“son of”

I spent the morning looking at pedigrees of some of the best quarter horse studs for the past 80 years. Their offspring produced millions of dollars in earnings. Of course not all their foals went on to be million dollar producers. Just because a foal has a blood line with the likes of ‘Doc O’Lena, Doc Bar, Peppy San, High Brow Cat, Dual Rey, Poco Lena, Sun Frost, or Dash for Cash’ is no guarantee of success.

The pious Jews of Jesus day had the misconception that because they could trace their physical lineage back to Abraham, they were somehow special (John 8:33). They believed because of this lineage they were guaranteed a place with the Father. Jesus says no. Physical lineage was not sufficient for salvation. Jesus point (John 8:39) is that ‘if you were Abraham’s children, and you are not, you would be doing and acting like Abraham.’ In other words you would be imitating Abraham’s faith and obedience. The unbelieving, yet religious Jews were living in opposition to the righteous living of Abraham. Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I preceded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come of Myself, but He sent Me” (John 8:42). The unbelief of the Jews demonstrated that God was not their Father spiritually. Instead Jesus says three times (John 8:38, 41, 44) that the unbelieving Jews have as their father, Satan because they were doing the works of Satan. They were hostile toward Jesus and failed to believe in him as their Messiah.

Likewise, just because we may come from a family who went to church, or because we are moral, or conservative in our beliefs, bow our heads when someone prays is not the criteria verifying that we are a child of God. The criterion is do you love his Son, Jesus as your savior and are you seeking to demonstrate His nature in your daily life (I John 1:4-11; 5:1). This is genuine faith. Who are you the ‘SON OF’: Satan or God?