The following essay was written by my pastor recently in response to certain social and cultural issues that need to be addressed now by the ministry as we prepare for the future.
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| Bishop E. S. Harper, D.D. |
The Manifestation of
the Sons of God
Edwin S. Harper, D.D.
March 14, 2012
Considering the tremendous spiritual and moral swing that we
have witnessed in the past two decades, it is altogether probable that in the
near future we preachers in the United States of America are going to be faced
with the threat of being charged with a hate crime if we identify and preach
against the prevalent sins of this modern era.
As this possibility already exists in Canada, and in light of these
looming developments here in the United States, it is imperative that we decide
now how we are going to conduct ourselves in the pulpit, and what practices we will
embrace to stay faithful to our scriptural convictions and our divine mandate
to reach and evangelize our nation and the world. Pondering this dilemma, it is
beneficial that we remember the decisions God made for us long before this
world had the privilege of meeting the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When the Church in the
Wilderness was journeying through the desert places after leaving the land of
Egypt on their way to the Promise Land of Abraham, Moses encountered God on
Mount Sinai and received explicit commandments concerning civic and religious
lifestyle choices, and theological principles that were never to be abandoned
until the Fulfiller of the Law would come.
When Jesus Christ came, his righteousness exceeded that of the Law, the
scribes, and Pharisees. In turn, a revelatory statement was made by the Apostle
John: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because
it knew him not” (1 John 3:1).
Entering the ranks of
this exclusive community we find passages in Scripture giving record of their
existence and activity. Genesis sees
them as exceptional sires whose gene pool, when mixed with the daughters of men,
produced giants in the land (Genesis 6:1-4).
Revealing their humanity, which was uncontaminated by the dwarfing
limitations of the sin of Adam. These sons
of God were not angels, as some have thought, for we are informed that “when
they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage;
but are as the angels which are in heaven,” suggesting that after the
resurrection humanity will no longer need to procreate, which is the purpose of
marriage, and will be as the angels, who are immortal and do not procreate
(Mark 12:25). Further elaboration is
given to these unique individuals in Job 1:6, “Now there was a day when the
sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also
among them.” One of the participants, Job,
was declared by God to be “a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God,
and escheweth evil” (Job 1:8; 2:3). It
is apparent that Job, a son of God, loved God and was seemingly without sin.
Paul gives insight to this group in Romans 5:12-14, “Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the
world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to
Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”
There is a suggestion here of a community who “had not
sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression,” but where could they have
come from? An answer may be found in the
question posed to Job by Eliphaz (Job 15:7), “Art thou the first man that was
born?” Is it possible that Job, along with the other sons of God, was born in
the Garden of Eden before Adam’s transgression? Job later states, “If I covered
my transgressions as Adam,” which could indicate that he knew Adam (Job 31:33).
The questions of creation posed to Job in his dilemma were
reminders that he knew more about righteousness, God, and the purity in
creation, which warranted him a fortunate soul to have escaped the
contamination of the fall. His friends,
and Satan, attacked him at his lowest level of human emotion trying to persuade
him in the company of his wife to curse God or at least confess to a
nonexistent error for self justification of his suffering, but in all this he
did not sin. Regardless of his sinless
nature, Paul correctly pointed out that death would reign even over those who
had not sinned.
What the Sons of God around Job knew was that they were the
children born to Adam and Eve who were commanded to multiply and replenish the
earth on the sixth day of creation. If
you hold to the teaching of Pater “that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8), then it’s conceivable
that Adam and Eve lived in that Garden perhaps as much as two thousand years
before the Fall, since God rested on the Sabbath. If Job was indeed the first born son of Adam
and Eve, there were thousands of years of childbearing without suffering before
the Fall. The antediluvian book of Job,
carved in stone and engraved in lead, survived the flood to introduce us to a
better understanding of the sons of God” (Job 19:23-24).
The sons of God were born without sin.
A person, born in sin and shaped in iniquity, who comes to a
consciousness of their sin and desires to come to Jesus Christ, as did the 3,000
on the Day of Pentecost, who asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do,” must
obey Peter’s ultimate invitation to salvation: “Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:37-38). This begins a journey to a sinless state
allowing the convert to enter the community of the sons of God.
Being born again is not the end result of our Christian
character but indeed the beginning. The
scriptural reference is “through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience” (I Peter 1:2), and embracing Titus
2:11-13 we understand “the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ.” Thus, the discipline of Grace
results in sanctification.
It is the process to deliver us to that ultimate goal of being
saved: “But he that shall endure unto the
end, the same shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).
Paul’s statement, “For by grace are ye saved through faith,” denotes an
ongoing process of the future tense (Ephesians 2:8).
Jesus, in his discussion about the end results of salvation,
said, “The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they
which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from
the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any
more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being
the children of the resurrection” (Luke 20:34-36). This shares with us the fact that the final
description of the sons of God, or children of God, is that they are “the
children of the resurrection.”
Quite accurately we have been born again, adopted,
justified, and are now on a journey to live and demonstrate to the world by
modeling Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). Sanctification is a day-by-day separation
from the world and isn’t just an issue of dress and cosmetology, but involves every
aspect of our existence. John powerfully
insisted: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Bible readers know that if the world is loved
then God is absent from their life. Therefore,
attitude becomes a measuring stick for where a man’s treasure is there will his
heart be also (Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34).
The flesh, the eye, and one’s pride must bow to the principles of this
holy adventure of Christianity.
John 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto me.” The trip stone of great revival and mass conversions is
our understanding the role of Ambassadorship for King Jesus in this life. It may not be defined in a single verse but
is exampled throughout Scripture.
Apparently, Jesus knew that times of political chaos would threaten our
participation in bringing converts to him.
So, beginning in the Law of Moses, our schoolmaster, it was stated that you
were forbidden to call the name of another god” (Exodus 23:13).
Michael the archangel avoided the risk of frustrating God when
he refused to bring a railing accusation against Lucifer on top of Nebo when he
disputed with him over the body of Moses, which teaches us that we are a
spectacle before men and angels, insomuch that the true worshippers are a model,
not only for men but also angels, and again that the church will judge not only
the world but also the angels as to their conformity to the example of the
church as we model His Word.
Here is an insightful
scripture: “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for
us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: (22)
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: (23)
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he
threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:” (1
Peter 2:21-23).
This was the Son of God sent to the world, not “to condemn
the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17).
The Pharisees went out of their way to catch a woman in the
very act of adultery, and in plying the Law of Moses in argument they asked Jesus,
“What say ye?” He said, “Let him that is without sin cast the first stone”
(See: John 8:3-11).
In Stephen’s closing moments of consciousness before dying
he cries out on behalf of his persecutors, “Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge” (Acts 7:60).
A key example is Paul’s response to the Athenians and
Ephesians. In Athens, he passed by the vast display of altars and idols in the
valley and standing on Mars Hill in front of the Acropolis within 100 yards of a
house where prostitutes lived and were hired by men to go into the Acropolis
and worship the gods of the Greeks and Romans in various sex acts did not
mention the lewd surrounding, but with all the vigor of Godly revelation he
addressed their superstitions:
“For as I passed by, and beheld
your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. (24)
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord
of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; (25)
Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing,
seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; (26)
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the
face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation; (27) That they should seek the Lord, if haply they
might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of
us: (28)
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of
your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (29)
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think
that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and
man's device. (30) And the times of this ignorance God winked
at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (31)
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in
righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given
assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (32) And
when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said,
We will hear thee again of this matter.
(33) So Paul departed from among
them. (34) Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and
believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named
Damaris, and others with them” (Acts 17:23-34).
In Ephesus, concerning the worship of Diana, the magistrate
underlines this non accusing Christian principle with the observation in Acts
19:37, “For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of
churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.”
With divine wisdom, Paul doesn’t touch the subjects of error
but makes sure that the deity of Jesus Christ is exalted by teaching truth and
yielding to the demonstration of the gifts of the Spirit. The result is that
all of Asia will hear the Gospel in a space of three years.
Four prevalent factors can be observed in the history of
God’s plan:
1.
Exaltation of God, the Lord Jesus Christ
2.
Principles of a separated lifestyle
3.
Genuine love for fellow man
4.
Demonstration of the Spirit
These factors of the Word of God, when applied to the
believer’s life produce results for us, which can best be summed up in the
words of Jesus, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask
what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).
Peter preaching at Solomon’s Porch in Acts 3:20-21 said, “And
he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times
of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began.” What
things?
When the Church, the body of Christ in the world,
exemplifies in practice and lifestyle the Jesus that the world met in his 33 ½
years of humanity, all of creation will, regardless of the laws of the land,
meet the irresistible Jesus Christ in the full measure of the manifestation of
the sons of God.
Paul wrote of this anticipated manifestation:
“For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall
be revealed in us. (19) For the earnest expectation of the creature
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (20)
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by
reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (21)
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (22)
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together until now. (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” (Romans 8:18-23).
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God...” (1 John 3:2).
In 1865, the United States Government instituted the Secret
Service to suppress counterfeit money and to catch counterfeiters. Their training consisted of exclusively
looking at and studying authentic printed U. S. Currency only. It has been proven that looking at and
knowing what the real thing looks, feels, and smells like prepares a Secret
Service agent to immediately identify the phony because they know exactly what
the real thing is.
Jesus Christ presented the positive and left the negative to
the mouth of the Pharisees. The Jesus way was emphasized when he complimented
the one we refer to as the Rich Young Ruler by telling him you have everything
right except the one thing you lack (Mark 10:17-22). Another time, He said to one, “Thou art not
far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34).
To the woman at the well he did not tell her she was wrong but he did
introduce her to the right through the Jewish man that deserved to be addressed
as, “Sir,” because he was a prophet that revealed to her the Messiah that
became her Savior. He was not only her
Savior but the Savior of Samaria, which was later evangelized through the ministry
of Phillip.
What do we do when we realize that it is in the best
interest of revival and the welfare of the ministry to present the positive to
a lost world without mentioning the negative?
Will we preach about the health benefits, the mental comfort, the
advantages of a strong and healthy family, the rightness of righteousness, the
wholeness of holiness, the sanity of salvation, the completeness of clean
living, or the perfection of love? When we demonstrate the positive attributes
of godly living we make real what United States Supreme Court Justice Louis
Dembitz Brandeis believed, that the public is intelligent enough to identify
and delineate between what is right, or true, and what is wrong, or false, if
the right is talked about enough.
Even the “Golden Rule” is presented from a positive posture:
“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke
6:31).
Do we abandon Holiness teaching? Not at all!
As ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we have to be smart enough to
know when we are preaching to a lost world and when we are teaching the
converts of Jesus Christ how to live the sanctified life that is one of the
foundation blocks of the manifestation of the sons of God. There is a difference in reaching the world
and training the Church. The Word of God
gave us five books to evangelize the lost with and twenty-two books to disciple
the Church of the Living God: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the Catalogue
of everything we can have if we become a Christian; Romans through Jude are the
Owner’s Manual; Revelation is the Guarantee; and, Acts is the Order Blank.
In conclusion, the changing political and social environment
in North America demands the manifestation of the sons of God: “Behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (2)
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we
shall see him as he is. (3) And every man that hath this hope in him
purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).
It is time we made ourselves known.
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