30 Days of Truth
Day 30 – Servant, Friend or Son?
John 15:15 KJV
[15] Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Galatians 4:4-7 KJV
[4] But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, [5] To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. [6] And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. [7] Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
In John 15:15, Jesus is addressing His disciples. He says that He will no longer call them “servants”, but instead He will call them “friends”.
It sounds good, doesn’t it?
Jesus, the Son of God is considering these men to be His friends!
This may be the source of “Christianese” phrases like “I am a friend of God” or “Jesus is my best friend”.
It might surprise you to learn that “friendship” with God is not the same as “sonship” with God.
“Friendship” with God is actually not a New Covenant way of relating to God.
Abraham was called “the” friend of God.
Moses was not called “the” friend of God.
Elijah was not called “the” friend of God.
In fact, from the time of Abraham until the time of Jesus and His disciples, there is no record of anyone else being called “the” friend of God.
“The” being singular, and exclusive.
Fast forward to John 15:15 and Jesus is now calling His disciples His “friends”.
Yet as ground-breaking as it is for Jesus to call His disciples “friends”, it is does not begin to compare with what we have as partakers of the New Covenant.
From scripture, we learn that while Jesus’ disciples were indeed His friends, they did not truly know Him when they walked with Him.
It wasn’t until after His death and with the illumination of the Holy Spirit living in them that they understood Fully who Jesus was and what He had done.
When they received the Holy Spirit, they also understood sonship.
While we may serve in many capacities, we are called beyond mere servanthood into the spiritual heritage of being adopted sons of God.
God didn’t call us sons and then give us no evidence that we are indeed His sons. The Holy Spirit has been sent forth to dwell in our hearts and is given as the down payment of our inheritance as heirs with Christ.
Friends are never as close as family and don’t know everything that goes on the family.
We are FAMILY with God as adopted sons. He treats us as sons, not as just friends.
This is fundamentally important in our walk with God; not only in how we perceive God’s relationship with us, but how we perceive ourselves.
Our faith can only operate through belief, and a lack of knowledge or a lack of proper understanding can hinder our faith from working.
When Jesus walked the Earth, friendship with God was the best that the disciples could have until after His sacrifice was complete, and their salvation was sealed at Pentecost.
We are co-heirs with Christ, and we have been made into sons of God by our spiritual adoption.
As sons, we have access into God’s best for our lives.
We have a relationship that transcends friendship, favors and disappointing answers.
Did you know that God doesn’t want to disappoint you?
Did you know that God doesn’t want to say “no” to good things that you want?
The key to understanding a relationship in which God answers every prayer with a resounding “Yes” is to understand what it means to pray according to His will and for your own will to be in alignment with His.
Jesus prayed to the Father saying, “Not my will, but thine be done.”
He also said that He did nothing of His own.
Living according to God’s won’t mean that we don’t do nice things for ourselves or make our own choices.
It means that we allow the Holy Spirit to place God’s thoughts and God’s will into our hearts in such a way that it becomes natural to do those things that God wants done. His desires become our own desires insomuch that they are indistinguishable.
This isn’t saying that we become a God unto ourselves.
To an extent, we must have faith that God will give us the desires that He wills for us to have and have discernment to know what they are.
It is common for Christians to interpret Psalm 37:4 to mean that God will give us our desires when we delight ourselves in Him, but that interpretation also tends to feed a materialistic view of reality.
I can tell you from experience that God places His desires in your heart and His desires blend into and become your desires as you submit your will to His will.
When that happens, knowing and following His will is as easy as following your own desires.
As sons of God, we are closer than friends, and we are one with Him.
To the degree that believe that truth, we will see our relationship with God and how He operates in us and through us differently.