Sonship with God 

In the heavenly realms, beings who are directly descended from the Universal Father are referred to as the sons of God. And this designation is true of both males and females who dwell on earth. "Daughters of God" such as angels, are of origin in the Infinite Spirit and are a separate order from human beings.

Sonship with God is an element of existence that is enjoyed by a wide variety of created beings, from the most exalted to the lowest will creature in the universe. God is the Universal Father of all and because God is a personality, knowing him is entirely achievable. Sonship is the experience that makes fatherhood certain.

Jesus, a divine Son of God in human form, is someone with whom all mortals can identify. Knowing Jesus can make faith in our own sonship more accessible. Jesus came to earth to introduce his good news gospel built on two pillars: 1) Sonship with God and 2) Fellowship with all other children of God. He established the kingdom of heaven on earth by telling us that this kingdom is within us and that we can enter this kingdom through faith in our sonship and by heeding the guidance of our Father’s spirit within. Jesus’ life is the perfect example of how to be a son of God.

Additionally, there are other elements of sonship that help us understand and accept this relationship with God.

The Universal Father actually lives in every rational human being. Because human beings are indwelt by the spirit spark of the Father, we can realize the fact of our sonship with him through faith in that indwelling spark. In fact, acceptance of our sonship with God the Father and cooperation with his indwelling spirit is intimately linked with our ability to enjoy eternal life. We owe our Father gratitude for giving us the opportunity to be called his child.

We are aided in our quest for the Father and our sonship with him, not only by his indwelling presence but through the presence of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Truth. Through these spiritual endowments, we can consciously realize our sonship.

Human beings are imbued with ascension potential. This is facilitated by the presence of the indwelling spirit of God. One day, if we heed the guidance of that spirit, we may achieve final oneness with it, creating a whole new creature; one who is able to ascend to the Father. The Father has a plan of progression, demonstrated by Jesus for our instruction. All of us may enter into the plan of progression. And in that progression, we may strive to become perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect.

Whatever our religious leanings, they should foster in us an experience that holds the ideals of truth, beauty, and goodness as supreme. Through the love of God and worship of him, these ideals become meaningful as sonship with God and fellowship with our fellow beings.

There are numerous created beings who enjoy sonship with God. Mortals are the lowest form of beings who are considered sons of God. When the Creator Son of God incarnated into a human form, he possessed all the similarities that humans share. He could be seen, heard, and touched. And he demonstrated a life that embraced his sonship with God. Through Jesus, we humans can come to understand and believe in our sonship with the Father because he personified this relationship for us.

Sonship with God refers to the spiritual relationship between God and his creatures, particularly us human beings. It describes the status of being a child of God, which is achieved through faith and personal spiritual experience. Our subjective personal experience of knowing him, worshiping him, and realizing sonship with him facilitates contact with God who is the highest objective reality.

All human beings are potential sons of God, but becoming an actual son of God requires a personal and voluntary decision to enter into a relationship with God. We can know God personally, much as we can know any other personality, by developing a relationship with him. This decision involves accepting God's love and following his will, as revealed through spiritual insight and personal experience with him.

The concept of sonship with God means that God accepts a human being as his child and grants that person the spiritual privileges and responsibilities of sonship. This includes the gifts of eternal life, free will, spiritual guidance and support, and the opportunity to participate in the divine mission of bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth.

Sonship with God is seen as the ultimate goal of human existence and the key to spiritual fulfillment and happiness. It is a state of being that is attained through personal faith and dedication to God's will, and it is open to all who seek it with sincerity and devotion.

The Father loves each of his children; his love is true, holy, divine, unlimited, eternal, and unique and is bestowed individually, personally, and exclusively. Sonship with God is the highest relationship possible of the Creator with his created beings.

As mortals, we can call ourselves sons of God because we accept our sonship, have a Creator Son as our brother, have the spirit of a Son within us, possess free will, and have a spirit fragment of the Universal Father dwelling within us. The presence of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, and God’s indwelling spirit in us indicates spiritual consistency and allows us to realize sonship with God more fully.

The indwelling spirit of God is an immortal spirit that carries with it the potential for creature immortality. It is a divine fragment of God, which lives in the mind of man and helps in achieving the heavenly destiny that has been ordained by God as the potential of every human being.

The indwelling spirit of God is our experiential partner in achieving sonship with God, and with the consent of our will, it has the power to transform and purify our inmost motivations and purposes. In other words, the indwelling Spirit of God goes through life with us; our willing cooperation with its inner guidance can help us to achieve our highest spiritual aspirations. The finest gift we can give the Father is to say: “It is my will to do your will.”

The divine Spirit of God within our minds never coerces or forces individuals to follow a certain path, but rather gently guides and leads us towards spiritual progress. But, it requires a willingness to learn from, be guided by, and cooperate with this indwelling spirit in order to attain spiritual growth and more fully accept and appreciate our status as sons of God.

True religion begins in the heart of the individual and is independent of membership in any organized church; it is the reaction of an individual soul in its quest for relationship with God. True religion is a valuable inner experience that fosters the value and authority of truth, beauty, and goodness in individuals. As one progresses through religious growth, one moves from temporal to eternal perspectives. Through love and worship, this experience becomes meaningful as fellowship with man and sonship with God.

True religion can lead to a progression of growth that includes moving from insecurity to undoubting faith and from fear to the liberty of divine sonship with God. Religion empowers the believer as a son of God, a citizen of a new and meaningful universe, curing man's sense of existential isolation or spiritual loneliness.

The teachings of Jesus provide for salvation from the bonds of material existence through the personal realization of sonship with God, and the religion of Jesus provides a harmonious coordination of knowledge, wisdom, faith, truth, and love; it empowers believers to accept sonship with God as a personal experience. This acceptance grants citizenship in the vast spiritual civilization that permeates the universe, as a part of the heavenly family of God.

Jesus taught that personal religious experience was an example of the best religion of all. Relying on symbols and rituals, while perhaps comforting, can never take the place of personal experience in sonship with God. Jesus devoted his life here on earth to the mission of “thawing out the frozen forms of religion into the liquid liberties of enlightened sonship.”

Said the Master: “When God’s will is your law, you are noble slave subjects; but when you believe in this new gospel of divine sonship, my Father’s will becomes your will, and you are elevated to the high position of the free children of God, liberated sons of the kingdom.”

The core of Jesus' teaching about sonship with God is that all individuals are children of God, and that God loves each one of his children unconditionally. He emphasized that it is not enough to merely acknowledge God as one's Father, but to actually experience the spiritual rebirth that comes from being born of the Spirit. This spiritual rebirth enables individuals to become true sons and daughters of God, and to participate in the divine nature. He emphasized the importance of loving God and loving one's neighbor, and he showed the way to this kind of love through his own life and teachings.

Furthermore, Jesus taught that the Father desires a personal and loving relationship with each of his children, and that this relationship is facilitated through prayer, worship, and guidance of the indwelling spirit presence of God. Ultimately, the goal of sonship with God is to become more like the Father, to manifest his character in one's own life, and to serve others in love and compassion as one's spiritual siblings.

Jesus taught that the realization of sonship with God involves a personal experience of spiritual transformation and a growing awareness of the divine presence within. Jesus also taught that sonship with God is not limited to a particular race, nation, or religion, but is open to all who seek it sincerely.

Ever since the day when Peter and the apostles confessed to Jesus that they believed that he is the Son of God, this same Son of God has been building a living temple upon that same eternal foundation of his divine sonship. Those who become self-conscious sons of God are the human stones that make up this living temple of sonship constructed to the glory and honor of the eternal Father.

The Spirit of Truth is the new teacher that Jesus promised to send after his departure. The primary function of the Spirit of Truth is to reveal to, and lead truth-seekers into, the truth about the Father and his kingdom. One of the ways in which the Spirit of Truth facilitates acceptance of sonship with God is by inspiring the faith that leads to spiritual rebirth, the essential first step towards becoming a true son of God.

As the Spirit of Truth works within the human mind, it helps to transform the believer's thinking, attitudes, and behavior. The Spirit of Truth leads believers to the realization that they are the children of God, and it empowers them to live in accordance with the Father's will. Through the Spirit of Truth, believers become more like the Father and more like Jesus in character and conduct. The Spirit of Truth also helps to unify believers and to inspire them to work together to manifest the kingdom of heaven on earth.