The Manifestation of the Sons of God
What is the Word of God really all about? Have we ever thought about the Scriptures this way? We should – because then, maybe, many of our un-answered questions could be answered.
Many would say, “It’s about God, of course!” Or, “it’s about Yeshua!” Or, “it’s about the Kingdom” (you’re getting warmer!)
But what is God doing? What did Yeshua come and die for? What is the purpose of the coming Kingdom? The Prophets all wrote of it, David knew of it, and it seems that the majority of “believers” today don’t really understand.
Sorry, I don’t mean to pick on anybody. I was grouped with the above “believers” not all that long ago. And I still have very much to learn.
But this I do know: The Word of God is about 1) the manifestation of the power of the presence of God (Yeshua / grace) among us, and, 2) the Manifestation of the Sons of God to come.
It was for these two reasons that Yeshua came among us.
How do I know this? Let’s take a look…..
The Romans 8 Mind Twister
“For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing (manifestation) of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Romans 8:19-22
Why does the creation have an earnest expectation and so eagerly awaits the manifestation of the Sons of God? Because God made His creation very good. And men, under the dominion of the Adversary, have done very bad things to the creation and now it is not so very good. Also, the very order of creation is in chaos with inventors of evil things digging and delving and subjecting the creation to all orders of creation-rape.
In short, the Manifest Sons of God will be coming to restore order to the creation (1 Cor. 15).
If you understand the Old Testament revelations of the coming manifestation of the sons of God (there are many), then you will understand Romans 8. Buried deep in the horribly mis-translated semantics of the English butchery of Paul’s words are the answers, direct from Scripture (aka the Old Testament as some of you may know) about all of the above questions. Peter knew this, and said so.
But unfortunately, many people today don’t associate “I am the Way” with the “manifestation of the sons of God”. We instead see it as the “way” to save our own skins – because we’ve been indoctrinated that way. I’m telling you now that if you pray for understanding and then connect these two dots in the Old Testament Scriptures then you will have completely new bibles as well as answers to most of your questions about the Word. But you’ll have to dig for it after the manner of Proverbs 2:1-9.
I’ll be with you on this search, but I don’t want to hold your hand. The desire needs to come from you, and I have no desire to substitute my search for your own desire. That would be robbing you of an invaluable experience.
So let’s begin…
Who are the manifested Sons of God that I’ve mentioned above?
- They are the Saints
- They are those of the ecclesia who have been approved: “Therefore, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord” 2 Cor. 6:17-18, And, : “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Romans 12:1 - They will be made like Yeshua: “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2, and, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12:2-3
- They are faithful unto death Rev. 2:10
- They will have a new name Rev. 2:17
- They are “he who overcomes” Rev. 3:5,12
- They have kept His command to persevere, Rev. 3:10
- They will overcome the enemy: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Rev. 12:11
- They come to destroy those who destroy the works of YHWH’s hands: “The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,
And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great,
And should destroy those who destroy the earth.” 11:18, Psalm 149
So, what do they do?
Oh man – this is where it gets really interesting!
- They will overcome and execute judgment on the current kings and rulers of the Earth – Psalm 149
- They will say to this mountain, move over there!
- They will be given authority over cities
- They will fly like eagles and birds: “He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31, and, “So the Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Like birds flying about, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; Passing over, He will preserve ” Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.”
- They will subdue the Earth and prepare it for presentation to the Father – 1 Cor. 15
Think about it. Will the King, Yeshua, allow the current pollution of the Earth to continue? How will He prepare the Earth to be presented to He who gave Him authority? Will He allow industrialization to continue when it is destroying the works of His Father’s hands? (Rev. 11:18) Will He allow the current political/economic structures to continue? (Psalm 2, Psalm 149) Will we still have cars, planes, trains, TVs, computers, appliances, or any infrastructure? Or military, guns, rockets, aircraft carriers, jets…? The list goes on. Why won’t we have these things? Because the love of manna is the root of all manners of evil, and, we won’t need them. “Stand in the ways and see, and look for the old paths, where the good Way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Now, what are the characteristics of the Sons (and Daughters) of God?
- God requires obedient sons and daughters
- If you do not have His spirit and the spirit of Yeshua then you are not His. Romans 8:9
- They have overcome self
- They will need to meet a spiritual standard
And another thing about the manifested sons and daughters of God: The Adversary is terrified of their appearing. Why? Because they defeat him with:
- The blood of the Lamb
- The word of their testimony
- And that they love not their own lives unto death
So naturally, the Adversary, who rules all the kingdoms of the world, has been working diligently for the last two millennia (and before – Balaam, Esther, etc) to prevent or diminish the manifestation of the Sons of God. He believes utterly that man can be bought, and that our selfishness is the key to his victory. Sadly, his strategy is working pretty well these days. The world system has made it nearly impossible in the “civilized world” to live a life that “With clothes to put on and food to eat we shall be content.”
“Woe to those who join house to house; They add field to field, Till there is no place where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!”
And the adversary has brought his world (he is the god of this world, all of the kingdoms are his, and his throne is on this world) to the point that we are ready to accept everything that he tempts us with. I could make a list, but it would be a very long list, of his things that we have accepted as part of our everyday lives. But now we are at the point where we are willing to accept something from him that is much more terrible. And this thing, I believe, is to be transformed into his image through a process called trans-humanism. It is what the system of politics and computers and Hollywood and self and talks of overpopulation and global warming and violence has been leading us to. We can be like the gods.
He began with pantheism. After that it was a short step to science and humanism and psychology. With these tools he destroyed the God-established family structure to where the man was no longer the “master of the house.” At the same time the industrial age brought us all the “stuff” that made us less dependent on the righteous man of the house and (supposedly) less dependent upon God, and got the women, our help-meets, out of the house and into the workforce, and, more importantly, out from under the protection of their husbands. He also legislated to remove God from the schools and from the everyday minds of billions of people (over time). At the same time, he cultivated us with media and politics and economics and fear.
Now, we don’t rely on God (admit it – we really don’t – we rely on our paychecks and our stuff) and so we don’t fear God. Now think about this: Who were those people throughout the Word that God used to accomplish His works on the Earth? It was those who feared Him:
“Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.” Psalm 34:9
With Christians, the Enemy introduced doctrines that took away the fear of the wrath of God. The “sinner’s prayer,” musical “worship,” feel-good Christianity, Billy Graham and Chuck Smith, “love ya’ brother” fellowship and evangelism, have all been tools of the Enemy to turn men and women who feared God (and who so dug for His Truth and prayed diligently and fasted and laid down their selfish ways for others) into a bunch of self-serving, blubbering troglodytes. It’s what happened to Israel, and, true to Ecclesiastes, it has been repeated with Christianity.
Is that hard and unloving for me to say that? I counter, “Is it true?” Remember folks, Love is Truth. They are both the same Spirit, His Spirit, agape’. If I wanted you to “be my friend,” I would not tell you the Truth. My desire to “add to my number” would be more important. Yeshua knew this, and so He was seemingly insensitive and even seemingly cruel with His words at times. But it was Love and Truth in operation. He wasn’t out to make worldly friends or to have the faint of heart as His followers and disciples. He was looking for obedient sons and daughters who would overcome and persevere and die for His Father. His focus was completely on the Kingdom that would be composed of the Manifested Sons and Daughters of God.
The Jews of the time that Yeshua walked the Earth knew this after a manner. Do you remember “Shall we call down fire on them Lord?” They knew that Ha Messiach would give power to His saints from what they had learned in the Scriptures. But some knew it and understood it better than others. These are the ones of whom Yeshua would say had faith. The blind beggar, the woman with the issue of blood, the gentile woman who would eat the scraps from the Master’s table, the tax collector, the one thief on the cross; they believed the Scriptures and what the Word had to say about Him. But most others wanted the power from God for selfish motives. They wanted to overthrow the Romans and to have power over the gentiles and elevate themselves without having the understanding that is necessary to wield such powers that would come from Him. So Yeshua had to show them the Way: Death to self. “First, deny yourself.” “Forsake all.” “Lay down your life for your friends.” Most of them, and most of us today, want to “skip the first step” of denying ourselves.
But the truth is, we can’t deny ourselves without first having our understanding opened by the Spirit of Truth. And we can’t be transformed by the renewing of our minds without first denying ourselves. And we can’t have the mind of ha Messiach unless we first have been transformed by the renewing of our minds. And we can’t walk in true obedience unless we first have the mind that is in ha Messiach Yeshua.
Ok, I’ll repeat that by listing it out. It’s that important:
- Have our understanding opened
- Deny ourselves
- Be transformed by the renewing of our minds
- Have the mind that is in Yeshua ha Messiach
- Have His Spirit and walk in obedience
- Yeshua ha Messiach will manifest Himself in us
Woah…wait a minute. Yeshua will manifest Himself in us? Yes. This is the true grace.
John 14:21; 2 Cor. 4:10,11; 1 John 3:8;
I’m not making this up and I’m not lying to you. It’s all very thoroughly laid out in the Word. We don’t just “become” Saints. Especially if we skip the first steps and then do not run according to the rules. “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”
Ok. I’ve laid a lot on you. Let’s take a breather and look at some Scriptures that can determine whether what I’ve written is true, or not.
“Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” Psalm 50:5
(Remember that the “confess” in “confess ha Messiach Yeshua” means to make a covenant with!)
“The dead bodies of Your servants they have given as food for the birds of the heavens, The flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.” And, “Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints.” Psalms 79:2 and 116:15
“Let the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds.
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand, To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on the peoples; To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute on them the written judgment —
This honor have all His saints.” Psalm 149:5-9
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Matt. 5:9
“But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. Luke 20:35-37
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:14
And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, “You are not My people,” there they shall be called sons of the Living God. Romans 9:26
For you are all sons of God through (the faith, the Way, the covenant) in Yeshua ha Messiach. Gal. 3:26
Now Folks, think about this, pray about this, search about this: To whom do you think that YHWH will give such enormous responsibilities? To just anyone? Or to those who have learned obedience, and mercy, by the things that they have suffered?
Perhaps, do you think, that He will bestow these responsibilities, and honor, on those with the spirit of righteousness? And who have learned to forsake the world and walk according to this spirit? And who have the mind of ha Messiach?
I find something quite interesting in the Scriptures. The first 4 times that the bene Elohim, the sons of God, are mentioned in the Scriptures, it is with a negative connotation. The first two times, in Gen. 6:2 and 6:4, the sons of God are being clearly disobedient when they took women as wives because the daughters of men were beautiful. Selfish motives at work, here. Then in Job, twice, in Job 1:6 and 2:1, the sons of God appear before the Lord, and both times Satan was “among them.” The text doesn’t say if the sons of God had anything good to say about anything. It’s only written that on both occasions Satan (in this case Hassatan) is declaring war on a righteous man of God. And it’s also very interesting that in that company, the Lord spoke to Hassatan and not to the sons of God.
And remember, the first recorded son of God that God created on the Earth was separated from his God-given dominion over the Earth and was escorted out of the Garden because he was disobedient.
The point I wish to make is this: Dis-obedient sons of God reeked much havoc in the world of old. And the Word makes it very clear that He wants obedient sons and daughters to be His agents in the Kingdom when it comes to the Earth. Obedient to the death.
The sons and daughters of God must be qualified: “…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” Col. 1:12
They must have the Spirit of Yeshua ha Messiach: “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of ha Messiach, he is not His.” Romans 8:9
They must be led by the Spirit of God: Romans 8:14
“If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”
I could keep going, but there is actually a list of qualifications given to us by Yeshua:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
One thing that is clear from all of this is that we must manifest Yeshua ha Messiach if we are to be found worthy of being a son or daughter of God.
Speaking for myself, I have a lot more dying to do.
Next chapter:
So Friends, what exactly is righteousness?
Righteousness is not defined by what or how well we do for ourselves.
Righteousness is determined by what and how well we do unto others by laying down our own lives.
For, “Agape covers a multitude of sins.”
Let’s all examine this righteousness in the next section, shall we?