Proverbs 1:8. Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
Solomon uses the word son 93 times in the book of Proverbs. Why is that? Because the book of Proverbs was meant to be used by fathers to teach their sons how to be wise. More specifically, it was used by a king to teach his son how to be a wise ruler one day. Did anybody teach you how to be wise growing up? Your parents? Grandparents? School teachers? A pastor? Ideally, yes they did.
To read Proverbs correctly we must read it as the son of a king. An heir to a throne. As the reader, we are the heir apparent who has been sat down to learn the way of wisdom – skill in navigating the complexities of life that comes by the fear of the Lord.
You may be saying, I’m not a king. Or, if you’re a woman, I’m not a son.
But in Christ you are both of these. The King of Kings has adopted you in Christ as his son. Male or female, both are positionally sons of God in Christ, with the full rights of the firstborn son. When the New Testament call us sons of God (Gal. 4, Rom. 8), it is reminding us not only of our position in Christ, but of our possession of wisdom. As sons we are meant to be wise. As children of God we are meant to hear our Heavenly Father’s instruction – the gospel. The wisdom of God in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.
We are not only all sons of God in Christ, but we are also kings. Heirs of the Kingdom of God. In his great grace Jesus has shared his kingdom with us. His inheritance is ours. Like the prodigal who, upon returning to the Father, received his older brother’s robe, ring, sandals and fatted calf (not to mention a party), we too have returned to our Heavenly Father and have received all that is Christ’s.
Christian, every heavenly blessing is yours.
Ephesians 1:3. [God] has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
The universe is yours.
1 Corinthians 3:22. Whether…the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,
You reign in life with Christ.
Romans 5:17. …those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
What lavish grace! What life-altering love. Our position and purpose set out before us – co-ruling with Jesus our ever faithful, ever forgiving, ever loving big brother. Has any other king done that? Shared his throne, his wisdom, his kingdom like this? Only Jesus was wise enough to share.
You: Do you see yourself as both a son of God and an heir to the Kingdom? What gets in the way of seeing yourself this way?
You in Christ: How does knowing that we are heirs with Christ change our perspective on life?
Christ in you: How might you approach God and others today from your position as a son of God?
Pray: Father, you sent your Son, Jesus to share all that is his with me. How can I ever thank you enough? Help me to live in grace and gratitude today, just as he did. Amen.
To Live is Christ 