Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO The Spirit of sonship Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA June 15, 2003 Main Scripture text: Romans 8:1-17. This is Trinity Sunday, when the church celebrates The Holy Trinity -- God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is how God has chosen to reveal to us His character and nature -- one God manifested in three distinct yet inseparable persons. God the Father is sovereign and almighty. But those characteristics can make God so frightening to us that want to stay away. So God has also revealed Himself as God the Son. The Son has experienced human life. He knows our joys and our pain. He showed us God's love by dying for our sins. The Son overcomes our fear. Finally, God reveals Himself as God the Holy Spirit, who actually lives inside us to empower us to love and obey God and to equip us for ministry. The Holy Spirit is referred to by a number of different terms in the New Testament: the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit of life, the Spirit of wisdom; the Spirit of truth, and so on. And there's the one in our text today: "the Spirit of sonship." Some feminist theologians have been critical of Paul's use of that term. They say it is sexist. But the concept of "sonship" is actually a radically liberating thing for women. Keep in mind the context in which Paul was writing. Under Hebrew law, a daughter couldn't inherit the property of her father unless there were no male heirs. What Paul is saying is that all who come to Christ -- male and female, poor and rich, slave and free -- are put in the position of a son. He is simply saying that we have been made co-heirs with Jesus to the estate of the Father, the Kingdom of God. Being the the place of a son also means that we have the privilege and responsibility of representing the Father during his physical absence. We are the incarnation of God in the world today; we represent God to the world. Don't miss the last part of our text -- the part about sharing in Christ's sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. What does that mean? The sufferings of Jesus centered around his mission. He suffered because He represented God in a fallen, sinful generation and insisted that people actually live by God's truth. The crucifixion of Jesus is the ultimate expressions of His sufferings. How do we "share in his sufferings"? We suffer when we agonize over those who don't yet know Christ. We suffer when we bear the scorn, rejection and ridicule of family, friends and the world because of our faith. We suffer when we relinquish the comforts of this world to help finance the spread of the gospel. Suffering for Jesus is part and parcel of being put in the position of a son, being God's representative in and to the world. But Paul puts those sufferings in perspective in Romans 8:18-21. He declares that a glorious destiny awaits those who allow God to place them in the position of son. Let's be willing to suffer whatever is necessary to prepare us for participation in the coming glory. Supporting texts: Exodus 20:18-19 | Matthew 19:29 | 2 Corinthians 5:20 | Romans 8:28 | Acts 5:41 | Romans 8:18-21 | Ecclesiastes 3:11 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here. (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of this sermon is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 030615a: The Spirit of Sonship. © 2003 Gerald Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us