Title: Are you truly a child of God?
Before we came to Belize we owned a screen printing business. In case you don’t know what that is, it is a company that applies images to t-shirts and other textile products. One day a man came to the counter wanting us to print several designs for him. When he pulled the designs out of his briefcase I was surprised to see they were vulgar, even pornographic. I said "I’m sorry we can’t print these" and explained to the man that we were Christians. The man became quite angry and stormed out of the office. Later that day I received a threatening phone call from the man. He told me he was going to make an example of me... During the conversation he stated. "Aren’t we all the children of God?" This is not only a great question; it is an important question!
Today I find that almost everyone thinks they are a child of God. It doesn’t seem to matter if you are Hindu, Buddhist, animist, new age or Christian or none of the above, almost everyone seems to hold the belief that they are a child of God. But is that true? Have you ever wondered who the real children of God are? Does God possibly have anything to say about this?
Some people trust in the fact that they grew up in a Christian household. I once had a customer who was heavily involved in the occult and hypnotism and who also insisted that he was a Christian. I asked him, "Why do you think you are a Christian?" "Well", he said, "because I have just always been one."
Others trust in the fact that they are religious.
Once a man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy street. Suddenly, the light turned yellow in front of him. He stopped at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.
The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration as she had missed her chance to get through the intersection.
As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.
After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.
He said, "I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the ’What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ’Choose Life’ License plate holder, the ’Follow Me to Sunday-School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally...I assumed you had stolen the car!"
Does being a "Christian" mean that you are a child of God? Would you like to know for sure if you are God’s child? Today, I want to challenge you to examine yourself by God’s Word to see if you are truly His child.
In Romans 8 verses 9-17 the apostle Paul addressed this issue of being a child of God If you have not found the passage yet, would you please turn to it as we answer the question: How do you know if you are a child of God?
The apostle Paul wrote this letter we now know as "Romans" to a group of gentile Christians living in Rome. Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire, but it was also a center for Pagan worship. In the midst of all the religious activity going on around them, Paul wanted the Christians to have concrete ways to be certain they were the Children of God. He presented a great Biblical truth in Romans, which he also declared in I Corinthians 4:20. He said "the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." This statement contradicts the popular belief that simply claiming to be a child of God is enough. How can you tell if you are truly a child of God? In our text this morning Paul tells us plainly that a real child of God is lead by the Spirit of God and that a real child of God is confirmed by the Spirit of God. Won’t you please join me today as we consider who are the real children of God
Lets look first at how a real child of God is led by the Spirit of God. Paul makes the point in verses 9 thru 11 that if you are a child of God then the Spirit of Christ must be in you. He said "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" This is the BIG dividing line right here. Those who do not have the Spirit of Christ within them are on one side of the line. God says that these people are not His. They don’t belong to Him. He is not their Father. On the other side of this great dividing line, we have those people that have the Spirit of Christ...and they are Gods Children.
But the Holy Spirit is invisible to the natural eye. So how can you be sure that you have the Spirit? When the Holy Spirit comes into a person He makes His presence felt. It happens in the same way that your presence is felt in your home. When you go home today and walk into your house, I want you to notice how the furnishings are arranged. You have a table in a certain place and chairs placed a certain way, a picture on one wall, a different one on another. Why are they arranged that way? They are arranged that way because that is how you like them. This is the same kind of thing that happens when the Spirit of Christ comes into a person. He begins to arrange the" furniture" of your life to His liking. He makes His presence felt by changing the things you like and dislike. For example, maybe you used to enjoy getting drunk. Once time a young fellow told me he had been working so hard that week that he was going to get "smashed" that night! He said he deserved it. That was his BIG reward. People who don’t belong to God usually find a way to reward themselves with sin. The person who has received the Spirit of Christ suddenly discovers he doesn’t want to do those things any more. This is what Paul meant, in verse 13, when he said it is through the Spirit that the deeds of the body are mortified or put to death. The Holy Spirit changes the things you want to do.
Now some folks outwardly appear to be good. They may or may not be religious...but they try to live a good life. Often times they even go to church and try to follow the Ten Commandments. However sadly, these things are only external. It is like guys getting all cleaned up with a fresh shave or ladies putting on nail polish or fancy clothing. These things are all externals. Trying to live by a code of conduct is external and can not change a person on the inside. In these verses we see that it is only when the Holy Spirit comes inside of a person, that real change of heart is possible. This change is one way to be certain that you are a child of God.
In verse 14 the apostle Paul tells us plainly who the real children of God are. He said "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God". Who are the real children of God? The real Children of God are those that are continually being led by the Spirit of God - further and further away from sin. That is what Paul was talking about here. This is a process of change called sanctification. If God is truly your Father, then He is going to change you, so that you begin look like Him. A plain teaching of the Bible is that the one you look like... the one you resemble...is your Father! Jesus told the Pharisees "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." Who is your father? Take a look at the Word of God and compare it with your life. Who do you most resemble? The one you most resemble is your true father.
Does this mean that the child of God will never fall into sin? No! But it does mean that if you do fall into sin the Holy Spirit within you will lead you out of it. If you are comfortable and happy living in sin, according to these verses, you have every reason to doubt that you are a child of God.
Now we have already seen that the Spirit of God leads the child of God. He not only leads them out from sin, but in verse 15 we see that He leads them into a close personal relationship with the Father. The Child of God cries "Abba Father". The word "Abba" means "Daddy". This is an expression of intimacy and love. This intimate relationship is only possible when the child of God obeys the Holy Spirit and turns from sin. Jesus said in John 14:23 "If a man love me, he will keep my words." Then Jesus told us what would happen next. What happens? He said, "My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." Obedience to the Spirit brings a real relationship with the Father, but this is only possible for the true Child of God.
Now that we have seen that a real child of God is lead by the Spirit of God, lets also consider that a real child of God is confirmed by the Spirit of God. In verses 16 and 17 Paul told us two ways a genuine child of God is confirmed by the Spirit. The first way is this - "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." This verse means that only God can make Himself real to you. Jesus said in John 14:20 "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." When the Spirit of Christ is inside of you He becomes real to you. That is the first way He confirms to you that you are His child.
The second way that the Spirit confirms you are a child of God is found in verse 17. You will suffer with Him. Suffering with Christ does not include the normal aches and pains or circumstances that afflict all of mankind. This suffering with Christ is directly the result of people recognizing Christ in you and hating you as a result. Jesus said in John 15:21 "But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not Him that sent me." This suffering with Christ is directly a result of the work of the Holy Spirit within you. The more you become like Christ, the more you will suffer with Him. Someone once said that the greatest thing that can be said about any Christian is that those who love Christ will also love you, and that those who hate Christ will also hate you. The hateful treatment you receive from those who hate Christ, is yet another confirmation by the Holy Spirit that you are truly a child of God.
How can you know that you are a child of God? If you are a child of God you have the Spirit of Christ within you. He makes His presence known by leading you out of the bondage of sin. Then he leads you into a personal relationship with the Father and He verifies that you are His child by making Himself real to you. He also confirms that you are His child when you suffer for His names’ sake.
Are you His child? Did you know that if you aren’t, you can still become part of His family?
Years ago in London, living down in the slums, there was a prostitute. She had a little son. But one day She became terribly sick. She was frightened because she knew she was dying so she told the little fellow, "You go get a minister to get me in." The little son went out looking for a church. He looked and he searched a long time before he found a very imposing looking church. He went around to the rectory, and the minister came to the door when he rang the bell. The minister looked at this little urchin and said, "What do you want?" The little boy replied, "My old lady is dying. She wants you to come and get her in." At first the minister thought the boy meant that his mother was out drunk somewhere, so he said, "Get a policeman. It’s raining tonight, and I don’t want to go out. Get a policeman to get her home." The little fellow said, "She’s already home. She’s not drunk. She is home in bed, and she is dying. She wants somebody to get her in, and she wants me to get a minister. Would you come?" The minister was stunned for a moment. He knew that he should go, that he couldn’t turn down a request like that, so he got his coat and umbrella, and he went with the little fellow. They walked and walked and came finally to a very poor section of London. They climbed the creaky stairs which led to an upstairs bedroom.
All the way over, the minister had thought, What will I say to her? I can’t say to her what I have always preached to my people. He had always told his congregation that they were people of culture and refinement and religion, that they were to keep that up and continue to be very cultured, refined and religious. He thought, What in the world can I say to her? I can’t even tell her to reform. She ought to be reformed, but it is too late now. What can I tell her? Then he remembered that as a boy his mother had always quoted John 3:16, and in desperation he turned to that verse when he sat down beside this woman. It actually wasn’t too familiar to him, but he read it to her: "… God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The dear woman wanted to go over the verse with him. She said, "Do you mean that in spite of the type of person I am, all I have to do is just trust in Jesus?" He said, "Well, that is what it says here. It says that God gave His Son to die on a cross. It says, ‘As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up’ (see John 3:14). That is what I read here, and so that is what you are to do." This dear woman, before she died, right there accepted Christ as her Savior. The preacher himself told the story afterwards, and he said, "That night I not only got her in, but I got myself in."
Friend, are you sure that you are in the family of God? The verses in Romans we’ve been studying were given to us so that we might examine ourselves and see if we are truly His children. The way you become His child is by putting your trust in Jesus as your Savior. Won’t you come to Him today?
