The third one is Responsibility. Jesus said - "I honored you (I brought honor to you). I finished the work you gave me to do". All sons are given an assignment, work, or something unique to them. God knows exactly who you are, how he's designed you, where you'd be born, what family, what background - there's something only you can do, and you've got to find that. For all of us, as Children of God, we are called to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to people, to let people know that there's a possibility of another kind of life. Jesus obviously had a very big awareness of this; even at 12, he said: don't you know, I must be about my father's business.
Let's go to the meaning of son; and then we're going to look at the whole issue of sons being builders; and then I'll show you how it practically works out in your life, in a very practical way. When we hear the word son in the Bible, frequently people are described as the son of someone else, for example, Simon Bar Jonah, meaning the son of Jonah. People were described by their father, thats where they came from, their family of origin, because in the cultures of the Middle East, a person's honor came from the family of origin. That's their first source of honor, so that they ask who you are. They want to know your family background, who you come from? Do you come from a good family? Well, if you didn't come from a good family, that was a really a bad place to start life at; but if you come from a good family, then that was a great place to start life at. Your father had already built something for you to live on, and build on. The good news for us, is we've come from a bad family, broken family, destructive family, but we all get a new beginning in Jesus Christ, and that's so good.
The word son, is the word Ben, and it means to be a builder. If you're a child of God, a son of God, then you are a builder. In other words, who are you? I'm a son of God; I'm a builder of God. You've got to keep in mind what these words meant, otherwise we live out of a western thinking. If you're a child of God, a son of God, then you're called to be a builder. You're called to build the father's house. The root word is the word Bannah, meaning to build, establish, or cause something to continue. If you're a child of God, you're called to build, add to, and enlarge your father's house, and cause it to continue. In other words, we're to evangelize disciples. There's a whole range of things we're called to do.
Now, just in case you think we're just talking about men here, understand that in these passages, the Bible is just talking about a function; about a way of relationship. It's a way of presenting how God operates. God uses many natural things. The word for daughter comes from the same word, it's the word Bannah, meaning to be a builder. So both men and women are seen equally in the eyes of God; are called to be builders of their father's house, to extend the father's family, to extend his name and reputation.
When you're a child of God, you don't live from rules (do this, don't do that); you live from identity (this is who I am). I do this, because this is who I am. I'm generous, because this is who I am. I'm a representative of my father, who's a generous person. I'm a forgiving person - not because I have to, because I've been manipulated to, or because of any other reason, but because my father is this way - he forgives me, and I pass it on.
You start to think: who am I? This is a big challenge in the culture today, which is destroying or undermining people's identity (who I am); so we need to be established in our new identity: I'm a child of God. I therefore operate out of who I am, and I behave like my father behaves. Once you see that, you stop living by rules, of I should do, or ought to do; you do it because: this is my identity. As I do this, my father's blessing is upon me, like a flow, like a river.
That doesn't mean you're all the same. Think for example, of a tree. A tree has a trunk, roots and leaves - everyone knows what a tree looks like. However, when you go out into nature and look, oh my! Look at the diversity of trees! Same with a flower, everyone knows what a flower looks like; but if you go and look into nature, look at the diversity! So although God calls us sons, once we're born into his family, there's huge diversity in what they look like, and how they work. He doesn't call you to give up, and just become a clone. He's calling you to become in the character, the image, the likeness of Jesus, in the way he functions, in terms of his character; but be unique in your own expression. Isn't that great news!