As a child, I watched Nigerian movie and some foreign movies in which parents sent their children out of their homes in anger, telling them not to return. They called them all sorts of names, prominent of which was the word “bastard”. A bastard child is defined as an illegitimate child, born in a relationship between two persons that are not married together (i.e. not in wedlock) or who are not married at the time of the child’s birth.
Are you a legitimate child of your parent? Do you resemble them? Are you of the same blood? Do you look, talk, behave and act like them? All these are pointers to whether you are a bastard or not. People will tell you if truly you are a legitimate child or illegitimate child. Maybe I should ask this question, “Who is Your Father?”
A question for you. If you suddenly discovered now, that the person you thought was your father was not your biological father? That all through the years from childhood, the person you have known, lived with, dined with and done everything with was not who you thought he was? And at the time of sharing the will or something very important which required your true identity, you discovered you had another parent somewhere, what would be your reaction?
And more so, the newly discovered parent of yours was someone whom you have had negative encounters with and whom you hated because of his character, attitude and the ill-will he attracted from other people? How would you feel discovering that parent?
Yes, you preached, taught, lived a clean life (in your own eyes) but at the end, you were denied entry into your home.
On the judgment day, Jesus will separate the goats from the sheep. Are you a sheep or a goat?
A bastard or an heir? A son or a slave? Bastards do not have a place in God’s kingdom.
WHY OR HOW CAN YOU BE A BASTARD?
You can be a bastard when and if you are:
a. Walking in Iniquity – lying, evil practices, not bearing fruits for Christ as instructed.
b. Walking in disobedience – partial obedience or total disobedience.
c. Not walking in God’s ways – not walking according to God’s desires.
d. Not matured enough – maturity gives you right access to inheritance.
e. Walking in your own ways – walking in your own ways or wisdom because ‘there is always a way that seems right to a man but the end thereof is destruction’.
Do you know your father? Who gave birth to you? Or have you been disowned by your own very father? Remember, every tree that beareth not fruits (good ones), he will cut away. This means that he will disown them, send them packing, turn his backs on them and they will become wanderers. Of course, they become ready-made tool in the hand of the devil. Whose child are you? God’s or Devil’s?
CHARACTERISTICS OR TRAITS OF BASTARDS VERSUS SONS
a. Bastards do not receive discipline as sons. Hebrews 12:2-12. Bastards hate correction but sons endure discipline.
b. Bastards are unfaithful and disobedient children while sons are faithful and obedient.
c. Bastards are negligent with the things of God and place less value on spiritual things or matters, while sons are not negligent with the things of God but rather place high value on spiritual things or matters of God.
d. Bastards seek to please self rather than please God. Their attention is always to Me, Myself and I. The Son always seek to please God first and others before self. A son’s attention is always on God.
For further readings, kindly read the following scriptures: Matthew 25:31-46, 1 Peter 1:19, 1 Peter 3:8-22; 4:16-19; 2 Peter 2:9-10; 1 John 2:8-17; 1 John 3:1-10; John 8:44.
Briefly to explain Matthew 25: 31-46, “a true son of the father will act the same way his father behaves, he will obey his instructions and other things. The account of Matthew 25 shows that Jesus told the people that he will separate the sheep to the right hand and the goats to the left. Those on the right hand will be called by the father to inherit the kingdom prepared for them and those on the left hand will be told “depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (verse 41). What exactly did they do that those on the right hand were blessed and those on the left were condemned? Because they did not show love to those around them. When you don’t show love to people around you, then you are not a true son or daughter of your father because the Father (God) himself showed love by giving His only begotten son to die for us according to John 3:16.
In conclusion, it is important to note that bastards do not receive any good gifts from their father as an inheritance. They are given nothing and left to suffer. In fact, in most cases, they are not given the surname of their father.
An unbeliever who refuses to heed to God’s instructions automatically shift position to become a bastard and hence, will be denied God’s kingdom and will be sent to gnash his or her teeth in the lake of fire. May we not be told, “Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, I know you not.”
Written by Banjo Isaiah
