.

Possible Preaching Angle:

In moments of crisis, we can call on God, not just as a distant Creator, but as a loving Dad who knows and cares about us. Even if it doesn’t seem feasible or logical, our heavenly Father is always near.

T.F. Torrance was one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century, but prior to that, he served as a chaplain during World War II. One day, on a battlefield in Italy, he attended to a dying nineteen-year-old soldier. The dying man asked him, “Padre, is God really like Jesus?”

For Torrance, this question captured “the deepest cry of the human heart”--is the God that we’ll meet on the other side of the death the same God that came to earth as a lowly babe?

Torrance assured the dying man with these words: “God is indeed really like Jesus. There is no unknown God behind the back of Jesus for us to fear. To see the Lord Jesus is to see the very face of God.” This experience would guide all of his future work as a minister and theologian.

Possible Preaching Angle:

(1) Torrance’s story brings comfort: God may be fierce, he may be all powerful, he may be the Judge of all the earth--but he’s also the same God revealed in the gentle face of Jesus. If the Gospels are true, we’ve got nothing to fear when we meet God. (2) Theology gets a bad rap for being impractical. But for T.F. Torrance, theology was real for people with real problems, not just academics in an Ivory Tower. Knowing what it means that Jesus reveals the Father and is one with him is one of the most important truths any of us can ever know. So important, it’ll change your life!

Mr. Jay Speights of America discovered that he is royal. He took a DNA test and the results popped up as being of royal descent. The funny thing is that Speights grew up in New Jersey. He lives in an apartment. He does not even own a car. But now he’s a prince.

NPR reports that he visited his long-lost country and was welcomed home as royalty. Another paper reported, “When he first arrived, he saw what looked like a festival, hundreds of people dancing and playing instruments and singing. It took him several minutes to realize it was a welcome party—for him.” Here’s an excerpt from his interview on NPR:

Steve Inskeep (host): Royal DNA? Mr. Speights is a prince in the small West African country of Benin. His family had been trying to learn the African side of their lineage for decades, and at last, he had an answer. So naturally, he got on a plane.

Speights: Next thing you know, I'm in Benin, being crowned as a prince. It was that easy.

Inskeep: The royal family prepared a festival for his homecoming. They hung up banners. They held a parade. And because the prince had no experience with prince-ing, the royal family sent him to a so-called prince school.

Speights: What may have added to the intensity of emotion was that it was my father's birthday. And to land there on my father's birthday was just unbelievable. And I tell you, my father's presence was with me. I could see him and feel him.

Possible Preaching Angles: When we come to Christ we discover we are a child of God, adopted as royalty into God’s family.

Todd Wilson writes in "The Gift of the Son: Everlasting Father”:

God is the creator and sustainer and judge of humanity. But the Bible wants us to understand that he is not the Father of everyone. He only becomes our Father when we stand in a unique relationship to him.

Sometimes my kids will slip up or, for fun, call me by my first name: "Todd," they'll say. Of course, they do it in jest, not with disrespect. But I'm always eager to correct them just the same. "Why is it such a big deal to call you by your first name?" they will ask me. "Well, it's not," I say in response. "It's just that you don't want me to start treating you as though you only know me as Todd. You want me, you need me, to be dad or father, not Todd. Friends call me Todd. But I wouldn't die for most of my friends. I'd die for you. So you call me dad or father."

None of us has a right, by virtue of birth, to call God our Father. Only one person has that right: Jesus Christ. In fact, only through Jesus do we learn to call God "Father"; only through Jesus can we call God our Father. You can't have the fatherhood of God without embracing the Son-ship of Jesus.

The Word of God, Jesus Christ, on account of his great love for mankind, became what we are in order to make us what he is himself.

The Son of God became man to enable men to become the sons of God.