CHRISTIANS ARE GOD’S CHILDREN (Outline)
August 14, 2011 -
Pentecost 8 -
ROMANS 8:12-17
INTRO: From last week to this week our texts take us from slaves to children. This is quite an adjust-ment for our Christian character to comprehend. There is a wide gap between lives as slaves to sin com-pared to living as a child of God. Such is the overwhelming love, mercy, and grace of our heavenly Father. God’s grace turns us from slaves into his beloved children. Listen to Jesus explain this astounding fact to his disciples. "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you" (JOHN 15:15). Jesus called these men into the very family of God. Jesus called these men to serve God. We turn once again to the Scriptures to learn more about our relationship with our heavenly Father.
CHRISTIANS ARE GOD’S CHILDREN. I. We are always sinful. II. We are always loved.
I. WE ARE ALWAYS SINFUL
A. God’s word in Romans is addressed to believers who are the first generation to hear of Jesus’ life.
1. Previously believers trusted in the promises of God to provide a Messiah or Savior to save.
2. The generations of God’s promises were now fulfilled in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
B. Verse 12. Paul uses the term “brothers” to teach these believers they belonged to God’s family.
1. These believers owed a debt. The debt was not to serve their sinful desires any longer.
2. They owed a debt of love and thanksgiving to Jesus. Jesus lived, died, and rose again for them.
C. Verse 13. The sinful nature would and could only produce death, not life. God’s Spirit lived in them!
D. Scripture reveals that mankind is sinful. Not one person can escape the results of sin. Not one person can escape the responsibility of being sinful. Our own wickedness, rebellion, and sins show up every day in every one of our lives. There is no escape. We may try to deny sin. We hear about sin. Sin is real. Sin is really dangerous. We have learned about sin. We know about our own sinfulness. We are not always so eager to admit how truly sinful we are. What does God word say to us? "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time"(GENESIS 6:5). Out of our hearts comes hatred, murder, lies, adultery….
E. The temptations of this world are always around us. Satan sneaks into our lives and tries to lead us astray. Our own sinful nature tries to justify our terrible thoughts, wicked words, and evil actions. Worse we sometimes think that we are not as bad others. We can always find someone else who is far more sinful than ourselves, or so we think. Satan would have us think that we can work our way into heaven. Even our own sinful nature feels smug satisfaction in doing good things. We may even boast or brag about what a good person we have become. This is a mind as a slave to sin. "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away" (ISAIAH 64:6). Everything we do is tainted by sin that lives in us.
F. It is not at all pleasant to hear about our sinful nature. We do not like to admit that we are disobedient to our heavenly Father. Recognizing our sinful shortcomings is a blessing from God. When we recognize our sinful nature we recognize the evil that is not only in this world but also in our own lives. By God’s grace we know what is wrong in our lives. By God’s grace we also see what is right in God’s sight. By God’s grace we are given the ability and the strength to wage war against our willful wickedness. "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want" (GALATIANS 5:17). The world around us lives in darkness. None care what is right in God’s sight. We do care and can do right.
CHRISTIANS ARE GOD’S CHILDREN. We are sinful human beings, always. God loves us, always.
II. WE ARE ALWAYS LOVED
A. These believers came to know and believe they had no worthiness of their own to offer to God.
1. The fact is that they had lived much of their lives serving their sinful natures. This was death.
2. Verse 14. The Holy Spirit lives in them, leads them. They are now sons of God. God’s grace.
3. Verse 16. The gift of the Holy Spirit is faith. By faith they are made God’s children.
B. Verse 15. These believers no longer served sin. They no longer had to fear eternal punishment.
1. They received the spirit of sonship from their heavenly Father. They have Jesus’ boldness.
2. “Abba, Father” was a term of endearment. Jesus used this in the depth of his suffering.
C. Verse 22a. Here was the great change for the slave to sin who is now counted as God’s child.
1. The slave had nothing. The child in the family was the heir. Sons would inherit everything.
2. Verse 22b. These believers knew Jesus sufferings. They would inherit eternal glory.
D. You and I also share in the suffering of Jesus. This does not mean that we will be spit upon, wear a crown of thorns, or be crucified. We share in the suffering of Jesus by knowing what Jesus’ suffering and death means for the world and for each one of us. We believe in Jesus’ suffering that save us. You and I will also eventually share in the glory of Jesus, perfectly. We know, believe, and confess these powerful truths because of God’s holy word. "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone" (EPHESIANS 2:19, 20). Christ is the chief Cornerstone of our Christian faith. The teachings of the apostles and prophets are the words of the New and Old Testament. Upon Christ and the Scriptures we are built into God’s house as living stones.
E. As Christians, we are God’s children. This is one of the most profound statements and astounding truths of God’s word. We are given a lifetime to fully comprehend the depth of the meaning of the grace of God shown to us. "Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers" (HEBREWS 2:11). Think about this truth. We know Jesus. Jesus is holy. Jesus is perfect. Jesus is sinless. Our sinless Savior Jesus calls us sinful people his brothers. We know Jesus’ Father. The Father of Jesus now calls us his children. Amazing grace!
F. Once again, you and I and every believer are reminded of the great change that takes place in our lives because of God’s great love shown to us. God has revealed his love through Christ to all of mankind. It is only purely by God’s free grace that we can confess, “Christ died for my sins, for me!” This changes our lives from serving sin to loving God our heavenly Father. "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again" (2 COR. 5:14, 15).
CONC: We are all well acquainted with family relationships. We have our own families. We are mem-bers of families. We know what it is to be disappointing and disobedient to our parents or other family members. Our family forgives. Our family still loves us in spite of our disappointing disobedience. Our heavenly Father is perfect. We sin daily. We sin much. We sin always. In spite of our disappointing dis-obedience God still, always loves us. "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). CHRISTIANS ARE GOD’S CHILDREN. Even though we are always sinful we are always loved because of Jesus sinlessness. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
PENTECOST 9 rdgs: JOEL 3:12-16; ROMANS 8:26, 27; MATTHEW 13:24-30, 36-43; (PSALM 18)
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