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<strong>Sons</strong> <strong>To</strong> <strong>Glory</strong><br />
manifests in the flesh in terms of <strong>Sons</strong>hip. 1 John 4:2-3 says that it is<br />
the spirit of antichrist to deny that Christ “is come” in the flesh. This<br />
Greek term “is come” is in the future tense and could easily be<br />
translated: “is coming” because Christ is coming today IN us. CHRIST<br />
IN US is the hope of glory and the secret mystery hidden from all ages,<br />
but now revealed to those of us who know Him. We are inheritors of<br />
His divine life and nature, not in His Deity, but rather in His character<br />
and love nature. <strong>Sons</strong>hip is about maturity, and maturity is being like<br />
God in our character no matter what the circumstances may be in our<br />
lives. John 1:12 clearly tells us that it is our “right” to be sons of God.<br />
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power (some<br />
translations say “the right”) to become the sons of God.” (KJV) But to<br />
become sons we must MATURE. <strong>To</strong> help God’s people get a vision<br />
towards maturity is one of the main purposes for this writing.<br />
Paul wrote, “We who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan within<br />
ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption (<strong>Sons</strong>hip), the redemption<br />
of our body.” (Rom. 8:23) Here, Paul links the placing of the mature<br />
sons of God with the resurrection of our bodies. In another Scripture<br />
(Philippians 3:10-12), Paul links the maturity of the saints or “being<br />
perfected” with the resurrection, where he rejoices in the sufferings of<br />
Christ that he may “attain to the resurrection from the dead.” So, the<br />
“revealing of the sons of God (the maturity of the saints),” which is still<br />
in the future, is intimately connected with bodily resurrection, and it is<br />
a completely different event from salvation. We will now see that<br />
laboring and sorrow is required before this “revealing” of God’s<br />
character and glory will take place. But like Paul we should, “consider<br />
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared<br />
with the glory which shall be (future tense) revealed IN us” (Rom.<br />
8:18). Christ in us is our ONLY hope of glory! (Col. 1:27)<br />
Marvin Byers writes:<br />
Laboring & Giving Birth<br />
“The Father’s desire is not merely to produce babes in Christ; He is<br />
also looking for mature sons who will bring His glory to a needy<br />
world. The life of Christ is formed in us through “travail,” and<br />
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