“All creation groans and waits for the sons of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8) There is something that comes into alignment in all of creation when we step into our role as sons of God. There is meaning here on two levels, and they are not separate.
One meaning is in the spiritual sense. We have three dynamics to us, spirit, soul and flesh. We have authority in our spirits. Jesus defeated our enemy, Satan, on the cross. In doing so, Jesus allowed His Spirit (the Holy Spirit) to become one with our spirit, thus giving life to our spirit. Jesus was talking about this when He called for us to be born again. John the Baptist talked about this when he said One is coming who will baptize you with the Spirit. As sons of God through the Spirit, we have victory over Satan. He has no hold over us what-so-ever. He has been defeated, all he has left is a voice, no power, only talk. The importance of understanding this is HUGE. This is one meaning, but for simplicity’s sake I do not want to expand on this any more. I might expand on it in another post at a later time.
The other meaning of the term “sons of God” is the one I wish to talk about. It has to do with the foundation of our hope. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” Why did Christ raise from the dead? To prove that He is God? Possibly, but there is something much deeper. Paul continues to write in chapter 15 how if Christ has not been raised then we will not rise. Death didn’t have the last word to Jesus, but He raised so that death would not have the last word on us either!
He gave us His Spirit awakening ours, so now we have full victory over sin (sin is spiritual death). He raised so that we have full victory over death (death is physical death). Today we take joy in the life we have in the Spirit. And today we have hope and faith for the day when the “sons of God will be revealed.” Now we have spiritual power and authority, and soon we will also have physical power and authority.
We have great translations of the Bible today, but every language has culture attached to it, thus creating untranslatable meanings. When Paul writes the words, “son of God” there are two meanings that phrase could have in the cultural context in which he is writing.
Jews, even before Christ, thought intently of the messiah to come. They had their idea of what “son of God” meant. The other meaning has to do with the Roman culture of the day.
The Romans and any others under the rule of the Roman emperor thought of the emperor himself when they heard that phrase. From Julius Ceasar to Nero and after, that term was often applied to the emperor. He was seen as a divine extension of God. People would eventually worship the emperor because he was an extension of God. Any one who used Roman currency could reach in their pocket, pull out a coin and see the face of the emperor with the term, “son of God” written on it.
So we see before us a letter written to the Roman church, and Paul using the phrase “sons of God.” The Bible writers used this term in other letters as well, so it was not a new term in the church, however the phrase certainly had some cultural significance as well, especially in Rome. The title, son of God, signified royalty, rule, political power.
With that in mind, let’s venture back to the beginning of creation. God creates man. He walks with him in the garden. He gives him dominion over all he had created. From the beginning God had designed us in His image with a human frame to rule with Him. What then did man do? Man rebelled and forfeited his rulership. Since then God has continually pursued us, working towards His presence in our midst until we see one day God in our midst. Not only that, but He is in our human frame! It was always the physical human frame that God destined to reign and rule. So what does God do? He goes back to the dust, and instead of just breathing into it, He steps into it becoming dust, a real physical man.
If we now jump to the end of the story in Revelation 5 John cries out because he cannot find one man in heaven or on earth that is worthy to take the title deed to earth. It’s in the Father’s hand. All authority in heaven and earth is wrapped up in that one scroll. In it is contained all authority to rule and reign. John finds no man that is worthy to open that scroll, until an elder says this, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll…” What we could not do, God did. Where we couldn’t make a way, God made a way.
We had forfeited our right to rule. We corrupted ourselves, but God said not so fast and came down taking on our physical frame and conquering not only spiritual death – that is sin, but physical death as well.
And when it is said and done God’s garden of Eden will be restored. When Jesus returns, our bodies will be raised. To the world, death has the last word, but to us who love God, death has no word. When Jesus comes back, the sons of God (those who love Him) will be revealed, and in one moment every groan of creation will cease. Injustice will be no more, sadness will be turned to joy, pain will vanish.
Our God is not about saving us spiritually and then taking us to some spiritual utopia away from this horrible earth. God created the earth and saw it as good. Death came about by one man – Adam, but life has come about through Jesus. Life is not about death, or coping with everything that is fading away. Life is about the kingdom of God taking over every realm of this world. Our kingdom is not spiritual only, it’s physical and spiritual together, just as has God created it.
