Predestined To Adoption Series

Predestined to Adoption

1. The Action – His Predestination

a. Definition

i. to decide or determine beforehand

ii. This is accomplished, like election, before time

iii. Election is the choice of individuals, predestination is the end appointed for them

b. Passages

i. God’s revealed wisdom

But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. (1 Co 2:7)

ii. Certain future events

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. (Ac 4:27-28)

iii. The goal for those whom he has foreknown and chosen

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Ro 8:29-30)

c. The doctrine

i. God’s purpose is choosing individuals is to bring them into a personal and intimate relationship with himself.

ii. Our reception of the blessings and privileges implied in adoption, is not of our own merit, but is wholly of God, his initiative and authority.

2. The Result – His Adoption

a. The Nature of Adoption

i. Status

1. We are given his name

2. We are given the Spirit of His Son

3. We are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ”

God and all that God is, all that God has, is our eternal possession

4. We are given a certainty of our final redemption (Romans 8:23)

ii. Character

1. Participation in his nature

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature (2 Pe 1:3-4)

2. Conformity to his image

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Ro 8:29)

3. Holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4)

b. Adoption accomplished through Christ

i. By means of his mediation

1. Those who are adopted were at one time “sons of disobedience” and “children of wrath” (2:2,3)

2. They are made children only because of the redemption that has been accomplished through his blood (1:7)

ii. He is the first-born

c. Adoption is TO GOD

i. Its ultimate enjoyment and blessing is in God

ii. He becomes our Father – we enter His household– we receive His welcome – we are given his name – we possess his image – we receive his discipline – we will live forever in his presence.

iii. To Himself we are adopted

3. The Ground – The Purpose of His Will

a. Man’s Motivation for adoption

b. God’s motivation for adoption

i. God enjoys the praises of thousands of angels who never fell into sin

ii. God has rejoice in the fellowship of His only begotten Son from all eternity

iii. If God loves and adopts us, it can only be because he was pleased to do so – it seemed good to him.

c. The purpose of his will

i. Will – what he intends and has resolved to do

ii. Purpose (pleasure) – Signifies the delight he takes in his plans, his joy in doing good

4. The Goal – The Glory of His Grace

a. Not mere result, but final purpose

i. Man receives salvation – we get the blessing

ii. God’s glory is put on display – he gets the praise

b. The glory of his grace

i. His grace is his divine, undeserved, favor

ii. Its glory is its fullness and freeness

“It shrinks from no sacrifice, averts itself from no species or amount of guilt, enriches its objects with the choicest favours, and confers upon then the noblest honours. It has effected what it purposed – stooping to the depths, it has raised us to the heights of filial dignity” (Eadie)

c. The ultimate goal of God

“This, then, was his great and ultimate end, that the glory of his grace should be seen and praised, that this element of His character should be exhibited in its peculiar spendour, for without it all conceptions of the Divine nature must have been limited and unworthy…Therefore to reveal himself fully, to display his full-orbed glory, was an end worthy of God (Eadie)

5. Our Response

a. Praise

b. Hope and Confidence – Your life has purpose