WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO CALL GOD FATHER?

Oceanside CA photo by B Smith

 

KULP – 312 - WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO CALL GOD FATHER?

August 20, 1961

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

Galatians  4: 1 - 7 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Paul, in Galatians 3 is explaining the reason the law was given. It was given first of all to Israel, and Israel alone. It was to be Israel’s school teacher to bring them to the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Now in chapter 4 he points out that the nation of Israel, the Jew under the law, was an immature child—a child who’s not even able to speak. He is heir of God all right, but he hasn’t reached the place of heir. He’s as a child who does not recognize he has a great heritage, he has a great inheritance coming to him…Thinking that a penny, a bright shining penny is far better than an inheritance than a couple millions because he’s not able to understand what a couple million dollars would mean. And therefore, as we read here in the first verse of chapter 4, he is differing nothing from a servant; he’s just like a servant.  

1/  Galatians 4: 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

But we in this day and age are not under law, and we’re not as immature children, but we have received the adoption of sons. Now what does that mean? When we think of adoption of children in this day and age, we generally think of taking and bringing up other people’s children. But that is not what the Greek word means in this portion of Scripture. It means the placing of a son—those who are already children by blood. In the life of a Hebrew boy, there came a time appointed by the father when the  adoption proceedings took place, and the boy was declared to be the son, an heir of the father. Before that time he had been a son indeed, but he was under tutors and  governors, and he had been told what he must do and must not do, what he may and may not do. He was not much different from being a servant. But when the time appointed finally arrived, he is now a grown son indeed. It is assumed he will no longer need the overseers to keep him in check. And so the adoption proceedings take place. The father would take this son who was up to this time considered a minor up to the forum, answering to our courthouse, and there officially adopted him as his son. Now that shows the difference between the Jew under law and we today under grace. 

Under the law, the Old Testament believers were all God’s children, but they were definitely not recognized as His sons. But in this age it is different. All of God’s children are also His sons. Now you say, Well what’s the difference? Quite a bit.

2/  Under the law they had never reached the age of maturity; but now we are the sons of God.

3/  Remember that in Jeremiah 31: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:

God speaks of the Jew as the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land Egypt. They were not adopted as sons at that time. But we at the present time are adopted as sons.

4/  Before we consider our adoption as sons, having received the spirit of adoption, let us look at how this adoption became ours. 

Galatians 4: 4 where we read: But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made under the law.  

Now there are those who tell us that Jesus Christ was not God’s Son from eternity. They say He became the Son when He was born on earth; but verse 4 definitely denies any such teaching. God sent forth His Son to be born of a woman. He was the Son before He ever stooped from the heights of glory to the virgin’s womb.

5/  Now notice in this Scripture He was made under the law to redeem them that were under the law. Now Christ gave us this exalted position as the Son of God, and put Himself under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the Father. He was put in the position of a child, of a servant. He was put in the position of obedience.   

Philippians 2  While He was on earth, He was God’s beloved Son to be sure; but the declaration of full Sonship could not yet be made. The adoption proceedings could not yet take place.

6/  Psalms 2: 7 I will declare the decree, the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I gotten thee.   

Notice this Psalm, for it tells us: I will declare the decree, the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I gotten thee.  And naturally you will ask, what day? Or, when was our Lord declared to be the Son of God? You will find the answer in Acts 13: 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, that He raised up Jesus again. As it is written in Psalms 2, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. So it was at the resurrection that the decree was made that Christ was declared to be the Son of God, begotten.

7/  The same thing is told to us in Romans 1: 4 Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, now notice, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. 

The adoption proceedings as far as Jesus Christ is concerned are all over.  He was declared to be the Son of God on His resurrection day. So Christ put Himself in the place of obedience, subjection and was declared to be adopted by God the Father on His resurrection day that we might have the adoption of sons.

8/  Ephesians 1: 3 - 6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Now notice what it says here. We, not according to our works or our character, or our devotion, but rather by His own good pleasure of His will, He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we might be predestinated unto the adoption of children. But how could He make us holy and without blame before Him, and give unto us the place of adoption? There is only one answer and it is given to us in this Scripture, by Jesus Christ.

9/  Now notice, we are not merely saved, but we are accepted as grown sons in Christ, the beloved son, and given a place at the Father’s right hand where we have free access to all the Father riches in the heavenlies. 

So when Israel was under the law, they were as  immature children, as minor children under tutors and governors, with a thousand commands, not just ten commands, telling them what to do.  And now today without the law in Christ Jesus, we’re full grown mature sons in Jesus Christ. Now, we do not want to go back under the law? I’m sure you don’t. Our position is far superior to that which is under the law. How much better is our position in grace.

10/  Now we have received the Spirit of adoption, we’ve been called the full-blown mature children of God by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And this is speaking of our position. But actually we’ll have to wait until we are raised from the dead, and it will be by resurrection when we will come to the fullness of this position.  

Romans 8: 15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

It is by the Holy Spirit, placing us as sons of God, that we cry out Abba Father.  It is only when we have the spirit of adoption that we’re able to call God our Father.  And so we have the answer to the question that we’ve ask in the title of our message, Who has the Right to Call God Father?  We do, the ones who are full grown sons of God in Jesus Christ.

11/  Does this give us the right to live any way we want now, for we are not sons under probation, but we are full grown sons the moment we believe. Does this give us a license to sin? Oh no! Remember when Israel was under law, when they were mere, minor children, and were under tutors and governors and told what they may not do, what they may and may not say, God told them:  Exodus 20: 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Now most of us believe that we do this by swearing or by profanity. But that’s not exactly what it means here. But as children they were still called by the name of the Lord and are responsible to magnify His name. If they did anything that brought dishonor upon His name, they are taking the name of the Lord, their God in vain, for notice the word  Thy God.  Remember what the apostle Paul said. He said of them: Through you the name of the Lord is blasphemed among the Gentiles.  

Romans 2: 24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

In other words, The Gentiles saw so much that was wicked and corrupt in the behavior of God’s earthly people that were called by His name, that they said, If these people are like their God, He must be a very unholy being indeed. Well, if that is true of minor children under the Law, what should it be of us who are called the children of God – full grown mature children! How much more should we be careful of bring dishonor to His name.

12/  But now let us turn to the adoption of sons. We already have it in position, but it is not ours until a time of resurrection. 

Romans 8: 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Someday we shall come into full enjoyment of that position. And who knows how soon. Now notice when we come to  the fullness of this position, we will have as it says in Romans 8: 23 the redemption of our bodies.

13/  The first thing we must see is that our resurrection body is linked with the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus Christ, even as our resurrection body is linked with Him.  

Philippians 3: 20, 21 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Now there is a thought here that thrills me tremendously and I’d like to pass it along to you this morning. There is nothing that can be said about the body of the Lord Jesus Christ besides the question of the marks of His wounds, that cannot be said about our bodies in the resurrection. What a glorious thought!

14/  First of all, our bodies will be a material reality. Let us therefore look at the resurrection of our Savior in order to find out what has been revealed to us about the nature of His resurrection body. It was a tangible, material body, and yet it was not a body that was subject to the laws that govern our material bodies in which we live today. Now we said His body was one that could be seen by the human eye. 

John 20: 20  And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.  

I Corinthians 15: 5 – 7 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

They saw the Lord; they recognized Him; they identified Him as Jesus Christ.

15/  It was a body that could be touched with the human hand. The disciples were terrified when He appeared in their midst; they supposed they had seen a ghost.  

Luke 24: 39  But Jesus Christ said unto them, Why are you troubled? Why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and My feet, that is I myself. Handle me and see, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as ye see me have. 

It was a body that could be touched with human hands.

16/  The same verse also showed that it was a body that had a voice that could be heard by the human ear.

17/  On the third occasion on which the Lord revealed Himself to the disciples, they were returning to shore after a night of fishing in which they had caught nothing.  

John 21: 12  Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.

The Lord commanded them to cast their nets on the right side and they brought forth the second miraculous draught of fishes. And when they come to shore they saw the Lord had lit a fire and fish were broiling thereon. The Lord then invited the disciples to come and dine with Him. Therefore, we must see that the body which our Lord possessed after His resurrection was that He could eat and did eat food in a normal manner.

18/  But on the other hand, we can see that there are differences between the resurrection body of Jesus Christ and our present bodies.  And this can be seen in several statements in the New Testament. First of all, when the angles rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb in which the Body of Christ had been laid, they did not do it in order to let Christ out, but in order to let the disciples in. The Lord had arisen, and not bound by physical laws which govern our bodies. He had passed through material things to appear in a recognizable form. His Body had been wrapped around with the linen of the burial with expensive spices between the layers of the cloth. But when he arose He passed through the bodily wrapping, leaving them in the shape of His body but empty of that body. After passing through the linen clothes and the walls of the tomb, the Lord Jesus Christ passed through the walls into the upper room where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews.  

John 20: 19 The same day at evening, being the first day of the week when the doors where shut, and Jesus stood in the midst.

19/  Another difference between the Lord’s resurrection body and our present bodies can be seen from a comparison in two verses in the New Testament. In the great resurrection chapter, Paul says in I Corinthians 15: 49 As we have born the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. 

In death the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ was removed from His body. When He rose from the dead He said to the skeptical disciples: Handle Me and see, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones that ye see that I have.  

Luke 24: 39  Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

How amazingly wonderful the way everything fits into every other verse, so that there is no possible contradiction in the revelation which God has given to us concerning His Son.

20/  Another difference between our Lord’s resurrection body and our present body is that his body was not subject to disintegration and decay as is ours.

21/  The final difference between our Lord’s resurrection body and our present body, is that He was able to move without restraint of gravity and to travel with the speed of thought.  

John 20: 17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

At the first morning of His resurrection He met Mary and said to her: Touch me not, for I’m not yet ascended to my Father. Later the same evening He appeared to the disciples and said, handle me.  

Luke 24: 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

The inference is inescapable. Between the time when He told Mary not to touch Him and told the disciples to touch Him, He had been to heaven and returned.

We know in Acts 1: 10, 11 that He was caught up right out of the sight of the disciples. 

 

And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

So we know at the adoption we will have a resurrection body like unto His body, that can be seen, heard, touched and which are able to partake of food, bodies that are flesh and bone. They are bodies that can pass through material objects, and are capable of traveling with the speed of thought.

22/  I Corinthians 15: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

Paul tells us that the body is sown in weakness but is raised in power. The body is buried in weakness, but it is raised in power. There is no argument possible about the weakness of the dead body: even though it was the body of a great athlete, it could no more run or wrestle or box or play ball. But the resurrection shall be in power. Even though it was a body of a hopeless cripple, it will be a body that can do all things that anyone else can do. It will be like the body of the eternal Son of God.

AMEN

Ref: 08/20/1961 / 312 - WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO CALL GOD FATHER? / 06/25/2020