A son then is a builder. You're a child of God, and you're a builder. A son by nature extends, or is a generational extension of his father. If I have sons, then those sons are an extension of this generation, to form a new generation. Sons are a generational extension of their father. They carry their father's DNA, and they're called to reproduce another generation, to extends the family of God. You extend your own family, you have children and they produce grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so on. As believers, as Sons of God, we're called to be builders of our father's house. One way we do that is by bearing fruit, by leading other people to Christ, by drawing them into the Kingdom of God, by sharing the gospel of Jesus, and then another generation comes to Christ.
We're also called to build the house of God as well. A son is a generational legacy, and if you're thinking like a son, you think about building a generational legacy. We live in a world that wants everything fast, and everything now, and doesn't think about building for the next generation; but anyone who wants to have an impact in their life, builds with the next generation in mind, they plan with the next generation in mind. They're thinking beyond their lives and their generation - that's how God thinks. That's why he calls himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In other words, he's saying: I am a multigenerational God. I build generationally. What I start in one generation, I continue in the next generation. That puts a tremendous responsibility on you as a parent, to then add value, or to build values into your Children that will extend the family on, and be built in the generation that follows.
Everywhere in our culture now, Christian values and Christian culture is being undermined. God needs builders who will stand up and build, and actually uphold. Not everyone is happy when you uphold Christian values, but that's too bad, it doesn't really matter. There's always been enemies of Christ. We're just to make sure we hold fast to the values of God, not to the values of the culture. So sons then build a generational legacy.
What legacy are you building for the next generation? I have my children, they're all grown up, but you can still be involved in serving somewhere and having an influence upon a next generation. Everyone can be involved in helping build and establish and contribute to the welfare of the next generation. Not only are sons builders, but sons are also repairers, and rebuilders. Sometimes we come from a family which is damaged and broken. We come from a history where our lives have been broken and damaged, then we're called to repair and rebuild. That's what sons do - they restore what God intended. If you come from a very bad background, a very abusive background, very troubled background, you can either look as a victim, and complain about it; or you can say: God has given me the honor, as a son, of being a repairer of this damage and a rebuilder, so I build what he intended families to be like. To do that you'll need models, and you'll need teaching.
Isaiah 61:4 - "They shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former generations. They shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations".
Who are the people who are doing that? Isaiah 61 - those who have allowed God to touch them, to save them, to heal them and restore them, are then called to be repairers and rebuilders. So wherever you've come from, build something better for the next generation. Whatever your background, work with God to build something better for the future. We're called to be believers, to be investors, to be adding value, not subtracting and taking. Thats a change in thinking.
This is the Bible - you've got to go back to the word of God, if you want to find the patterns. I want to show you this issue of sonship working out in terms of building, and there's many ways sonship shows up. The area of building, so we're thinking now: I'm called to be a builder. We're going to look firstly in the Old Testament, at two people that God called to build him a house. You will see that there are principles in the building, that repeat in both of them. Then we look at the true house, which is Jesus Christ. Jesus came to build his father's house, and we find the true house is not a physical building; it's actually a spiritual building, it's a people. You are called then to be a builder of people.