“Scripture clearly defines the people Jesus will return for at the End of the Age … We will be the mature sons of God who will look like our heavenly Father (Matt. 5:45; Rom. 8).” (Issue #8)
The Lord has shown us that the goal of our preparation in these seven years is to grow and become the mature sons of God, the equally yoked Bride of Christ and the John 17 generation.
Who are the mature sons of God?
Where does Scripture talk about them?
Why is there a need to become mature?
The mature sons of God are believers who fully express the Father, who are fully conformed to the image of the Son, and who are fully yielded to the seven-fold Spirit of God who will rest on them.
They are the ones who radically obey the Word of God, are led by the Spirit, and walk and live by faith (Rom. 8:13–14).
They manifest the glory of God the way Jesus did as the Son of Man on the earth (Rom. 8:18–19,30; Jn. 17:22). They have the character and nature of Christ, readily embrace discipline and suffering, and walk in the Sermon-on-the-Mount lifestyle (Matt. 5:45).
They operate in the power of the greater works that surpass what Christ did when He was here on earth (Jn. 14:12).
Their lives manifest the fruit and evidence of Christ in them, fearing the Lord, knowing and walking in His ways, radically submitting to and obeying His commandments, and loving and serving Him wholeheartedly (Deut. 10:12–13).
Wow! Isn’t this glorious?
Looking At A Well-Known Passage with New Depth
In 2021, God began to highlight the various stages of “sonship” that were present within His family of believers. We were directed to view a very familiar verse with an increased depth of understanding:
“For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God…” (Rom. 8:19)
What was the Apostle Paul conveying through this?
In our day and time, has this eagerly anticipated event — the “revealing of the sons of God” — already happened?
The answer is: no, it has not. Since the 2000 years that Apostle Paul wrote this, creation is still eagerly waiting for this highly anticipated event! And if this event is that highly anticipated, we want to know what it entails!
The Different Stages of Sonship
As believers, we are all born into sonship (this term is used for both sons and daughters). The moment we receive the Lord, we become the sons of God (Jn. 1:12). We are given the Spirit of adoption and now can call God our Abba, Father (Rom. 8:15).
However, what many of us do not realise is that there are different words in Greek that are translated into “son” in the New Testament. They refer to children of different ages (physical maturity) that translate into different levels of spiritual maturity as believers.
These include:
- Nepios, referring to a baby or infant, (Gal. 4:1,3);
- Paidion referring to a little child (Jn. 21:5; 1 Jn. 2:13);
- Teknon, referring to a child anywhere from infancy to adolescence (Lk. 2:48);
- Huios, referring to a mature son (Rom. 8:14,19).
The last — huios — is the very term used in Romans 8:19!
Thus, creation is groaning and eagerly waiting for the revealing of, not just “sons” in general, but for the mature sons of God!
The Need for Maturity
Some of us may be wondering, “Why the need for maturity? Why does Scripture make such a distinction?”
Just as an earthly father desires that his children use the inheritance that is given to them wisely, so too our heavenly Father. One of our inheritances as saints is the privilege of functioning as His Ekklesia, partnering with our Father in governmental authority to wield the weapons of spiritual warfare to advance His kingdom. In other words, He wants to give us great spiritual power and authority!
However, if we are not mature, this power and authority — our very inheritance — could cause us to stumble! Thus, as a good Father, He often wisely limits our access to this inheritance until we are mature enough for it.
But let us not lose patience or confidence. As His children, we are heirs of God. As heirs, we already have the right to inheritance and authority. However, we do not yet have full accessibility until we become mature. Our good Father loves us too much to give us free and full use of our inheritance while we are still immature believers. Thus, there is a requirement to become mature so that we can partake in the inheritance of the saints (Col. 1:12).
The Process of Growing to Maturity
The Lord gave us deeper and greater insight into the process of maturing as His children through the process of adoption in ancient Rome. In Roman culture, where adoption was mainly for passing on a family’s inheritance, the adopting family would usually pick a child already in adolescence who had the potential to be trained to inherit.
The child was put under the tutelage, training and guidance of a trusted family servant. The child was trained in the ways of the family, learnt about the family’s history and lineage, and taught its values so that he would be made ready to inherit when the head of the household died.
To parallel this process in a believer’s growth into mature sonship, we begin our life as a believer with a very shallow knowledge of our Father, who we are in Him, and the ways of His Kingdom. It is the trusted Servant — the Holy Spirit — who teaches us all things through His Word. As the Spirit of adoption, He is the One schooling and training up the sons of God to be mature!
Thus, when Apostle Paul spoke of “adoption” or “huios-thesia” (the Greek word found in Rom. 8:23; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5), he referred to the placing of a rightful child of God into full sonship after preparation unto maturity.
This gives our preparation process a new perspective!
The Triune God’s Commitment to A Generation of Mature Sons
While there have always been individual believers who have attained maturity throughout Church history, at the End of the Age, there will be an entire generation of the mature sons of God who emerge, carrying the glory of God (Rom. 8:18–19,22). This generation will have the glory that Jesus had as a Man while He was on the earth. They will be fully led by the Spirit, and be fully conformed to the image of the Son (Rom. 8:29).
This is what all of creation is eagerly waiting for!
And this is what the Triune God is committed to!
Romans 8 reveals the deep involvement and commitment of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in this process. The Father will use every situation and every opportunity for our good to train and refine us (Rom. 8:28–29). Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit are interceding for us to become mature sons (Rom. 8:26,34).
This is our hope and glory!
Even as creation is groaning with increasing intensity and birth pangs for the revealing of the mature sons, let us submit ourselves to the training and preparation that our good Father, passionate Bridegroom, and wise Tutor have ordained for us.
May the Father one day look down from heaven at a generation who perfectly expresses Him and say, “These are my beloved sons, in whom I am well pleased!”
Preparation for the Times (Intro)
CONNECT
Following the launch of the Preparation for the Times (Intro) online equipping course early this year, we now offer three tracks of CONNECT sessions to further engage and spur participants in their journey of preparation to become the Daniel 11:32–33 people.
The heart behind these CONNECT sessions is to spur participants to bring what they have gleaned from their personal self-study to the place of holy conversations with one another and to corporate prayer gatherings. Through these God-ordained processes, our goal is to raise up believers to burn and shine for Jesus, being equipped through the Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, especially in this decade of the 2020s.
