This week in our fellowship night and Bible studies, we saw in Romans 8 that we are sons of God! Before we were saved, our relationship to God was that of creature and Creator. Now, it is that of son and Father, for we “have received a spirit of sonship in which we cry, Abba, Father!” (Romans 8:15). Just as you and I have grown a lot since we were born and are still growing and maturing, our spiritual experience of this sonship is also in a process of growing and maturing. We begin as children (8:16), then become sons, ones who are led by the Spirit in our daily living (8:14), and finally become heirs, ones who suffer with and are glorified with Christ (8:17).
As was brought out during the fellowship night, this growth and maturity comes by our experience of the Spirit. Our experiences can be simple, even mundane in appearance. One of the speakers said that earlier in the week as he was trying to leave the Berkeley Bowl parking lot, there were cars blocking his way, making it impossible for him to get through. Though it was a frustrating situation, he quietly called on the name of the Lord and felt the leading of the Spirit to just wait patiently instead of confronting the people causing the block. After a little while, the cars cleared out, allowing him to go home, and he felt at peace. I really enjoyed this example because it shows that our experience of the Spirit doesn’t have to be a big event or related to things such as praying or reading the Bible; it can be as simple as calling on the Lord in a parking lot. It is these daily experiences of the Spirit that cause us to grow to become mature sons of God.