God's Design for His Family is Sonship

by Gary L. Cox

The Spirit of Adoption

The family is the first and greatest human institution created by God.  The family reflects the nature of God's relationship to man, and that relationship is sonship. 

Romans 8:15-17 says, "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. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…".  There are only two Spirits at work in the process of educating and training our children: the Spirit of Bondage which works by fear; and the Spirit of Adoption by which the heart cries out 'Abba Father'.  Every method of education trains by one Spirit or the other. 

God has designed the family for sonship.  It is the nature of a child to passionately desire to belong to a family, to have a father and mother who together represent the fullness of the image of the Heavenly Father.  This is the nature of His salvation in man, meeting our greatest need: restoration to the intimate relationship with God that Adam and Eve lost in the garden.  The most important part of sonship is belonging to a father and mother in a loving relationship of acceptance.  Feeling loved is the key to every natural, God-given desire in learning and training.  As the Psalmist says in Psalm 68:6, "God sets the lonely in families." 

Because of the significance that the home possesses as the first and foundational experience of sonship, we must give attention to providing a proper home experience that will prepare our children for the larger and more permanent relationship that God has designed for believers as His adopted children.  God alone is the creator of the desire to belong to family, and he alone is the satisfier of it.

Mending Broken Homes

First, let us remember that it is the holy purpose of God to satisfy the desire to belong which is lost in the broken nature of human families.  The importance of sonship is reflected in the great priority that God has for providing for it through his salvation.  Salvation and restored sonship are inseparably one and the same. 

Psalm 68:6 outlines five (5) issues of redemption that directly care for the needs in broken families.  Let us carefully note that it is indeed the purpose of God to satisfy the desires unmet in broken family relationships.  This reveals the importance of Sonship.

            1) He will be a Father to every fatherless soul.

            2) He will preserve justice for every widow.

            3) He will deliver every soul bound with chains.

            4) He will place the lonely soul in a family.

            5) But the Rebellious dwell in dry land.

By the grace of God revealed in Christ Jesus, earthly families enjoy the care and providence of God as Father, who  'daily loads us with benefits'.  God gives us these gifts so that we might be provided for by His tender care and be satisfied in him alone.  Even the rebellious also, so that He might live among them as a their God and father. (Psalm 68:18-19)

God's Purpose for Family

In Mal. 2:15 we read, "And why did He make  one?...That He might seek a Godly  seed."  God has a personal investment in His purpose for the family.  God's purpose is the development of Godly offspring for His own possession as Father so that we might become His sons and daughters.  This is why the Spirit of sonship absolutely and positively must be the basis of all education. 

For this divine purpose to be realized, sonship must not only be offered, but it must be accepted and received by the individual child (or adult) in order for it to give forth any aspect of its awesome power and satisfaction.   In [Jesus Christ] was life; and [his] life was the light of men.  …And the light shined in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. [That] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. … He came unto his own, and his own received him not.  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:  (John 1:4-5, 9, 11-12) 

Faith makes us Children of God

Life is in Christ Jesus alone, and life, not knowledge, is the light that attracts every man who ever has come into the world.  Life is found in sonship as children of God because God gives the power of life to His sons and daughters.  The position or authority of Sonship comes through faith.  We must receive Jesus and believe on the name of the Son of God.  So also, children must open their hearts and "receive" the care of their fathers.  This truth is the single most significant lesson that must be realized and experienced in order for our homes to succeed in their great eternal purpose and ministry. 

What stands in the way of receiving sonship?  Two things primarily block the trusting nature of sonship.  From the children's side, the danger is  closing their heart to their parents' care and ministry because they look toward the world for other counselors.  What Paul calls being unequally yoked, causes a child to reject the care and nurture of God through his parents. (2 Cor. 6:11-15)  From the parent's side, the danger is provoking the child to anger, instead of tender nurture and admonition in the Lord.  (Eph. 6:2) 

Make the Most of Sonship

It is important to realize that we have in the power of our sin nature the means to ruin what we possess in the spiritual assets of family.  Sonship requires everyone to reach for the value and ministry God has within family relationships, and be careful to avoid the things that cause breaches in these relationships.

The whole purpose, or light, of life opens up to every soul through being empowered to become a child of God.  We are born, or adopted, into God's family by faith.   Sonship is the very essence of our entire purpose in life.  When we are the Sons of God, we shall be taught by God.  However, we shall not be taught as servants, we shall be taught as sons!  Let us note this very carefully:  the authority and privilege of sonship is to be taught by the Father.  (John 5:19; 6:45)

While this is absolutely true Spiritually, it is a very important principle for the Christian home to absorb practically.  Home ought to be a very rich environment where the children soak up the lavish teaching of their 'fathers'.  Fathers and mothers work together and present the fullness of the Heavenly Father.  However, the masculine role must be felt in a very strong presence, and not mostly the feminine;  otherwise, your children will seem fatherless and your wife as a widow.  Sonship is God's design for every living soul, and sonship alone has the power to give life to God's children.  Do you have the joy of crying, "Abba, Father"?