OPEN: James Dobson tells of the time he was away on a business trip. While he was away, and his wife and 2 children were sitting down to eat, his wife turned to their two year old son Ryan and asked if he would like to pray before he and sister ate.
The invitation startled the little boy, but he folded his little hands, bowed his head and said reverently,
“I love you Daddy, Amen.”
(James Dobson, Focus On The Family Magazine April 07 p. 18)
APPLY: Now, who was little Ryan praying to?
(His earthly daddy)
Why?
Because, in his child-like mind – his earthly father WAS God. His earthly father was most powerful being he knew.
Granted, it was bad theology.
But in his childlike mistake Ryan hit upon a truth.
You see, when you I become Christians God - the most powerful being we could possibly know – God became our Father.
Paul writes in Galatians 4:4-7
“…When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the FULL RIGHTS OF SONS.
BECAUSE YOU ARE SONS, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, <"Abba>, Father." So you are no longer a slave, BUT A SON; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
This is a repeated theme throughout the New Testament.
Romans 8:14-16 for example says “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that WE ARE GOD’S CHILDREN. Now if we are children, then we are heirs— heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
John wrote: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called CHILDREN OF GOD! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1
And earlier in Galatians, Paul had written: “YOU ARE ALL SONS OF GOD through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Galatians 3:26-27
Now, this is a unique relationship that God has given us.
We are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Until Jesus came… that hadn’t happened before.
The people of the OLD Testament had a special relationship with God, but they were never called “the Children of God.”
They were known as the PEOPLE of God.
They were known as the CHILDREN of Israel.
But they were NOT called the “children of God.”
But, at one point in the Old Testament, God declared that this was going to change. He said He was going to establish a NEW relationship with His people. He was going to create a new contract with them – a New Covenant.
The Apostle Peter quoted an OT prophecy when he told the Gentile Christians: “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:10
Now, what prophecy was Peter referring to?
It was from Hosea 1:9-10.
And in that passage God declared:
“In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” Hosea 1:10b
God declared we’d be called “sons of the living God” - a phrase never before used in Scripture. Long before Jesus was born… and lived… and died… and rose again God had decided that when we became Christians, we would be called “the sons of the living God.”
We were allowed that privilege because God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
So, because of Jesus, we now have full rights as sons.
We have been adopted by God.
What exactly does that mean?
Well 1st it means– we’re not under the Law.
Galatians 4:4-5 says “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
We’re sons.
We’ve been redeemed from UNDER the Law.
Those UNDER the Mosaic law lived UNDER the strict rules and penalties of that Law.
ILLUS: Imagine driving down the road going 3 miles over the speed limit. How many of you have ever done that?
(Some of you aren’t telling the truth).
You see red and blue lights in your rearview mirror and you pull over. A policeman steps up to your window and gives you a ticket.
Did he have a right to give you that ticket?
Yeah.
Why?
Because the LAW decreed a certain limit... and you were over the limit set by Law. You broke that Law, so you are subject to the penalties of that Law.
Romans 3 tells us that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
We’ve all broken God’s Law and thus we are subject to the penalty of that Law.
And, what’s the penalty? It is death.
“…the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23
ILLUS: But now, let’s say you’re driving down the road. This time, however you’re going 10 mph over the limit. How many of you have ever gone 10 mph over the speed limit?
(Some of you aren’t telling me the truth again).
You see the red and blue lights in the mirror and you pull over. You’re busted. You were wrong. They’re going to write you out a ticket for sure.
Up walks the policeman and you look up… it’s your dad.
You tell him you were wrong, you shouldn’t been going over the speed limit and you’re not going to do that again.
He doesn’t write out a ticket.
He gives you a warning.
Why would he do that?
You’re his son.
You are repentant… and so he gives you a warning.
Can he do that?
Of course he can.
He’s the lawgiver. He’s the one who hands out the penalties.
Why did you escape the penalty of the Law?
Because you were related to the Lawgiver. You were His Son.
That DOESN’T mean you should disregard the law.
It just means that you have been spared the penalty of that law.
Why? Because you were the son of the Lawgiver.
“…the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Through Jesus Christ, we have escaped the penalty of the Law.
But wait, there’s more –
Galatians 4:6 says “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, <"Abba>, Father."
Being called a son of God is NOT just some glorified “get out of Hell free” card. It’s an invitation from God to be HIS child. To receive His blessings and to live with Him and spend time with Him for all eternity.
ILLUS: Imagine being approached by one of the wealthiest and most respected men in the nation. He’s come to town and during his visit he meets you. He takes a liking to you. He likes you so much, he has a deal for you.
He wants to adopt you.
He wants to make you his child.
You will be heir to a fabulous fortune.
You will live in a mansion.
You’ll eat at his table.
And when you receive your inheritance, you will have no worries for the rest of your life.
Does that sound like a good deal to you?
Sounds like a GREAT deal to me!
And that’s precisely what God has offered us.
Here in Galatians 4:7 we’re told “… you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”
(PAUSE) But now, wait a minute…
I’ve spent the last 3 weeks talking about how we are servants of God.
I’ve explained that when we call Jesus LORD we are declaring He’s our Master, that he owns us. He owns everything we have.
And since I am His servant, Jesus expects me to work on His behalf.
And He wants me to be a profitable, useful servant for Him.
I’m a servant of God.
But I’m a child of God?
That doesn’t SEEM to make any sense.
And yet the Bible teaches both ideas.
Now – here’s how it plays out.
1st – we’re servants - NOT slaves.
We’re servants who’ve made a choice to follow God.
A slave has NO CHOICE about who his master is.
But we do have a choice and we made that choice when we turned our life completely over to God.
But 2ndly – we ARE children of God.
We’ve been adopted to be His sons.
And because of that we live as those who have gone beyond servanthood.
In Scripture, a proper son/daughter was one who honored their parents. The 4th of the 10 commandments says "HONOR your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12
And Malachi 1:6 says that both a good son and good servant are expected to do this – to honor the one to whom they belong. In Malachi 1 God says: "A SON HONORS HIS FATHER, and a SERVANT HIS MASTER. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty.’
If we are a good child of God, or a good servant of God we will show it in the honor we give to our Father. But how do I honor Him?
1John 3:10 tells us: “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who DOES NOT DO what is right IS NOT A CHILD of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”
Thus, if we’re children of God…we will honor God by striving to do right things, not wrong things because we know He will be pleased with that.
But now Philippians 2:14-15 carries it one step further: “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, CHILDREN OF GOD without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe”
We should do what we do for God with such a spirit of joy and excitement that the world sits up and takes notice. We must not be seen as those who complain or argue.
Have you ever complained?
Have you ever argued?
Of course you have, and I have.
But as children of God we’ve got to get out of that mindset.
Well, have you ever watched a child who’s asked to do chores?
Do they often complain? Do they even argue?
Yes they do.
ILLUS: I recently talked with a man who adopted a couple of boys from Africa.
When they went to that continent and visited the ‘adoption agency’ they were struck by how bleak the atmosphere was there. The children had come out of an atmosphere of poverty. They had once been clothed in rags, and struggled to find food to eat. They had been on the verge of death from malnourishment.
But now, here was the couple from America telling two of these boys:
”We want you. We want you to come live with us in America.”
And they adopted them and brought them home to a wonderful land.
These boys now live in a home with loving parents.
And when mom and dad ask them to wash the dishes they huff and the puff for a little… but then they realize they have dishes to eat off of. They have food to make those dishes need washed. So they pick up the dish rag and they go to work.
Why do they honor their parents this way?
Because they are grateful for what they have.
They know the powerful gift their new parents have given them in adopting them and they appreciate it.
And so they wash dishes gladly.
And they make their beds.
They clean their rooms
Brush their teeth… and on and on and on.
They are grateful children and so they joyfully do their chores.
That’s why the Bible is so filled with an emphasis on our being thankful and grateful. Because it is only in being grateful that we honor our Heavenly Father. We are those who joyfully do the work He’s set before us… and when we do that, the world sits up and takes notice.
Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” Matthew 5:16
So now - I’ve been adopted by God.
I have gone beyond mere servanthood.
I have become His child.
But, how did I get to be adopted?
Well, Galatians answered that question in chapter 3.
“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Galatians 3:26-27
What two things does Paul say here I had to do become God’s son?
Faith and baptism.
Which came first?
Faith.
If I had not believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God and that He died for my sins, I could get wet 1000s of times and it would have done me no good.
But having believed, God called me to be buried in the waters of baptism and risen up from those waters – a new, reborn, changed adopted SON of God.
According to scholars, that’s how Gentiles (who wanted to become Jews) were adopted into the Jewish faith. According to Alfred Eidersheim and others, Gentiles who converted to Judaism were “immersed” in water. And at the point of their immersion it was said that they were “born again” or reborn.
That’s what Jesus was referring to in John 3 when He told Nicodemus "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” John 3:5
That fits everything else we know about faith and baptism in Scripture. For example Jesus said “Whoever BELIEVES and is BAPTIZED will be saved…” Mark 16:16
CLOSE: Now that we’ve become adopted by Jesus we’re His children.
Our lives have been changed, and our future is assured.
And we need to live like those who are grateful for the gracious gift of His salvation.
ILLUS: The story is told of a farmhand who had worked for a married couple for several years.
As time went on, the couple grew older and older and they couldn’t do as much they had and the farm was beginning to look a little shabby.
The paint on the barn… was pealing.
The fences had holes in them and slats were loose.
The gravel road had potholes in it.
Shingles on top of the farmhouse were beaten and weathered and needed replaced.
But as the farmhand made his was to milk the cows each day, he thought: What is that to me? It’s not my farm.
Then, one day the farmer and his wife asked him to come for dinner.
They told him how much he had meant to them.
They told him that they had no children to inherit the farm
So they wanted to give it to HIM when they died.
The next day, the farm hand was walking to the nursing barn, he noticed the paint on the barn.
In a few days he’d painted the barn, fixed the fence, and in the next few weeks he was putting a new roof on the farmhouse, and putting new gravel on the road.
Why would he do that?
What made the difference in his attitude?
He was now an heir.
And as a Son he began to treat the old farm different than he ever had before.
And so it is with us.
We are heirs to the Kingdom of God.
And because we are heirs we have the joy of knowing that what we do, we do because of the fabulous gift of salvation our Father has given us.
But some here today are not children of God.
Some of you have not yet allowed God to adopt you into His family.
INVITATION
