Opening illustration: When John F. Kennedy was president of the US, photographers sometimes captured a winsome scene. Seated around the president’s desk in the Oval Office, cabinet members are debating matters of world consequence. Meanwhile, a toddler, the 2-year-old John-John, crawls around and inside the huge presidential desk, oblivious to White House protocol and the weighty matters of state. He is simply visiting his daddy.
Do we really know what it means to be children of God? Let us turn to Romans 8 and find out …
Introduction: That is the kind of shocking accessibility conveyed in the word Abba when Jesus said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You” (Mark 14:36). God may be the sovereign Lord of the universe, but through His Son, God became as approachable as any doting human father. In Romans 8, Paul brings the image of intimacy even closer. God’s Spirit lives inside us, he says, and when we do not know what we ought to pray “the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (v.26).
Jesus came to demonstrate that a perfect and holy God welcomes pleas for help from a widow with two mites and a Roman centurion and a miserable publican and a thief on a cross. We need only call out “Abba” or, failing that, simply groan. God has come that close to us.
In fact John 1:12, Romans 9:8 and 1 John 3:10 tell us who are and who aren’t the children of God.
Who are the children of God?
1. Led by the Holy Spirit (v. 14)
Often when people speak of the Holy Spirit they associate it with an extraordinary or spectacular event. We tend to let stories like the tongues of fire that appeared on the heads of the apostles (Acts 2:3) or the dramatic conversion of St. Paul on the road to Damascus define our understanding of how God works in the world. And there is little question that many acts of God are astonishing.
But just as notable is the way God works in a mundane manner. When Paul speaks of the power of the Spirit in our verses he points to our inclusion in God’s family. The Spirit makes us “children of God” (8:14) and so intertwines our lives with Christ that we now understand God as a Father or even a “Daddy” (as Abba might be translated -- see 8:15). In addition, Paul suggests we are now “heirs” with Christ (8:17). In other words, all that the Son shares with the Father (peace, life, righteousness) has now been bequeathed to us as well.
In most cases the Holy Spirit usually does not try to draw attention to itself but rather works on us to strengthen our relationship of faith in Christ. This means the Spirit is very busy indeed. In our stumbling attempts at faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit is at work, overcoming our own desire to be in control. When we seek comfort, the Spirit reminds us of Christ’s seeking of the lost sheep and his forgiveness to a betrayer like Peter. When we need correction, the Spirit calls to mind Christ’s injunction against the love of money or the need to forgive - even those we classify as enemies.
Those who wonder about the Spirit’s presence in their lives need only look to their struggling faith in Christ and they will find plenty of evidence. Left to our own devices, we wander far from the source of light and truth. But the Spirit has other plans. God’s Spirit continually reaches out to embrace and encourage us.
Being led by the Holy Spirit may at times be a fearsome experience. The first thing the Spirit does after descending upon Jesus in his baptism is to drive him out into the desert for a frightening encounter with the devil (Mark 1:12-13). Think about that … the desert … a place traditionally identified with temptation and trial. People should be cautioned about associating the Holy Spirit with “playing it safe” or material abundance. As a wise, older pastor once told me, the “Spirit brings us to where the pain is.”
The Bible does not articulate that God wishes things like depression for his children. God can certainly work through depression to achieve God’s will, but preachers will caution against a passive acceptance of suffering in all circumstances. However, those caught up in the Spirit, that is, those joined to the zealous love of Jesus Christ, should not be surprised that it leads to conflict, struggle and trouble. After all, the Spirit not only drove Jesus to the desert; it also propelled him on a ministry that would eventually lead to the cross. Is your life, motives and agenda CROSS focused … that is truly being led by the Holy Spirit?
2. Received the Spirit of Adoption (v. 15)
Some of you may be saying at this point, "Look, you are confusing me. What do you mean when you say we are adopted into the family of God? I have been taught from the Scriptures that I was born into the family of God. I have been born again." That is the term that is being bandied about these days. Even politicians are boasting, "I've been born again!" Thank God, some of them are. "But," you say, "some passages talk about the new birth, about being born into the family of God. I thought we were born, not adopted. What do you mean by adopted?" I am glad you asked that question. You see, the truth is that both of these are true. You are both adopted and born into the family of God. As Jesus said on another occasion, "With man that is impossible, but with God, all things are possible," (Matthew 19:26). You can't be both adopted and born into a human family, but you can in God's family. God uses both of these terms because he wants to highlight two different aspects of our belonging to the family of God. You are said to be adopted because God wants you to remember always that you are not naturally part of the family of God. There is no spiritual birth (born again) without Christ.
We have been seeing all along in this letter that we are born into Adam's family, and we are all children of Adam by natural birth. We belong to the human family, and we inherit Adam's nature. All his defects, all his problems, all the evil that came into his life by his acts of disobedience - all these were passed along to us by natural birth. So by nature we are not part of God's family. This is just like some of you, who were born into one family, and, then, by a legal process, were taken out of that family and were adopted into another family. From then on you became part of the family that adopted you.
Illustration: I was with a family couple of months ago where there were two adopted children and two natural-born children. I watched all evening long to see if I could tell which were the adopted ones and which were the natural ones. I finally had to ask the parents because I couldn't tell any difference -- even with their looks. Two were adopted into the family and two were natural-born children, but they were all treated so beautifully and so naturally that I couldn't tell the difference.
This is what has happened to us. God has taken us out of our natural state in Adam, and, by the process of the Spirit, has made us legally sons of God, and we are part of his family. But he reminds us that we are in his family by adoption so that we might never take it for granted, or forget that if we were left in our natural state we would not have a part in the family of God. It is only by the grace of God that we come into his family. But it is also true that we are born into God's family. Once we have been adopted, it is also true that, because God is God, he not only makes us legally his sons but he makes us actually partake of the divine nature and we are born into his family. We actually share the nature of God! It is an amazing statement! This tie with Jesus is so real that we are seen to be actually one with him, and we share the divine nature. Peter puts it this way: "We have been made partakers of the divine nature," (2 Peter 1:4 KJV). So we are as much a part of God's family as if we had originally been born into it, and we are born into it by the grace of God.
There is another level of assurance of our son-ship mentioned in the closing part of verse 15: "And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" Abba is the Aramaic word for father. Of course, the Greek word is translated "father" here also. So, by means of the Spirit, we are given an emotional response to God in which we are aware of his fatherhood, and our soul cries out within us, "Abba, Father." Abba is a baby's word. In Roman adoption, the slaves or the bonded slaves did not have the right to call Abba.
Illustration: I remember years ago hearing this story about Dr. Alan McRae, a great Bible student and Hebrew scholar. Sometime after the McRae's baby boy was born, Dr. McRae had to go away for three or four weeks. When he came back, this wife was showing him how the baby had learned to say a few words. When Dr. McRae, this eminent Hebrew scholar, came in, his little son stretched out his arms and said, "Ab-Abba, Abba!" Dr. McRae said, "Look, he's speaking Aramaic already!" The closest and most intimate relationship you can have is the awareness that you belong to a father, with a father's arms around you, a father's heart concerned for you, a father's wisdom planning for you, and a father's love protecting and guarding you. If you have ever sensed the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of Jesus, it is because the Spirit of God has awakened your heart to sense that you belong to the family of God.
This is the deepest level of assurance. Beyond the emotions, beyond the feelings, is a deep conviction that is born of the Spirit of God himself, an underlying awareness that we cannot deny that we are part of God's family. We are the children of God. I think this is the basic revelation to which our emotions respond with the cry, "Abba, Father." That is our love to him, but this is his love to us. It is what Paul refers to in Romans 5 when he speaks of the love of God "which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit which is given unto us," (Romans 5:5 KJV).
Adoption guarantees the following seven things to every believer:
• You are a full member of God’s family.
• You have full rights and privileges in heaven.
• You have immediate access to God.
• You belong to his family.
• You bear his name.
• You have a full share in the inheritance he promises his children.
• Satan has no claim on you because you are no longer a part of his family and he is no longer your father.
How is Adoption Applied?
• Adoption means that you have a new family - the old name is gone forever & God is your Father.
• Adoption means that you have a new privilege – family membership, new name, address destiny.
• Adoption means you have a new responsibility – you don’t feel like a second class citizen.
What does all this mean?
• You are rich now. Don’t live like a vagabond.
• You have the Holy Spirit. Don’t live in the flesh.
• You have access to God. Use it.
• You have brothers and sisters. Lean on them.
• You have spiritual gifts. Put them to work for Christ.
• You have been set free from Satan’s power. Don’t mess around with the devil anymore.
• You have a new family. Stop living like you belong to your old one.
3. Joint Heirs to the Glory of God (vs. 16-17)
It was Paul's picture that when a man became a Christian he entered into the very family of God. He did nothing to deserve it; God, the great Father, in his amazing love and mercy, has taken the lost, helpless, poverty-stricken, debt-laden sinner and adopted him into his own family, so that the debts are cancelled and the glory inherited. Behind every adoption, there is tragedy. The backdrop is suffering. Something has to go down … Here; the context for adoption is a broken, fallen, groaning world. Scripture is clear that apart from suffering there will be no glory. It was this way for Jesus ("Did not the Son of Man have to suffer these things, then enter into glory"). It is the same for Jesus’ followers. (cf., 1 Peter 4:13) Notice we are “heirs with Christ.” Union with Christ means that we share in his sufferings and in his glory. Jesus prayed that we would be with him, and see his glory, and share in his love (John 17:24). How do I receive all of these benefits? How do I receive adoption? It is through Christ. The inheritance in view here is not something which God intends to give us, but rather it is Himself that intends to give us. Notice it is “Heirs of God.” What do you get if you are adopted? You get God. The supreme benefit of glory is God.
If we are co-heirs with Christ, our inheritance is secure because there is absolutely no doubt that Jesus will inherit all that the Father has ordained to give Him. In Psalm 2, the nations rage against God and seek to throw off the lordship of His anointed king. But God, who sits in the heavens, scoffs at these proud earthly kings. And then Messiah responds (Psalm 2:7-8), “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord; He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession.’” It is certain that Jesus will inherit all that the Father has promised to Him. And since we are fellow heirs with Christ, our inheritance is secure. Our right to the riches of heaven is not because of anything in us, but because we are in Christ. But, what does our inheritance look like? It is glorious with Christ.
Application: Are you a child of God? Are you sure that you’re a child of God? That is the main source of assurance. But, how can you know if your faith is genuine? Is the Holy Spirit confirming to you the wonderful truth that God has adopted you into His family? Part of that confirmation is that you often find yourself crying out to the Father for help and grace in your time of need. And the Spirit repeatedly confirms to you the many promises that God gives to His children.
