Being The Image of God Is Sonship

By Zach Chronley

Galatians 3:26-29

“for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”

Sons 

A son is the encapsulation of everything in this series. As always, Jesus, the son of God, is our example. Jesus’ earthly ministry begins with his anointing by the holy spirit. In the biblical narrative, others are anointed with a title. Aaron is anointed as Priest. David is anointed as King. God the Father declares to those present (and recorded for all humanity in the Bible) that Jesus “Is my son, in who I am well pleased.” Jesus is anointed as Son.

The most common title given to Jesus by the New Testament writers is “Christ” or “the anointed.” Jesus’ identity is the Son of God. Jesus is both priest and king, but as Son, he is also something much greater. Genesis 5:1-3 teaches us the context of sonship and identity: “This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.” To be someone’s son is to be in their image.

As Colossians 1:15 shows. “(Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” Jesus, the son, was the perfect image of God the Father in the same way that Seth was the son of Adam after his image. We have a perfect image of the Father. Jesus himself taught the disciples that because they saw him, they had seen the Father (John 14:9). We know the Father because we know the Son, and now others can know God through us, his image-bearers.

All Are Sons

A quick note on Sonship. Please do not think that this is only relevant to men, nor that its relevance to women is only secondary. The title of this blog post referring to sonship includes women as sons. In a time in which there are many arguments on gender identity, you may be worried about this idea, but this is about biblical context. If you understand how the biblical writers viewed sonship, you will see how revolutionary the Christian worldview was in its day and even today!

When Paul wrote to the Galatians that now through faith all sons of God (Gal 3:26), the Greek word used here is υἱός is masculine. There are other words Paul could have used here to imply sons and daughter, or children. Paul is very specific to make a precise point. He is writing to the Galatians telling them that there are no lesser Christians. The church reflected the very diverse Roman province of Galatia. The church was filled with Jewish Christians and Gentile converts. The group undoubtedly included the very rich meeting together to worship along with the poorest of slaves. Suddenly, all who followed Jesus were on an equal footing in a deeply classist, racist, and sexist world.

In the ancient world of Biblical times, sonship is a status. Sonship implies many rights and privileges. And what Paul writes is revolutionary! All now are sons! “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”

In this context, we see that it is given to us by God that this usage is not about gender. You, daughter, hold an equal inheritance in the family of God. There are no second-class citizens in the family of God. Jesus, the firstborn of God, actually shares his status with us. Sonship is extended to all God’s children no matter what other status they hold in this world. We are all sons; we all share equally in his inheritance (Rom 8:17).

Family Business

Sonship also means an inheritance of the family business. Inheritance in that day was not just a sum of money but an estate. For this same reason, most surnames come from vocations or a father’s name plus “son” attached. Historically, a father would pass on his business to his heir. He would disciple his son in the way of the business. Whether a king or a butcher; He would teach him how to be successful and continue teaching the business onwards. 

Some of this tradition is purely pragmatic. For most of human history, your options for vocations have always been pretty limited. There were no banks as they exist today where you could take out a loan to start a new business. Your best chance for survival was to take on your family’s business that hopefully had been growing slowly for generations.

As God’s sons, we also have a family business that we have inherited. From an early age, Jesus was known to be in the temples “doing his father’s business.” No matter how young in the faith, we can also be about our father’s business. It takes no special training to make disciples, only a willingness to reveal to others what God has shown us. A heart that desires along with God that “all people to be saved” (1 Tim 2:4). A son is a cultivator, ruler, warrior, sage, and more.

Our calling is to image God as a son, to be like Jesus to all the world. As Romans 8:29 tells us, “For those God foreknew, He also predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.” And also, in Philippians 1:6 that, “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Live as a son, an image of God. Love as he loved. Trust God is working in you.