Servants and Sons Part 1

I remember once having a conversation with someone about God where the discussion started to turn towards understanding theology as if it were a Jigsaw puzzle.  And after going back and forth in this discourse we concluded that if understanding God and the Christian life were a puzzle that fit together that the various pieces when all put in their correct places would eventually show a picture of Jesus.  I thought this was an interesting discussion because it was stated that Jesus was both the Exact Representation of the Father's Nature (Hebrews 1:3) -- meaning that everything that we think we know about God needs to be substantiated or proven in the Life of Jesus in the Gospels -- and that Jesus is Proto-type of what the Church should look like -- the Church having been declared to be the Body of Christ now upon the Earth (1 Corinthians 12:14-27).  

You know a Tree by its Fruit
We went even further to state that in the same way you know a tree by its fruit, so you can understand a theology based upon what it produces in the lives of the people who walk it out.  So if we see a people that are walking in humility, faith, love, hope and in the manifestation of the Power of God to destroy sin, sickness and death in their midst then we can see that this people's understanding of the Bible must have something to it because they are bearing the fruits of the Gospel.

Likewise one could sit under the most well-versed, articulate theologians of their day and be a part of such a congregation and if that congregation isn't bearing the fruits of the Gospel then we have reason to question as to what must be missing in either their theology or in their spirituality. And I don't say that to encourage a judgmental spirit but rather that ultimately until a fellowship that we are a part of begins to walk like Christ on the earth that we ought to ever be seeking God for the understanding of the Word and the anointing of the Spirit to do so.

But it is precisely from this posture that I've sought to understand two almost opposite themes in the Bible.  Both themes when preached to their full extent will cause one's heart to soar as it bears witness to the goodness of God in establishing these truths and yet make us acutely aware of the high demand that they place upon humanity to walk them out. Those truths are that God has both called us to be both Servants and Sons.

Called as Servants
The calling of Jesus towards humanity is that of absolute abandon to God.  Jesus makes statements like "if anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me" (Matthew 16:24) and "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26).  In saying these statements Jesus is demanding of anyone who would want to become a Christian a life that has completely surrendered their self-will and is seeking to perform His Will.  He has required that we hold our relationship with Him as the highest and most precious relationship that we have and that in comparison all of our other relationships and even our own lives are to be lost if it would mean that we would have to compromise our relationship with Him.

When we begin to grasp this calling from God and seek to walk out the death of our self-will and embrace absolute loyalty to Him and His Will we can very easily begin to develop the mentality of a servant.  We understand that we are here to follow Jesus and to do His Will and that's the reason why we were born and that's the reason why we are still on the earth.  No matter what happens to us we will follow Him even into dark uncertain times -- we seek to possess a heart that will obey Him even unto death.

And this is something that is very glorious and a posture that I want to have more deeply established in my life.  But while this is a powerful truth it can lead to an understanding of God that inhibits His movement in our lives.  If our relationship with God and subsequently our reason for being on the earth revolves around our sacrifice then while we are to be commended for that obedience our hearts are missing out on a truth that is just as glorious and just as vital to walking like Christ.  And that truth is of the God who wills our good.