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Would You Let Your Child Drive Your Car?
The obvious answer to the above question is NO!! In fact, you may even think that is a dumb question. My follow up question is: “Why not?” Now you’re really thinking I’m a few fries short of a happy meal. You reply, “Because they are not old enough!” The reality is, a child is not mature enough to be trusted with the responsibility and power of an automobile, they still act like children.
In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul addressed the people as infants. They were living a lifestyle of immaturity and could not receive the deeper things of the Spirit. Most of life was focused on persona carnal desires, thus limiting the demonstration of the characteristic of Jesus and his kingdom.
John tells us that we begin our walk as a child: “as many as receive him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” (Jn 1:12 KJV) The word “sons” is the greek teknon and means a child, emphasizing the fact of birth: A more accurate translation would be “child.” What John is telling us, that by our new birth experience we are born as a child into the household of God.
Being a child of God is similar to the normal, natural childhood experienced by most people. A child is not expected to be mature and is dependent upon their parents to protect and provide for them. As a child of God we can expect his provision, blessing, protection and guidance. It is also ok to make the “childish” mistakes that are common to gaining experience and spiritual wisdom.
The problem arises when we do not “grow up” in the Spirit. We can be like the Corinthian church, immature - needing simple milk; not progressing to deeper things of the Spirit. This level of immaturity renders us ineffective in the kingdom.
On the other hand, Paul describes the means and destination of spiritual maturity in Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” The greek translated here as sons is huios – signifies the relation of offspring to parent; shows maturity and the demonstration of similar characteristics or nature of the parent. So a son is a child who has matured to the place they are acting like their parentage.
A great example is Jesus himself as the Son of God: he is always the huios of God, never the teknon. Why? He was revealing to mankind the image and nature of God (Jn 1:18, 17:6, Col 1:15, Heb 1:3). We can know what God is like, because Jesus’ nature and actions demonstrated Him.
Now about us: if we are led of the Spirit, we will mature from a child (teknon) to a son (huios) of God. This maturity will be evidenced by our changed nature and characteristics. We will move beyond the basics of living for God and move into a realm of manifesting the power and glory of our King and his kingdom. It is at this level of maturity that we will be entrusted to transact business in the kingdom! In short, people while be able to know what God is like because we are demonstrating Him!
Food for thought –
What is my spiritual age?
In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul addressed the people as infants. They were living a lifestyle of immaturity and could not receive the deeper things of the Spirit. Most of life was focused on persona carnal desires, thus limiting the demonstration of the characteristic of Jesus and his kingdom.
John tells us that we begin our walk as a child: “as many as receive him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” (Jn 1:12 KJV) The word “sons” is the greek teknon and means a child, emphasizing the fact of birth: A more accurate translation would be “child.” What John is telling us, that by our new birth experience we are born as a child into the household of God.
Being a child of God is similar to the normal, natural childhood experienced by most people. A child is not expected to be mature and is dependent upon their parents to protect and provide for them. As a child of God we can expect his provision, blessing, protection and guidance. It is also ok to make the “childish” mistakes that are common to gaining experience and spiritual wisdom.
The problem arises when we do not “grow up” in the Spirit. We can be like the Corinthian church, immature - needing simple milk; not progressing to deeper things of the Spirit. This level of immaturity renders us ineffective in the kingdom.
On the other hand, Paul describes the means and destination of spiritual maturity in Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” The greek translated here as sons is huios – signifies the relation of offspring to parent; shows maturity and the demonstration of similar characteristics or nature of the parent. So a son is a child who has matured to the place they are acting like their parentage.
A great example is Jesus himself as the Son of God: he is always the huios of God, never the teknon. Why? He was revealing to mankind the image and nature of God (Jn 1:18, 17:6, Col 1:15, Heb 1:3). We can know what God is like, because Jesus’ nature and actions demonstrated Him.
Now about us: if we are led of the Spirit, we will mature from a child (teknon) to a son (huios) of God. This maturity will be evidenced by our changed nature and characteristics. We will move beyond the basics of living for God and move into a realm of manifesting the power and glory of our King and his kingdom. It is at this level of maturity that we will be entrusted to transact business in the kingdom! In short, people while be able to know what God is like because we are demonstrating Him!
Food for thought –
What is my spiritual age?
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