PASTOR DR. KOLE AKINBOBOYE
RAISING SONS UNTO PERFECTION
[biblegateway passage=”Genesis 1:26-28″ display=”Genesis 1:26-28″]
When we talk about raising sons unto perfection, it is imperative to look at God’s template and pattern from the beginning. Adam was the initial pattern from the beginning.
In view of this pattern (Adam) from the beginning, raising sons unto perfection has to be first raising people to be in the image and likeness of God. Children, particularly sons like to look like their Father. What makes us look like God is because the Spirit of God that God put into us, not a physical resemblance.
Another thing in raising sons unto perfection is that God also intends to put back into men the desire to fellowship with Him. As we mature into sonship, we will also need to mature in our fellowship with God.
The third aspect is fruitfulness. The creative ability we see in man was put in by God. As we mature in sonship, we will also grow in fruitfulness in all aspects of our lives (Financially, Spiritually and all).
The fourth aspect is dominion. In the beginning, God gave Adam the capacity for dominion. And God intends to restore men into this capacity. Sons need to be able to wield the dominion power of God once again.
In bringing men to son ship, God also intends to restore them back to Glory. If the Old Testament glory could have made Moses face shine, how much more the New Testament.
Although, the unregenerated man still carries a measure of the Glory of God, because when man sinned he fell short of the Glory of God. But, there is a glory that Jesus the perfect pattern bore that sons would need to bear.
Between the fall of Man and the coming of Jesus, God put a kind of stop gap and pattern in place raising Priests, Prophets, Kings and Deliverers to model sonship on earth.
[biblegateway passage=”1 Kings 17:1″ display=”1 Kings 17:1″]
PROPHETS
In the Old Testament, God began to raise patterns for the son. He began with the Prophets. Elijah commanded authority and dominion which was a pattern of the son. He enforced the will of God in earth.
[biblegateway passage=”1 Samuel 2:35″ display=”1 Samuel 2:35″]
PRIESTS
Samuel was another pattern of the son. He was peculiarly a pattern of priesthood that was to come.
[biblegateway passage=”Psalm 89:20-21″ display=”Psalm 89:20-21″]
KINGS
David is another pattern of the son. David was the only king anointed three times in the Bible and he walked in five covenants. He walked with the anointing of God and never lost any battle. The same was seen in the Son (Jesus).
[biblegateway passage=”Judges 13:3-6″ display=”Judges 13:3-6″]
DELIVERER
Samson was another pattern. As a deliverer to the people of Israel, he was like a pattern of the Son of God. Samson was anointed to deliver the people of God.
[biblegateway passage=”Hebrews 1:1-3″ display=”Hebrews 1:1-3″]
The Priests, Prophets, Kings and Deliverers in the Old were simply patterns of the the ultimate pattern Son (Jesus).
[biblegateway passage=”Hebrews 5:5-7″ display=”Hebrews 5:5-7″]
Death and sin could not hold onto Jesus. Although, He could have died Spiritually after the sins of man were inputted in Him, but he did not die (Spiritually) because he prayed to God who saved Him from death. If we are going to grow onto sonship we must learn to pray in tears and strong crying unto Him that can save us from death. There are prayers we would pray that would save us from corruption and death.
We should be able to take some moments to do a sin inventory in our lives with the help of God to remind us of our sins. And God would begin to help us because He is the one who can see a black ant on a black road in a black night.
God is not raising a generation of Christians who excuse sins. We cannot afford to gloss over sin under the umbrella of grace and claim to be going unto perfection. We cannot play on the fringes of sin and end up in perfection.
Another part of the training for sonship is suffering. God uses suffering to do a quality control check and tests to see how we handle issues like the opposite sex, success, fame, failure, etc. God is preparing us for the challenges of tomorrow.
When we are founded on the word of God, no matter what, we will stand. The church today is just about teaching positive confession, motivational talks, management principles, human philosophies, etc. and not the true word of God that we can stand on.
Revelation 17:14
“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”
The Army of Gideon was reduced to 300 removing those that were scared and those who so much loved the water and dipped their head to drink water. God is going to be checking us out to see how we react to things.
In our present age, social media and other distractions are enemies of our time with God. Try to take an inventory of your time on social media platforms and see how much you are defrauding yourself.
[biblegateway passage=”1 Corinthians 9:24-27″ display=”1 Corinthians 9:24-27″]
1 Corinthians 9:24
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”
There are four things that we should pay attention to in [biblegateway passage=”1 Corinthians 9:24-27″ display=”1 Corinthians 9:24-27″]
1. The word “run” means to advance and to make progress. The Christian race is not a short dash, rather it is a long distance race which needs to be run with patience [biblegateway passage=”Hebrews 12:2″ display=”Hebrews 12:2″].
2. There is a prize for the race. Some people would be saved without works to show for it but we need to be able to have good works to show. [biblegateway passage=”1 Corinthians 3:15″ display=”1 Corinthians 3:15″] “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
3. The word “obtain” means to seize by force.
4. The word “strive” used in [biblegateway passage=”1 Corinthians 9:25″ display=”1 Corinthians 9:25″] means to contend like in a warfare or contest.
[biblegateway passage=”Romans 8:18-22″ display=”Romans 8:18-22″]
There are five steps to consider as we mature into sonship [biblegateway passage=”Romans 8:28-30″ display=”Romans 8:28-30″]
1. Foreknowledge: There is a book that God has written about everyone and each person needs to have access to and understanding of what is written in his book. God knew us even before the foundation of the earth.
2. Predestination: Predestination is programming. God has programmed us to be conformed to the image of His Son but we can still choose to jump out of the programme or stay put in it.
3. Call: To be called is to get a glimpse of our book and begin to come to terms with the things written in it.
4. Justification: To be justified is be declared free of all accusations of the Enemy. [biblegateway passage=”Romans 5:1″ display=”Romans 5:1″].
5. Glorification: This is about entering into the fullness of God’s plan for our lives. This is the destination of sonship. Glorification is the end of perfection.