This winter I want to dwell on the subject of salvation. Because the more we understand our salvation, the more we understand our identity as Christians, our mission as a church, and the more we appreciate and worship the God of our salvation. I’ve been gone a few weeks, so let me remind you where I left off. Sin.
Introduction: Sin is defined in a variety of ways in the Bible. It is . . .
1. Sin is missing the mark. It is an archery term. You shoot for the bulls eye, and anything outside the bulls eye is a miss. It might be pretty good, but it isn't perfect.
Jesus laid out the standard when he said, "Be perfect as my Father is perfect." Hitting the mark is doing what God created us to do, being who God created us to be. It is living life to the absolute full. All the time. It isn't just the absence of evil, but the complete presence of good. When we don’t do the good we are called to do we call these sins of omission–things we SHOULD have done but didn't. If you see someone who needs your help and ignore that, you sin.
2. Sin is trespassing–stepping over a line that we shouldn't step over. You aren’t suppose to take things that don’t belong to you. You see a nice iPod in the store and it fits in your pocket, so you cross the line and steal it. You might say this is the original sin. God said to Adam and Eve, "Eat fruit from all the trees, but not this one tree." That was a line. Crossing that line, eating the fruit, was a trespass, a sin.
3. The real heart of sin, though, is childish rebellion. Plain defiance to the authority of God. Like a two year old child who hears mommy say, "No," but does it anyway, we are rebellious creatures. We defy God, his authority, his definition of right and wrong, when we sin. I'm going to do it MY way!
So sin is this combination of missing the mark, crossing the line, and rebelling against God.
All of that, according to the Bible leaves us . . .
I. Orphaned
Psalm 51:3-4 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.”
A. Sin destroys relationship.
1. It destroys relationship with other people.
2. And, worst of all, with God. We were born, created, to have an ongoing relationship with our Father God. Sin breaks it. And like the Prodigal Son we live in a strange land amidst pigs, spiritually starving, lonely, and dying. “Orphan” is an image of the horrible result of sin. When our relationship with Father God is severed, then we are left spiritual orphans.
3. Orphans are also a reality in this world: kids without parents, left homeless and cut off from the God-given means of raising healthy children. One of the saddest images of the broken human condition is an orphan–homesick, alone, discarded.
4. We visited an orphanage in Delhi. Pastor Varghese Thomas and his wife (Valsamma) started an orphanage about ten or twelve years ago that now has around forty children. We met them all in the Thomas’ living room and then followed them to the orphanage to see where they lived.
a. For some reason I never look forward to visiting orphanages. I should, but I don’t. And I wondered why on this trip. I think it is because orphans are a result of the brokenness of the world. Kids shouldn’t be abandoned. It is on of the saddest realities of our world.
b. But I am always surprised by the joy that I find in every orphanage I visit. Because they are Christian orphanages. The kids are loved, cared for, they are given hope and a future. They are happy. It’s like they know where they COULD be (alone on the street), they know where the ARE (in a place where they are loved) and they are happy! They feel fortunate (ironically, they feel more fortunate than our own kids who have their own rooms and all kinds of toys and a set of parents). The orphans have a sense of being adopted.
5. Listen to Jesus in John 14:18. John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Our sin has cut us off from God, orphaned us, but the good news is: we are still loved and
B. Our Father is still alive.
That brings us to Ephesians 1. We’ll start at verse 3.
Ephesians 1:3-13
Praise 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. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 hec predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to 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.
11 In 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, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” The good news in this passage at the beginning of Ephesians is that we are
II. Adopted
“He predestined us to be adopted” Predestination is not something that the theologian John Calvin invented. It is biblical. Bible believing Christians believe in predestination. They disagree on how to interpret and apply the concept. But you can’t be a Bible-believing Christian and say, “I don’t believe in predestination.” because it is right here in the Bible.
From the text in Ephesians 1 we learn that
A. Predestination centers on adoption. It is all about relationship. It is NOT determinism–saying that everything that happens in the universe is caused and determined by God. There is no real freedom or choice in this fictional universe.
1. Predestination is God working before we are aware (of his work or maybe even his very existence) because the creation of the world, to ADOPT us. It is the sovereignty of God, using all things to accomplish his will in our lives. To adopt us.
B. This process is driven by love. Verse 4: “In love he predestined us.” When I hear the word “predestination” I think of a cold theological term, NOT passionate, pursuing love.
1. Adoption is about love. Relationship. Predestination is the heart-broken father watching and waiting for his wayward son to return home.
2. Actually predestination is not Father God passively waiting, but actively pursuing the wayward child.
3. Romans 8:28-30 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. [Christians love this verse, and often stop reading and miss one of the most fundamental ways God shows his love for us! They miss HOW God is at work to accomplish his purpose. Predestination.] 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. [the language of love relationships] 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
4. We don’t have to dissect that passage and define every word to see that God is at work: foreknowing, predestining, calling, justifying, and someday glorifying. Romans 8 highlights the teaching of Ephesians 1 (same author!) that God is at work in our lives to ADOPT us into his family.
C. The emphasis is on God’s work. Adopting a child is not an easy process. It is complicated and costly, it takes time and money and on-going planning. AND a very deliberate decision of the will. To love unconditionally.
1. The kid basically just shows up. The parent does all the work, the planning.
2. The focus of Ephesians 1 is God’s work: his initiative, his action, his choosing. The focus is NOT on us, our will, our choice, but God’s “to the praise of his glorious grace” (vs. 6).
3. That is not to say that we are completely passive. That is not biblical, not a Christian view of the world.
a. John 1:12-13 “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”
b. We need to receive, accept Jesus. This passage talks about our faith response to God’s work of grace. But even here the emphasis is NOT human decision, but “born of God.”
4. Adoption. A parent deliberately choosing a child. In love, welcoming him or her into the family. As a parent taking care of all the obstacles and details that might prevent the adoption, working to make it happen, maybe for years on end. Paying the price, preparing a loving, safe home.
a. The child must consent (receive him, believe in his name) but basically they just show up.
b. Who did the work? The Father. The emphasis of this text is that God chooses us in love.
5. Probably because of sin, but also because of our American mindset (independence and self-reliance), we struggle with election and predestination, and adoption. It doesn’t seem fair or logical. We don’t understand it, so we are tempted to reject it, even though it is biblical.
a. Romans 9 deals with this very issue. Romans 9:14-16 “What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.” Adoption is all about God showing his mercy to sinners by working to make us his own children.
b. A few verse later the text asks this profound question. Romans 9:23-24. “What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory-- 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?”
6. One of our fears is that the universe is rigged, that we are being manipulated by God toward some predetermined end. We aren’t puppets whose strings are being pulled to a certain predetermined end (No. We are real boys!). Let me suggest a totally different perspective:
D. Life is orchestrated, not rigged.
1. Rigged means “manipulated”. It is cheating. Rigged elections are when people think they had a vote, a choice, but the results were predetermined because of corruption, stuffing ballot boxes, using force to prevent certain people from voting. Subir explained that the reason communists rule West Bengal state in India, the form of government that has produced Calcutta with it’s inhumane poverty, is that the elections are rigged. Rigging is selfish, power-grabbing, using and manipulating people.
2. Orchestrating (think conductor) is taking many parts to create one harmonious, beautiful, song. Glorious and rich and praiseworthy. So, here is some free dating advice:
a. People (girls) like it when we have a thoughtful plan. People (girls) like it when they know we have thought IN ADVANCE about them, what they like, and come up with a thoughtful, pre-arranged plan. So a boy who shows up for a date and says, “What do you want to do?” and she says, “I don’t know. What do you want to do?” and he says, “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” is off to a bad start.
b. In contrast, a boy picks up a girl and takes her to Ixtapa, because he knows that she loves Mexican food. He has a bouquet of daisies on the table because he knows that she loves daisies. He has made a CD mix of her favorite songs which they listen to on the way to the restaurant. Then they go to the symphony because they are playing Mozart’s concertos and he knows that she loves Mozart. If this is their first date, all of that might be creepy. But he is showing tremendous love for her by planning, orchestrating a perfect evening. This might be a good night to “pop the question” because this is one well planned event. How could she say no?
(1) You can’t force a girl to love you, but you can show your love and how well you know her by your pre-planning, thoughtful orchestrating.
(2) She can say “no”. But she will be saying no to someone who really knows and loves her.
3. That is God’s good work–before we knew he existed, God began to show his love for us by orchestrating our adoption!
E. The result is greater praise of God.
1. The result of understanding our adoption, getting some glimpse at the process of God working to choose us, is greater appreciation of the tireless love of God, and therefore, greater love and praise of God. We are like kids at a loving orphanage, on that is truly a home: there is joy, laughter, happiness, praising God.
2. Read verse 3: It begins with praise. Ephesians 1:3-4 “Praise 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. 4 For he chose us in him . . .”
3. Every spiritual blessing. This is a great home to be adopted into!
You can’t talk about adoption without focusing on . . .
III. Home
I think about home a lot when I’m gone for two weeks (I am away from home). Home isn’t just a location, an address, a house or building. It is a place of belonging, a place where you are loved and needed, a place that isn’t the same without you and that you aren’t the same away from it.
A. Home is where we belong. Home is where you feel . . . . at home. A place where you can relax, be yourself, be totally accepted for who you are. If you walk around in your underwear, hopefully you are at home.
1. When someone we like comes into our home (not a salesman) we say, “make yourself at home.” We want our guests to relax, know that they are accepted and that they belong here. We want them here (we don’t necessarily want them to disrobe and walk around in their underwear).
2. Home is where we belong. Sin orphans us and makes us homesick.
B. Salvation is a homecoming. Think back to the text from Romans 8:29. “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Many brothers. Home, with Jesus, the firstborn. Jesus died on the cross to seal our adoption, to pay the price for our adoption. Such adoption is terribly costly, but the price has been paid for you and me to come home, to have a home, to enter a place of spiritual belonging.
1. Jesus says this to his homesick disciples. John 14:1-3 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
2. In this passage Jesus tells adopted orphans that he is going to prepare a home for us. A home.
3. We visited two “homes” in Calcutta that our church has supported. One is a home for boys, one a home for girls. We spent a beautiful morning playing with the girls. Then we photographed and interviewed them because we want to find sponsors for each child at these two homes. For $35 a month you can sponsor one of these kids and provide food and clothing and education for them. My goal is to find sponsors for all these kids–currently 48 girls, 72 boys. (What was interesting and unexpected was that I felt at home there–I’ve been there enough that I felt comfortable, that I belonged there that day.) Girls and boys from filthy streets and garbage dumps know that this place of love and belonging has been prepared in advance for them. They belong. They are happy. Fulfilled. Living with hope and a future.
Challenge: Jesus has prepared a place for you, a home. You need not be a homesick orphan living on the garbage heap of your sin.
After Jesus describes the reality of home to his disciples, he says:
John 14:4-6 4 You know the way to the place where I am going." 5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus is the way to the Father. He is the one who arranges your adoption. Isn’t it amazing that god has orchestrated YOUR adoption? YOU have been adopted. YOU are chosen. YOU are deeply loved. The papers are signed, the price has been paid, the home has been arranged, you simply have to
Show up! Accept the gift that is freely given. Receive him, believe in his name, and you will have the right to be called a child of God.
