Wednesday, December 22, 2010

To See or Not to See: the Son in Me

So I woke up this morning thinking about being a son of God and Shakespeare’s Hamlet came to mind. 
Be the son, trust your Heavenly Father

Like most men my mind is a dangerous place in constant need of renewal.

But as I captured this thought the first line of that memorable monologue continued to echo;“To be or not to be: that is the question”

Hamlet was a young man struggling with his father’s murder, mother’s remarriage (to the murderer) and the covetousness of older men.  The haunting of his father’s spirit and Hamlet’s own timidity finally pours out in violence ending Shakespeare’s play in tragedy.

Okay so I’m not a literary critic but too many Christian men are still haunted by the burdens of a natural heritage.  

What do I mean by natural heritage?  Heritage is “something that comes or belongs to one by reason of birth.”  So I specify “natural” because this has to do with our first birth through the womb of our mothers including how and where we were brought up as men.

But there is a new birth that happens when we turn and believe in Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord.In Christ, through the rebirth by the Spirit, we receive a spiritual heritage as sons of God.  We are all God’s creations but we become sons only by being born again.

Pastor Bernard said, “Your spiritual heritage is greater than your natural heritage.”

Bamm!  Poof!  Pow!  (Sorry for the 1960's Batman flashback)

But that truth hit me like a ton of bricks!

The God who created all things from nothing…

The God who brings order to chaos… 

The same God who turned the world upside down with a handful of fisherman…

This God is my Father.  This God lives in me.  Me?!  And my natural human life is now infused with the life of this God creator, redeemer and Lord of the universe.

Whether my father was a prince or a peasant, or whether my mother loved me or not, I was now a son of God through faith in the Son, Jesus the Christ.

My past, my upbringing & my family of origin inform me.  But my relationship with God and my status as a son of God defines me.

The circumstances of my birth don’t define me.  There are no accidents in God.  I’ve been positioned by God in time & space, as a 6’2 Puerto Rican for the Kingdom of Heaven.  If I take a stand against racism as a Hispanic/Latino it is because racism is a sin and I am son of God.  When I minister to the poor, it is not because I grew up poor but because I am a son of God.  I teach my children what my father taught me not because of him but because it lines up with the Holy Scriptures; my source of faith and rule of conduct.

Every curse in Christ is broken:
You are a son of God!
Too many men are like Sisyphus who was cursed to roll a huge rock up a mountain only to have the rock roll back down on him once he got to the top.

Ouch!

Being a son of God is the only way to roll the stone over the mountain.  No stone can stand in the way of God's resurrection power in your life.  The only thing that can block the life of God in you is the hardness of unbelief.  


If you feel stuck right now, remember you are a son of God.  The curses of your upbringing are broken in Christ Jesus.   Or take spiritual authority and command them to be broken in the Name of Jesus Christ.  And then be humble enough to approach your life by seeing it from God’s point of you.

Or perhaps your Heavenly Father is training you in the school of hard knocks for His purpose.  Everything God does is according to a pattern and based on a principle.  And just as God delivered Israel from Egypt, we are delivered from spiritual darkness and bondage through Jesus Christ.  But then Israel was taken through the wilderness for a time of training so they could know God as Father and understand their call to be sons.

Jesus told a bunch of grown men not to “grow up” but to accept the Kingdom like little children.  He didn’t tell them to “man up” but to stop hustling in their own strength.  Be childlike.  Humble.  Submit. Trust.  Surrender.  Be honest.


Encourage your brother by sharing this truth: We are sons of God.


“Heavenly Father, I thank you for my brother and sister who are reading this post.   I pray for my brother, that he might see himself as a son of God through the grace given to him in Jesus Christ.  I pray that your Holy Spirit would fill him to overflowing today and that he would know that you are Fathering him.  As a son help my brother to trust and submit to your Word.  Prosper the works of his hands.  And bless my dear sisters who are reading; may they also know that this post is for them as daughters of the Most High God and messengers of your good news.  Amen.”


Please share your thoughts.


Your brother,

Minister Onorio

P.S. Thank you Pastor Bernard!

2 comments:

  1. Awesome Blog...Very well put...God's point of you(purpose)once reborn unto humility is an on point and poignant point of view. Outside of ordered steps men think that rebellion is the norm...we seek pseudo uniqueness as pseudo-players, pseudo-pimps, pseudo-gangsters, pseudo-intellectuals, pseudo-workaholics, pseudo-nationalists and even pseudo-Christianity...false maturity eventuates itself in pride, comfortable misinterpretation of GOD's intentions and straight up error that effect all relationships...we need to be child-like to create the atmosphere for sanctification...we need to be child-like to walk in joy and be a blessing in all relationships

    Jeremy

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  2. Thank you my brother for sharing!

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