Sermon Illustrations

Adoption In Christ Frees Us From Satan

An illustration from history past can help us realize the significance of being children of Almighty God - an amazing concept! The image of emaciated babies and young children sitting in cribs, in a stark, ill-equipped Romanian orphanage blazed across the television screens around the world - burning deeply into the memories of many shocked individuals!

It was after the fall of the late ruthless Romanian politician, Nicolae Ceausescu (1918 - 1989), in 1989; and, conditions in Romania were awful: the children at the orphanage were malnourished - disease and death were frequent visitors! The good news was that when Ceausescu fell, the plight of the children became worldwide news; and, compassionate people from all over the world responded generously - pouring food, medicine, and money into the orphanage!

The most dramatic effort of love and compassion, however, was made by the many individuals who struggled through all of the red tape to adopt the orphans! Instead of being children of a ruthless dictator and a Communist "godless" government, they became children of parents who longed to love them and provide for them a life with hope and a future!

Almighty God has done something similar for each and every one of us! We live in a world that is dominated by a ruthless tyrant - Satan! The Holy Bible - the written Word of Almighty God - tells us that Satan is "the ruler of this world" - that he is the "god of this age" - and, that he has blinded the minds of people so that they do not believe in Christ Jesus! Those who reject Jesus, the Christ, as their personal Lord and Saviour, are called the children of the devil!

This, of course, directly contradicts the concept of what has been called the "universal fatherhood of Almighty God and the brotherhood of man!" To say that Almighty God is the loving Father of all people and that no one will ever be judged as worthy of hell is a statement that is contrary to what Jesus, the Christ, taught; and, what the Holy Bible says about who will qualify to be a child of Almighty God!

In 1 John 3:7-10 (NLT), we are told: "Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it is because they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. (v. 8) But when people keep on sinning, it shows they belong to the Devil who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the Devil. (v. 9) Those who have been born into God’s family do not sin, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they have been born of God. (v. 10) So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the Devil. Anyone who does not obey God’s commands and does not love other Christians does not belong to God."

Sources:

5 "www.wikipedia.com," (Erwin W. Lutzer), accessed 27 February 2010; (Nicolae Ceausescu), accessed 02 March 2010.

From a sermon by George Dillahunty, Our Family Status! 3/2/2010

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