“The Revealing of the Sons of God”

Jehovah subjected the creation to futility “on the basis of hope” that one day freedom would be restored to the human family through the activities of “the sons of God.” Who are these “sons of God”? They are disciples of Jesus Christ who, like the rest of “the [human] creation,” are born enslaved to sin and imperfection. By birth they have no rightful place in God’s clean, perfect universal family. But Jehovah does something remarkable for them. Through the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ, He frees them from bondage to inherited sin and declares them “righteous,” or spiritually clean. (1 Corinthians 6:11) Then he adopts them as “sons of God,” bringing them back into his universal family.​—Romans 8:14-17.

As Jehovah’s adopted sons, they will have a glorious privilege. They will be “priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth” alongside Jesus Christ as part of God’s heavenly Kingdom, or government. (Revelation 5:9, 10; 14:1-4) This is a government firmly established on principles of freedom and justice​—not on oppression and tyranny. (Isaiah 9:6, 7; 61:1-4) The apostle Paul says that these sons of God are associates of Jesus, the long-promised ‘seed of Abraham.’ (Galatians 3:16, 26, 29) As such, they play a key role in fulfilling a promise God made to his friend Abraham. Part of that promise is that by means of Abraham’s seed (or, offspring), “all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves.”​—Genesis 22:18.

When does “the revealing of the sons of God” begin? Very soon now, when Jehovah makes it clear to all who the sons of God are. This will be when these “sons,” resurrected to the spirit realm, share with Jesus Christ in cleansing this earth of evil and oppression at God’s war of Har–Magedon. (Daniel 2:44; 7:13, 14, 27; Revelation 2:26, 27; 16:16; 17:14; 19:11-21) We see around us mounting evidence that we are deep into “the last days,” when God’s long tolerance of rebellion and its resultant wickedness will end.​—2 Timothy 3:1-5; Matthew 24:3-31.

While “waiting for the revealing of the sons of God,” you may cultivate the confidence the apostle Paul had in Christ’s protective care and support, even when sufferings and injustices seem almost unbearable. After discussing the revealing of the sons of God, Paul asked: “Who will separate us from the love of the Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword?” (Romans 8:35) Of course, Christians in Paul’s day were still, to use Rousseau’s words, “in chains” to repressive forces of one kind or another. They were “being put to death all day long” like “sheep for slaughtering.” (Romans 8:36) Did they allow that to overwhelm them?