The Heart of a Son Vol. 2 The Theology of Sonship

This book began as a doctoral dissertation and has been adapted to what you see here. But long before it became an academic project, it was a personal conviction. While considering what to write about, one of my professors challenged me to think carefully––because the subject I chose might become my life message, the truth I would spend years teaching and living. The question brought me back to my first book, The Heart of a Son. I have often referred to that earlier work as my testimony because it tells the story of how I came to know God as an intimate and loving Father, and how Jesus Christ still transforms lives by joining Himself to the believer and sharing with us His sonship and inheritance. That message remains at the center of everything in these pages. Since writing The Heart of a Son in 2012, much has changed in my life. I have gotten married, became a father of four, pastored three churches, traveled across the United States, and preached in many other countries. Yet through all of it, the message has remained constant: the revelation of the Father and the truth that Jesus, the Son of God, became the Son of Man so that men and women might become the sons and daughters of God. What began as a message has become a mission. It shapes how I pastor, how I engage the community around me, and how I raise my children. I often pray over my children and declare, “Lord, these are Your children in whom You are well pleased.” When I use the term sonship, I am not referring to males alone. Sonship includes all the children of God—sons and daughters, boys and girls—who are invited into the love, identity, and belonging found in the Father through Jesus Christ. Likewise, when I speak of fatherlessness, I am referring to the physical, emotional, or relational absence of a father. These absences often leave deep wounds, distorting identity and shaping lives in ways that extend across generations. Yet fatherlessness does not have the final word. This book explores what Scripture reveals about our relationship with God while engaging both historic and contemporary voices on sonship and attachment. It also incorporates research, including findings from a survey I conducted among 180 participants in the El Paso area. The goal is to develop a Christ-centered framework for understanding fatherlessness, its generational effects, and the pathway to healing, restoration, and identity in the Father through Jesus Christ. The answer is ultimately in Jesus, who reveals the Father and shares with us His love, security, and identity. Through union with Him, we do not receive only forgiveness or healing––we receive identity. As He is the Son, we are brought into that same relationship as sons and daughters of God. This book is both an investigation and a testimony. It seeks to name the reality of fatherlessness while pointing clearly toward the redeeming power of God. My hope is not only to name the pain, but also to point toward healing. These pages are written with the conviction that there is hope for the sons and daughters of God––and that through Christ, what has been broken can be restored. The intention of this second book in The Heart of a Son series is to continue the conversation about God the Father and what that means for His children––how we respond to Him, how we relate to one another, and how the Church can move forward without repeating cycles of fatherlessness. My prayer is that this book will not only inform you, but lead you into deeper revelation and healing. It is written from the heart of a husband, father, pastor, and––most importantly––a son.