“ADOPTION in Christ”
Romans 8:15-17
(I was originally going to entitle the today’s message “Sonship”, but I wanted to make sure that I immediately didn’t exclude about half of the audience! When God’s Word talks about “Sons of God”, He is not excluding females; Females can become “children of God” too when they are adopted into God’s Family.)
We have been looking at Romans for the last few weeks. We looked at Romans 8:12-14 last we: “So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; (We have a debt to God and God has the RIGHT to place OBLIGATIONS upon us!) 13 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. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
For a believer in Christ, the debt for our sins has been paid at the cross, but A BELEIVER HAS A DEBT, an obligation because He has given us a NEW LIFE by the Spirit of Christ. However, We still find ourselves still battle, not with God, but with the sin that is still within us, with temptations without, with worldly influences, challenges of all sorts, but the HOLY Spirit of LIFE, that includes the Gospel of PEACE, Christ’s Righteousness applied to us, the Truth of Christ, the Sword of the Spirit (God’s Word), His Salvation applied to our hearts and Minds, ALL cause us to be equipped to fight against the sin that is within and without (Remember the study of the armor of God for 7 weeks?)
The conflict of the “I’s” within us, (the battle between flesh and God’s Spirit) means that we DO FIGHT and we WILL FIGHT with GRATITUDE to God BECAUSE our sin debt has been “paid in full” by our Lord Jesus. We want to live for God. We live with a debt OF GRATITUDE TO PAY, and With God’s help, I am BEING LED BY HIS SPIRIT to put to death the deeds of the flesh and to Walk and Live BY and IN the Spirit.
It’s a battle, isn’t it? It doesn’t just include a list of what you SHOULDN’T DO as a follower of Christ. I have a long list of attitudes that have to be sanctified, HOLY God-ATTITUDES. I have a list of things that I SHOULD DEFINITELY DO as a person who has been graced with God’s forgiveness and His Spirit of Life. I want my life to be in line with Christ and the Righteousness that He gave me. I want to be Holy because the God who saved me is Holy and He has called me to be part of His Holy Kingdom.
I am God’s work in PROGRESS by HIM, and NOW I want to cooperate WITH Him FULLY. This is a humanly unbelievable thing that has happened to me- A NEW LIFE IN CHRIST.
The ADOPTION
I am a son of God, a Child of God, and in Romans 8:15, God explains to me how it happened: “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of SONSHIP (ADOPTION, Child-ship). And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
In the past, why were you fearful? At one point in your life and spiritual journey, you had to have a realization of the enormity of your sin and your own inadequacy to do anything about it, and you became fearful of God’s punishment because of your sin. You realized that you were dangling by a thread over the impending punishment of God. You said to yourself: How can I ever save myself? Am I going to be able to meet God’s demands? What about if I have the wrong idea of God? What if I have the wrong revelation? My life isn’t doing it, I’M NOT DOING IT? I need Christ!
You would never come to that point without the Spirit of God helping you to see your own precarious sin-situation and then giving to you God’s alternative: ‘I WILL SAVE YOU.” “But you received the Spirit of SONSHIP (many versions translate it ADOPTION, Child-ship). And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
THERE is history to God’s adopting you. God orchestrated SOMETHING in your life so that you heard about the Gospel. He called you to view Christ’s work at the cross. He then caused you to be regenerated, giving you a spiritual rebirth. He caused you to turn from the fear you had of condemnation to faith alone in Christ, not by your works but by His grace. When you were CONVERTED, He gave you a new legal standing, transferring YOUR DEBT to Christ, (He imputed Christ’s righteousness to your account and declared you NOT GUILTY by reason of Christ.(Justification-He looks at you now as if you never sinned. NOW GOD GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO BE IN HIS FAMILY and you receive the Spirit of ADOPTION.
Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 1:3-6: 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: “He predestined ( He placed or ordained) us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (that is, according to HIS GOODNESS, not mine.) 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
My wife and I had an adopted son, and I spoke with another adopted person this week and I asked what it meant to be adopted; the answer was this: “I was placed in a family that was not my own.” That’s the way it is with God’s adoption: God CHOOSES to place us in His Family, and He can do that because He is Father God! Parents adopt children, not the other way around. God adopts His children on the basis of HIS choice and HIS ability to save, not in the least on theirs. God “adopted” ME; I didn’t adopt Him. We come to faith and respond to God because he has chosen to work in us His miracle of saving grace.
TWO SPIRITUAL FAMILIES
One of the lies that satan has used to placate, appease and destroy the unbelieving world is that “everyone is a Child of God”. WE ARE NOT ALL CHILDREN OF GOD according to God’s Word. Physically there have been billions of families in the world, but SPIRITUALLY, according to God’s Word, there are only TWO SPIRITUAL FAMILIES. Jesus really made this clear distinction in His ministry; He describes the world’s population, PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE as belonging to one or the other of these two families.
One family consists of those who are SPIRITUALLY DEAD, NO spiritual LIFE whatsoever; this originally included everyone who was ever born physically; they were BORN in sin and continue to live in sin and will die in sin. Most of the World has lived and died in that family. They may not call the devil “father”, but there is NO evidence in their lives that they belong to God’s family. (We’ll talk more about that in a minute!)
The other family consists of those whom He makes SPIRITUALLY and eternally ALIVE IN CHRIST; God chose to put His SPIRIT INTO SOME dead people, make them truly ALIVE, and adopt them into His Family. HE WOULD SANCTIFY them to SAVE them and then continue to make them more and more into His image, until they die or He comes again. As a result of HIS MIGHTY WORK, they have a desire to follow their Heavenly Father, who has revealed Himself to them in HIS Creation, the Bible, by His Spirit and in these last days, in Lord Jesus Christ.
This is how 1 Peter 2:9 describes those who are called to be HOLY: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” And in verse 5, he says: “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5) People sometime wonder why GOD doesn’t choose to save everyone, but that is not the point at all: The WONDER is why would He choose to save ANYONE!
Call me “Father”
The last portion of verse 15 says: “And by him we cry, (cry out loud) "Abba, Father." “Abba” is the Aramaic form for the word “Father”. It is the personal, intimate, reverent, relationship name by which Jesus used to address His Father. It is the name that True fathers tell their very own children: “Call me Dad!” It’s what Adoptive Fathers tell their adopted children: “Call me Dad.” It is what Jesus tells you to call His Father because You are part of His eternal family, bought by His own blood. You FINALLY have a father who REALLY LOVES you and has DEMONSTRATED it in the most extraordinary way. He gives you the benefits of being adopted by Him!
Colossians 1:21 tells us: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds (hearts and souls) because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—(23 says: if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.)
How can I know this for sure? One way is that God says, (vs16) “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.” That Spirit says that it is by the grace of God that you are saved, not of yourself, it is the GIFT of God, and you are being given the position and privileges of being a Redeemed Child of God. God’s Spirit IN you CAUSES you to recognize God’s spiritual adoption OF YOU.
I know God is MY heavenly Father and I am part of HIS family. Every time that I meet with God in private, I know that I am on Holy Ground in His Holy Presence. God pays very close attention to me and my needs. Every time that I meet with other children of God for Bible Study and prayer, I know that WE have been chosen by Him and incorporated as part of God’s HOLY KINGDOM. That’s what our worship and our lives should be about!
Are you in the “will” of God?
Vs. 17a says: “Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” The last question I would ask is, ”Are you in the “WILL” of God?” By this I mean several things. First of all, in order to be an heir to anyone’s estate you have to be in the WILL to be a beneficiary. Revelation speaks about your name be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
The person who owns the property writes you into the WILL, not you. But if you are not in the Will, you get nothing from the estate.
A “WILL” has to be witnessed by someone else. Has the Holy Spirit’s signature been applied to your heart as the witness and confirmation that God has approved you to be adopted and an heir of His estate?
Jesus is the so-called “firstborn” of the family of God, so He is the heir to the greatest share of the estate, and He deserves the first portion! To a great extent, Jesus, along with the Spirit, is the executor of the WILL of God. He will be certain that you receive your portion, but you have to ask yourself IF you are following His INSTRUCTIONS and His Spirit.
You receive part of God’s inheritance now, right now, but you will have to wait for the fulfillment in the future as God shares WITH US His “inheritance” us in HIS Kingdom that IS YET TO COME. Examine yourself, NOT to see if you are ‘GOOD ENOUGH” to be in God’s Will, but if there indications of God’s Redeeming and Saving Work being displayed in your life? If you don’t see fruit of His Spirit, I urge you to not delay in seeking His Mercy in sincerity and humility. God’s Word is still true: Ask Him, Seek Him, Trust Him, Knock on His Door! He still answers!
OUTLINE
ADOPTION in Christ
Intro: Romans 8:12-14: With God’s help, I am BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT, to put to death the deeds of the flesh and Walk (LIVE) in and by the Spirit.
I. There is HISTORY to God’s Adoption.
II. God’s adoption: God CHOOSES to place us in His Family
III. Two Spiritual Families: One is DEAD; One is ALIVE in Christ.
IV. God’s Spirit IN you CAUSES you to recognize God’s spiritual adoption OF YOU.
V. Are you in the “WILL” of God?
1.You have to be in the WILL to benefit.
2.The person who owns the property writes you into the WILL
3. It has to be witnessed by someone.
4. Jesus, along with the Spirit, is the executor of the WILL of God.
5. Follow His instructions and His Spirit.
Ron Tuit New Hope Bible Church
