Creflo Dollar - The Supernatural Power of Sonship - Part 1
Go with me to the book of Saint John. We're studying out of John, but we're doing a lot of in a different way. And this phrase came up in John chapter 1, which before I wanted to go any further, I wanted to make sure I took time to explain what this means because this is pretty... it's one of those things you don't wanna skip. John chapter 1, verse 11 and 12. And verse 11 says: "He came unto his own, and his own received him not". Now he's referring to Jesus, how Jesus came as a Jewish man, to his people, Jewish people. And they didn't receive him. "They received him not". And then verse 12 says: "But," even though they didn't receive him, "as many as received him," as many as received him, "gave he power". And this word is interesting. It means he gave them the right or the privilege. That's what it means.
He gave, you know, you think, well, he gave them power and we will immediately just kind of translate that like we do everything else, but even if you have a Bible, you got those little notes in the middle of it, it'll tell you that it literally means the right or the privilege. So he says: "But as many as received him, to them gave he the right or the privilege to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name". So, for people who receive him, they have the right and the privilege to become the sons of God. Now, the evidence that you've received Jesus is gonna be based on your dependence on him. You believe him, you receive him, you depend on him, okay? That's what that's all about. It's a little different than somebody marching around and saying, "Well, you know, I've received Jesus".
Well, how do we authenticate that? Well, do you depend on him? When you depend on him, that indicates you have received him. When you've received him, that's because you believed him. All those go together. So it's a powerful thing for him to say that to everyone who will receive me and begin to live a life of dependence on me, they now have the privilege. I like that word. The right or you have the privilege. To me, having the privilege means you get something you don't deserve. You have the privilege to be the sons of God, to become the sons of God. So tonight, I wanna talk to you about what that means. I wanna talk to you about the supernatural power of sonship and I found some notes that I had. I don't know how long I had these notes, but I wanna read some of them to you. I want you to listen to it because it's captivating. It really got my attention.
The absence of knowledge will produce darkness. Darkness, in other words, darkness can prevail when knowledge is absent. Just think about that, with anything. When you don't have the knowledge about a thing, then darkness can prevail, because you just don't know. How many times have you said as a mother or a father, "I just didn't know. I wish I'd have known this when I was 20 or 30". The absence of knowledge allows darkness to prevail. So, whatever is not working in your life is not God's fault. Whatever is not working in your life is not God's fault. It's your knowledge that's inadequate. It's not God's fault. It's inadequate knowledge. It's not working because of something I don't understand or something that I don't know. It's inadequate knowledge.
Now, you think what does this have to do with being a son of God? We don't know about that. We read over it so quickly and you know, just rejoice like, "Yeah, we have the privilege to become the sons of God". What does that mean? And I said I can't go talk about nothing else in the book of John until we got to rectify this. What does that mean to be the son of God? So what you see of your physical self is not the real you. We've talked about that. You look in the mirror, you see your physical self. That's not the real you. It is only a covering. The real you is a, what? Come on. Spirit, all right? You are... now listen to these words. That's why I wanna do this first before we start. You are divine in nature. Created after the very image of God. You are divine.
Look at Genesis chapter 1 and verse 26: "You are divine in nature, created in the very image of God". Listen to this: "And God said, Let us make man in our," what? "Image, after our," what? "Likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth," so forth and so on. That hasn't changed. You still have a divine nature. You are divine in nature. So God is saying that until the truth of your divinity dawns on you, then you will walk as if you walk like a normal natural man. Somebody says, "I am one". You will be subjected to the same limitation as other mortals. What are you getting at? I'm about to say that you have the privilege not to be like other mortals. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought y'all ready for this now, you know? Y'all trying to stay the same.
Mortality is, you know, somebody that dies. Immortality is you don't see death. But understanding your divine nature is the way to the release of supernatural power. Understanding your divine nature, understanding your divine nature. We spend a lot of time with our covering, our physical self. We don't spend enough time getting to know the divine nature. You are divine in nature. Lord, have mercy. Say that: "I am divine in nature". So what happens is this will give you the confidence you need to operate like God in the affairs of life. Uh-oh. I ain't God. Ain't nobody said you was God. Everybody in here know you ain't God. But understanding sonship is the key to operating in the supernatural. Understanding sonship, that's where it starts, right there. It's the key to operating in the supernatural.
Now, there are a lot of weird things getting ready to happen. People more submitted to demonic forces, just weird spiritual things and I don't know about you, but I'm making sure my supernatural is good to go, charged up. I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready. Weird stuff, stuff I ain't never seen before, stuff to... it don't make no difference, I'm a son of God. This is why I'm telling you this. So whatever you may confront between now and Jesus coming back, tonight's objective is to let you know not to act like mere mortals. You are a son of God, equipped to move in the supernatural. So whatever the devil want to bring, whatever they wanna say, whatever they want to move, you messing with a son of God. And you got to know you a son of God. I gotta calm down, I gotta calm down.
All right, so you're a son of God. So we're talking about the divine the divine, the divine. I was, yeah, anyway, the divine. The divine, the son of God. Understanding your sonship is the key to operating in the supernatural. Now, if we'd have just skipped this and we would just read, you know, "They that received him, to them, gave he the privilege to become sons of God," you're just thinking that "oh well, I'm just a son of God". Isn't that sweet? "I'm just, I'm chil'en of God. I'm just", this is so much more than that. This is so much more than that. Understanding your sonship is the key to operating in the supernatural. We live in a kingdom of choices, not chances. Your lot in life is determined by your choice, not by chance.
And tonight, I want to motivate you to make a choice to understand sonship because once you make that choice, ain't no devil going... what you running from? When you know who you are? Wow, see, here's the thing that got me. They know who we are but they got to keep you from knowing who you are. I said I wasn't gonna holler tonight. They gotta keep you from knowing who you are. And I'm getting ready to show you who you are. Excuse my English. Is you ready for this tonight, already? All right, let's go to work. Let's go to work. Hebrews chapter 3, verse 5 and 6, just in the King James. The idea of being a son versus being a servant. Most people today see themselves as servants of God and not sons of God, okay?
The idea of being a son versus being a servant in our relationship with the Lord, under this new covenant, this thing is woven throughout Paul's writing and here in Hebrews 3, in verse 5 and 6, he says: "And Moses verily was faithful in all his house. Moses was faithful as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken afterwards. But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we," there's several opportunities to explore here tonight. And then, you know, I wore my comfortable slipper shoes tonight because I might have to do a little running here tonight, you understand? Stressed out and everything, you understand. "If we hold fast," what? "The confidence and the rejoicing of hope that's firm unto the end".
So tonight's teaching is to try to get you confident about who you really are. Moses was a servant and those who were under the law were servants. Follow me now. Moses was a servant and those who were under the law were servants. Christ is the Son and those who are in Christ, are sons of God. How many of you are in Christ? You're sons of God. You're not servants of God. In Christ, you're not a servant no more. Under the law, you were servants. With Moses, you were servants. But the Bible says you are no longer under the law; you're under grace, which means you're no longer a servant. You are sons. Oh my goodness.
Now, once we understand the meaning of sonship, we will walk in the love, we'll walk in the authority of the Father. Once we understand the meaning of sonship, his mission, his vision and heart will become our very own. Now, we are no longer under the old covenant system where we are dependent on a priest to represent us before God or a prophet to give us a word. We have our own personal intimate relationship as a son and daughter with our Father.
Now, let's go back here. In the New Testament, the new covenant of grace, the first thing we need to know as sons of God is that our Father will never ever break his covenant with us. I'm a son of God, the covenant of grace sealed, never gonna break it. So once we know that, we're gonna walk as sons and find it easy to serve one another in humility because we understand that we are sons of God, not servants. Now, come on, y'all know y'all heard that in the church in this day and time: "I'm a servant of the Lord".
I hear what you're trying to say but in light of what's getting ready to happen on the earth, I need you to get focused on your sonship. I need you to wake up every morning feeling more than just a mortal man. I need to calm down. What I need to do, I need to calm down. Something is getting ready to happen. Let me show you this. Let me show you this. Romans 8:19. Romans 8:19: "For the earnest expectation of the whole creature, the whole creation, waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God". What they waiting for? Sound like they waiting on us to show up to handle some stuff. Creation is waiting for the manifestations of the sons of God. And I'm telling you the sons of God are here. They just don't have no confidence in their sonship.
So it's like they got power that they're not aware of and they going through all these weird religious things to try to see something happen. And you're a son. My kids, even today, they're grown. But when they, especially when they were small, I don't care if I had the president of the United States in my office, they walk right in there, "Dad, I'm hungry". They could do that because I'm their father. You are the sons of God. You don't supposed to be acting like a servant to your Daddy. All right, watch this. Let's take it a little deeper. Let me go back to John 1:12 again. You know what it says: "They that receive him, God gives power," or the right and privilege, "to become sons of God," how? "By believing in his name, by receiving him, by depending on him".
Now, until one, until you, until all of us mature into a son. So now we know where our maturity is leading. Something happens when we mature into a son. Until you mature into a son, you are excluded from handling certain responsibilities. Until you come into your sonship and recognize your sonship, you will be excluded from certain responsibilities. Yesterday, I pulled this movie up, "Hercules". I don't know, I just felt like Hercules, and he was strong, but he couldn't tap into the supernatural until he accepted that he was the son of Zeus. And until he accepted, "I am the son of Zeus," when he accepted he was the son of Zeus, supernatural stuff started happening.
Boy, that lightning came down, hit him. He has supernatural power like he ain't never had before. And I said, "Isn't that something, right here in this movie"? He was excluded from certain things until he matured in his sonship. Wonder what's being held back from you because you won't accept your sonship. You keep walking around like you just a ordinary, regular mortal. And you're listening to me right now, "Well, what other kind of mortal is there"? There is a sonship mortality that brings you into the supernatural and the super gets on your mortality and you're not gonna be like everybody else. You're not running from no demons, you're not running from and fearing what somebody said gonna happen.
You're like, "Bring it on. I'm a son. I'm a son of God. Don't let me go to my Daddy". All right now, let's dig a little deeper. Galatians chapter 3, all right, let's dig a little deeper here. Galatians chapter 3, verse 27, and I think we'll find a lot of answers in this. This is big. This is big and I knew I had to cover this before I go on in John because so many people just skip that phrase about the son of God. Galatians 3:27. Alright, let's look at 27 through 29, just now. Watch this. "For you are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus".
So my faith in Christ Jesus makes me a child of God. "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, you've put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ. And if you be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed," singular, and here's the part I want you to get, "heirs according to the promise". Somebody say, "I'm an heir". An heir.
Now, I wanna compare and contrast what it means to be an heir versus what it means to be an heir apparent. An heir apparent, like King Charles was for so long. You wondered if that boy was ever gonna be King Charles? I mean, is Queen Elizabeth ever gonna leave? Okay, so an heir, what's the difference? An heir inherits right now. An heir apparent one day will inherit. An heir is not gonna inherit one day. So when he says you're an heir, that means you inherit right when you became a heir. Not one day.