We are Sons and Daughters:

           

            Abba, Father:

Galatians 4:6
6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

            Once we believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord (Romans chapter 10), we become God’s sons (and daughters). He sends the very own Spirit of Jesus into our hearts. He, the Spirit, then cries out “Abba! Father!” … or “Daddy”. That doesn’t mean that we take lightly this relationship. It is one of reverence and awe.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are not a child of this world, but a child of Mine. My seed abides in you and shall remain in you as you remain in Me. You shall never die because My seed is eternal. You are of Mine and shall show forth My attributes. I am your Father and you shall be like Me for you are Mine.”

            10. His Spirit is in my heart crying out to Him, “Abba, Father”.

His seed abides in us:

John 1:13
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

1 John 3:9
9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

1 John 4:15
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

           

            We may have been born in the natural through the will of our parents, but when we were born again, we were born of God’s will. He desired greatly that we be born from above. We are a part of two worlds. In the flesh, we are a part of this world, but in the spirit realm, we also have a place.            

            Then the next verse says that when we are born of God, His seed abides in us. Can you imagine that? God’s seed abides in us. This verse says that no one who is born of God practices sin. That is just the New American Standard’s way of emphasizing the Greek in this verse. We don’t continually sin, if we are born of God. Our new man cannot sin because he is born of God. However, our soul can choose to sin. As we grow in God, though, we should be sinning less and less often.

            The third Scripture lets us know how we can be sure we’re born of God. It says that if we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, then God abides in us and we in God. To confess means to say the same thing as … in other words, we say the same thing as God says - that we are born of Him.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I put My Spirit in you to guide you. You were not born to please man, but to please Me. I will show you the way to do that. As you allow My Spirit to have full control over your life, you will grow in My grace and in the knowledge of Me. As you do, you will be a beacon unto others. You were not born to do the will of the flesh, but to do the will of the Spirit. Stay in My love, and you will walk in My light.”

            9. I am born of God, and His seed abides in me. I am in Him, and He is in me.

Shone in our hearts:

2 Corinthians 4:6-7
6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

            God Himself “lit up” our hearts. They were in darkness in this world, but He brought the light of His glory (Jesus) into them. Jesus said that when we walk in the light, we won’t stumble. This light should shine out of our hearts to light up the lives of those around us. Truly this is a treasure. And as it says here, the surpassing greatness of the power is of Him and not us. Therefore, we can’t brag. Just because you are an earthen vessel, doesn’t mean you are nothing and worthless. He will make you a vessel to honor if you allow Him to do so.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "How can you say that you cannot see the way to go? I have given you My light dwelling within you. That light will shine on your path to show you which way to go. I haven’t deserted you. I did not choose you to lose you. I chose you to become a light to those around you. Do not resist My Spirit when He tries to lead you along the path of righteousness. He will shine His light on your path to show you the way. It is not your power, nor your righteousness, but Mine. I will bring you into My freedom as you allow My Spirit to guide you.”

            8. He has shone in my heart and given me the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Chapter 2

Relationship with the Father

            When we have a relationship with someone, that means we have something in common. If it is a friendship type of relationship, we share like goals and ideas in many areas of our lives. If it is a kinship type of relationship, we share many physical characteristics usually along with like goals and ideas. The first part is guaranteed, while the second, though common, is not. When we grow up in a family, the children, at least in the beginning, do share like goals and ideas. As they grow older, the children may drift away from those of the family’s.

            Our relationship with God has both. We share many spiritual characteristics. We are His children, so we should appear to be like Him. This is because His Spirit indwells us. Our spiritual man will “look” like Him. We also share His goals and ideas. Just like with natural children, we could drift away from those goals and ideas. Our spiritual man still desires to act like Him, but we may decide to go our own way.

            We are going to look at those characteristics that we are destined to acquire, being children of God.

How we come to the Father:

            Partakers of the divine nature:

2 Peter 1:4
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

            Would you look at that? We partake of the divine nature … God’s very own nature. We sure don’t act like it sometimes. How awesome that God chose to allow us to literally become like Him. Of course, children become like their earthly fathers in various ways, so why shouldn’t we become like Him? How do we accomplish this? It tells us in this verse … by His precious and magnificent promises. In other words, by putting His Word into effect in our lives, we can become more and more like Him. His Spirit inside of us needs something to work on. The Holy Spirit can accomplish some things even if we haven’t heard the Word about an area in our lives that needs changing. He can do much more if He has something to work with. Remember from Hebrews 4:12 that His Word is actually living and working inside us. The Spirit through this living Word can help us determine when something is from our soul versus from our spirit.

            By the way, I simply love the poetical-ness of Second Peter chapter one. Read it and notice how many times things come in pairs. In this verse … precious and magnificent promises.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "My children, you have partaken of My nature. You had the nature of the world … that nature which only wants your own good, not that of your neighbor. You have received of My life, and that life brings good to all … not just to you. Do not go against My nature and do the things of the world which you used to do. I will bring you into maturity because that is My nature in you.”

            7. He has made precious and magnificent promises to me and through them I have become a partaker of His divine nature.