Part 1 Fatherhood and Sonship
Fatherhood & Sonship
Introduction and Exodus
Bruce Billington
Introduction
The purpose of life is given in Jeremiah 9:23–24 – “Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.”
It is to know God. Full stop. This is the essence of life in its entirety. We must come to know that beyond all uncertainties, difficulties, and instability of life, is an all-powerful, all knowing, all loving God who will ultimately share His perfect Kingdom with us for all eternity.
This transcends our calling, work, mission, purpose, gifts and abilities, and everything else. In coming to know Him, we discover our reason for being, our reason for doing; our reason for hope and joy; our reason for enduring and overcoming and our reason for loving life.
Augustine said,
“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.” (Confessions).”
The real peace and freedom Jesus wants us to have comes from knowing that He rules and reigns despite what our circumstances may suggest. It comes from knowing that the real world is the life of the age to come – a life that we have access to today in Christ’s name.
The great truth of the New Covenant is that we are now given the right, as individuals – to know God as Father. Never before was this allowed and it is one of the great truths that Satan has tried to keep from those in Christ, because knowing God as Father will change us forever.
The whole foundation of the New Covenant is based on Fatherhood and Sonship, modelled by God the Father’s relationship with the Jesus Christ the Son.
This series will explore this great truth in some depth, beginning from its example in the Old Covenant.
- God Sets the Scene
The story of Exodus reveals some insight of God as a Father, although the issue of sonship here is given to the community, not to individuals.
Exodus 4:22 – “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD,’ Israel is My son, My firstborn.”
Israel is languishing in bondage and oppression and subject to cringing fear, through the ruthless control at the hand of the Egyptians. Earlier – in order to restrict the population growth of the Hebrews, Pharaoh had told the midwives to put all newborn males born to death.
The Place of Suffering
It is often at the place of suffering, adversity, and hardship that God first enters a situation. This will be part of our life experience and followers of Christ must be prepared for it. The place of suffering, as seen here, is so often the place where God comes with His provision and deliverance. It is a refining fire and as such Sonship and suffering go together and this cannot be avoided until the end comes – (Romans 8:17-25).
But in the midst of all of this – the power of God is expressed, and we should observe it with great fear and trepidation.
God Confronts Pharaoh
Exodus 4:23 – “So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”
This is an incredibly powerful statement. When God makes this statement, He is directly confronting the powers that be and saying, “don’t mess with my son!!” If you continue to do so you will pay a terrible price for it. It was a divine declaration which would continue for centuries to come. We see here the power of God’s speech – He has to be so careful what He says.
Israel is my firstborn son
Exodus 4:22 “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Israel is My son, My firstborn.
What a statement! God has chosen and is claiming Israel as His son. Out of all the nations of the world God has singled one out for His son – not that it was greater, more powerful, or special – it was just God’s sovereign choice.
Exodus 4:23a – “So I said to you, ‘Let My son go!’
This is a blatant warning – there is no plea, no bargain, no trade – just a directive from the King of all the Universe. Pharaoh is given a fair warning, but God will eventually take whatever action is required to get His son out.
In the Old Covenant, a father would normally expect that his firstborn son will work with him and eventually accept responsibility for the house and fields or flocks that the family owned and take care of his father and mother in their old age and all other family members who, for whatever reason, cannot look after themselves.
Here we see an early expression of the kingdom of God. This is what God expects from us in relationship to Him. He has called us out to come and work with Him. Israel belongs to God and God expects that as His son, they would serve Him loyally in the years ahead. It is through His son Israel that God wanted to bless and impact the world.
As we will see later, this calling has crossed over into the New Covenant, to become a key principle in the foundation of it. This is our call and will be forever – in the Son Jesus Christ, we are to be God’s chosen sons and daughters.
Exodus 4:23b – that he may serve Me
How is that for a reason to the nation that thought they were all powerful? This is a direct challenge to the king of Egypt who thought he was the all-powerful one and that all people should be serving him. God is now going to intervene in human affairs, using the nation of Israel and He will not tolerate anyone getting in the way – least of all a Pharaoh who thinks he can decide the destiny of God’s special son.
Key Question – Who really is in control and who does Israel, or under the New Covenant, who do God’s people, really belong to? It is very dangerous to get the answers to this question wrong.
Who Do We Serve and who controls our Lives?
Service is a big part of sonship. It doesn’t earn us sonship, but it is a requirement of it. Sons are called to work and take responsibility before the Living God.
In this life, we all have to serve somebody. Israel is really exchanging one kind of servitude for another. This is no halfway house for any of us here. Jesus made it clear in Matt 6:24 that we cannot serve two masters. If we truly have given our lives to God we are in His service, if not we are serving the enemy.
Leviticus 25:55 – For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
So, we have a paradox here – the son is also a servant – actually also a slave according to the Apostle Paul. George Matheson capture this well in a hymn.
Make me a captive Lord
AND THEN I shall be free
Force me to render up my sword,
And I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms
when by myself I stand;
Imprison me within thine arms,
And strong shall be my hand.
Why a servant? The nation is a young fledging who needs to develop and mature. We have to see Exodus as birth and infancy. This was expressed when God told them He was not going to give them full control of the Promised Land immediately (Exodus 23:29) because they would be overcome by the beasts of the field – they had to mature into the stewardship of it.
Key Point – a relationship with God cannot be static – it is a developing one where the need for growth is important. The Father calls us into a relationship with Him which is not only based on who He is but also on what He does. Obviously, we need to differentiate between how God loves us for who we are, rather than for what we do – but if we take this too far, we will fail to embrace the warning in James that if faith has no works, it is dead (James 2:17). True freedom is not doing what we want. It is only found as we embrace servitude out of our sonship relationship with God.
God promises He will bring the people out of slavery – and He does – they are spectacularly rescued from oppression and slavery – but it doesn’t end there. Deuteronomy 4:20 (ESV) describes what this is all about.
But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.
Back to Pharaoh and Egypt.
Exodus 4:23 – “So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”
Exodus 4:23a – “But you refused to let him go.”
Here comes the judgment. God is not taking anything into account, such as that they didn’t know who He was or what He could do – or any other such excuses. He had demonstrated who He was, that He was superior to any power they had ever seen – and He had made His demands.
One after the other He brought upon them nine plagues – water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts and darkness, and still, they did not listen. So, He finally brought the tenth plague – the killing of all their firstborn children.
Their refusal to obey Him meant judgement was finally pronounced.
God’s grace covers all – but if we constantly violate it, it will eventually turn to judgment. In such cases, Jesus ceases to be the Lamb that was slain and becomes the Lion of Judah. Don’t mess with the Lion. His patience only goes so far.
When it comes to disobedience the Father will discipline us – when it comes to blatant sin and rebellion, the Father will let us reap what we sow – and long term that is always disastrous.
V23b – “so I will kill your firstborn son.”
Once aroused God is fearsome – His message to Pharaoh is – “if you start messing around with my son – hurting him, mistreating him, or thinking you have power over him, I will take your son out – death and mourning will come upon you immediately and without no way back!!
Pharaoh had commanded his people to start killing God’s son – which Moses only escaped because of God’s sovereign intervention – so now the angel of the Lord was going to come and kill every first-born son in Egypt – including his. This was a direct assault on the royal procession in Egypt because the firstborn son inherited the father’s (Pharaoh’s) throne.
Important Point: Note how powerful the theme of sonship and Fatherhood is in this passage. As parents we need to embrace the same – as God’s children we need to feel very secure – God will attack anyone who tries to harm us.
The Showdown
Egypt stubbornly refuses to take heed of all the warnings, so the showdown begins. Egypt was the world’s first superpower and God mounts a direct challenge against their power and authority on the basis of them holding His son. This is about a demonstration of who truly is in power and control.
Not only does Egypt lose all its first-born sons, but also the first born of all their livestock.
The Journey Begins
And so, begins the journey of the nation Israel as the son of God. There are numerous examples of this in the Old Testament, and in general, Israel constantly violates this privilege and pays a big price for it.
When we come to Hosea, we have so many examples of how this is just not working. Something much more powerful is needed.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington