Chosen In Love: Your Adoption In Christ

CHOSEN IN LOVE: YOUR ADOPTION IN CHRIST

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon Objective: The show God’s people the special place they hold in Christ and the possibly stir a desire within the unconverted.

Supporting Scripture: Galatians 3:26-4:7; Romans 8:12-17

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

I need to read a related passage. It will be referred to over and over. It comes from Romans 8:12-17 (NASB).

So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

His name is Ron. Ron is a friend of mine who lives in Oklahoma. He was the youth pastor at another church in the community I lived in and we became very good friends. We played Racquetball together, we prayed together, we did ministry together, we had lunch together, and we even took a vacation together and went to a College Bowl game to watch University of Oklahoma Sooners whoop up on Ole Miss!

I knew Ron for many years before I discovered that Ron was … adopted. I was very surprised that he had never mentioned it before. He always talked about his Mom, Dad, and brothers but never added the footnote that they had adopted him as an infant.

The reason Ron never thought to add that footnote was that he never considered his family as anything less than his complete and official family.

Ron taught me a lot about the Biblical concept of adoption. Once he told me we talked about it often … usually at my request. He told me how his family situation had influenced his spiritual situation and how much security he had in God’s love and favor because of his experience. He told me how much gratitude it gave him for God’s grace too.

When God wanted to describe how He wants to relate to us, He used the imagery of “Adoption”. There was something about that imagery that so beautifully described salvation that God “adopted” the concept to describe how we have become part of His family.

Can I share with you some lessons I learned from Ron about adoption?

I LEARNED THAT ADOPTION FLOWS FROM A FATHER’S LOVE. (Ephesians 1:3-5)

I won’t share Ron’s story in detail this morning. Ron may read this sermon or listen to it online and I wouldn’t want to embarrass him. But Ron’s story is similar to millions of others …FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER HIS BIRTH PARENTS WERE UNABLE TO CARE FOR HIM.

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY … ANOTHER FATHER LOVED HIM!

Life can be miserable for a child who is abandoned. But new life and a new start are given whenever someone comes along and embraces the child in love.