Faithful As a Son

By Barnabas Piper

I used to work for a family-owned business. The father was the president of the company, he had inherited it from his parents, and two of his sons worked for him in management. While he ran the organization fairly, gave authority to other executives, and treated all the employees well, there was no question as to who his successor would be: one of his sons. 

We see a similar sort of comparison in Hebrews 3. Moses, who led God’s people through the exodus to the promised land and instituted God’s law for His people, is called a “faithful servant.” But He was never to be the inheritor, the savior, or the king. He was overseeing a people who would be Christ’s, the Son’s, according to God’s purpose, and Christ is worthy of glory. Why?

Because “Christ was faithful as a Son over his household. And we are that household if we hold on to our confidence and the hope in which we boast” (Hebrews 3:6). He wasn’t just a familial figurehead; He was a faithful fulfiller of all that was promised through Moses and the rest of the Old Testament. Moses instituted the law to set God’s people apart and show them how to honor the Lord. Christ fulfilled the law in every way. Isaiah prophesied that “a child will be born for us” (Isaiah 9:6), and not just any Son, but one on whom would rest government and nations and rule for all eternity and who would reign “with justice and righteousness from now on and forever” (v.7).

Of course, the sonship of Jesus means He is more than a conqueror and a ruler; He is a savior, too, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17). Christ’s faithfulness as a son meant sacrifice, humility, and laying down His life to save. And it opened the doors to salvation for anyone who believes in Him. So when Hebrews 3:6 says, “we are that household if we hold on to our confidence and the hope in which we boast,” it shows that no longer are the people of God defined by law, but by the grace of God through Christ. 

We cling to Him in faith with hope and confidence because He is the Son, He is the conqueror, He will rule eternally, and He is the sacrificial Savior who loves His people.