WORDS OF DISTINCTION – “Adoption”
Romans 8:14-17
INTRODUCTION: We continue in our SERIES on “Words Of Distinction”. TONIGHT, we will look at the word “Adoption”.
Most of you probably don’t know that I was “adopted”. I was “adopted” at the age of 11, in 1961. HOWEVER, I lived with my birth parents from the time I was born, until the age of 21, when I got married.
CONFUSING? Not really! Turn to Romans 8:14-17.
The Bible tells us that at the time we were saved, we were “adopted” by God into His family. Listen to these verses: Galatians 4:4-5. Ephesians 1:4-6.
Back to Romans 8:14-17. To get a proper appreciation of our “adoption” into God’s family, lets get a better understanding of what Paul was talking about when he spoke of “adoption”. Paul is writing to the Christians at Rome. Under Roman Law, certain things took place when someone adopted a child:
1.- The adopted child LOST all his rights in his old family … and GAINED all the rights as a legitimate son in his new family.
2.- The adopted child became an heir to his new father’s estate. If a son was later born to his new parents, he didn’t lose any of his inheritance just because he was adopted.
3.- The old life of the adopted child was wiped out … including his debts. He was regarded as a new person, and his past was PAST.
4.- The adoption was legally binding, and the adopted child was considered a full and complete son of his adopted father … as if he were naturally born.
When you were saved, you were “adopted” into God’s family.
1.- You LOST all your rights in your old family. You WERE a child of the Devil … AND … being a rightful heir of his … you were bound for eternity in the Lake of Fire. Revelation 20:10-15.
You GAINED all the rights of being a child of God. Revelation 21:1-2. More on this later.
2.- You became an heir of your Heavenly Father’s estate. Your new Father is rich beyond measure. He is the creator of all things, and He owns all things. He has multiplied blessings to pour out on His children … His heirs.
3.- The sins of your past life were wiped out when you were “adopted” by your Heavenly Father. The slate was wiped clean. You became a “new creature”. You were given a NEW NATURE. You were “born again” as a child of God. 2 Cor. 5:17 – “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
4.- Your adoption into God’s family is legally binding. We can’t be “un-adopted” … it won’t be rescinded … our Heavenly Father won’t “disown” us. See Romans 8:35-39.
NOW … let’s examine a little closer our “adoption” into God’s family. Let’s see what it means to us. Paul gives us several CHARACTERISTICS of the “adopted” child.
8:14 – If you are “adopted” into God’s family, you are “led by the Spirit of God”. If you’re still being led around by the Devil … you aren’t a child of God! NOW … that doesn’t mean that you WON’T be TEMPTED by the Devil. BUT … if your life is being lived for the Devil … you can’t be a child of God.
Have you ever known anyone who claims to be a Christian … BUT … lives like the Devil? The Devil has them by the nose-ring, and is leading them around like a dog on a leash.
Jesus said in John 10:27 – “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” If you have been “adopted” into God’s family, you will be led by the Spirit of God. You may not always go where you are led … you may not always do what you are led to do … you may not always be what He leads you to be … BUT … you are “led by the Spirit of God”. OR … you aren’t His “adopted” child.
8:15a – If you are “adopted” into God’s family, you are not living in “fear”. Those OUTSIDE God’s family live in constant fear:
o Where will I be, 5 seconds after I close my eyes in death?
o Is there really an eternal place called “Hell”?
o Will I be judged for my sins … for the life I have lived … for not following God?
o If there really is a God, I’m in BIG TROUBLE!
If you’re an “adopted” child of God, you don’t have these “fears”. These “fears” will keep the lost person in “bondage” … in SLAVERY to their master, Satan. They will never find the PEACE that you have. They will never find the JOY that you have. They will never find the HOPE that you have. INSTEAD … they will be filled with “fear” … BECAUSE … they are subject to their father, the Devil.
BUT … the “adopted” child had a sense of security and safety in his new family. He no longer FEARED what he FEARED in his past life. He is now RESTING is the comfort and joy of his new family … his new Father.
8:15b – If you are “adopted” into God’s family, you have a personal relationship with your Father. You can call Him “Abba”. What does “Abba” mean? “Abba” is only found 3 times in the Bible. It is the Chaldean word for “Father”.
There are usually 2 words in every language for “father”. There is the more FORMAL word, “father”. Paul uses the Greek word ‘pater’ here, for “father”. THEN … there is the more LOVING word that you used for your father … “Abba” … ‘Daddy, Pop, Dad’. My father WAS my father … BUT … I never CALLED him “father” … I called him “daddy”. He would be INSULTED if I called him “father”! He would think I was mad at him! I called my father “daddy”, and my mother “mama”.
Paul is telling us here, that when we were “adopted” into God’s family, we gained a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with God … our Heavenly Father. Jesus had such a relationship with His Heavenly Father. Listen to what Jesus said in Mark 14:36 – “And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.’” Jesus doesn’t have a cold, distant relationship with His Heavenly Father … He came to Him as a loving Father who would do what was best for His Son.
The only other reference to “abba” is found in Galatians 4:6 – “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” We have the same relationship with God, as Jesus had. WHY? BECAUSE … we are ALSO in God’s family.
8:16 – If you are “adopted” into God’s family, you will EXPERIENCE it. It’s ONE THING for an adopted child to read the legal paperwork. It’s ANOTHER THING for him to be included as a part of his new family. You can KNOW that you are in God’s family. You can also EXPERIENCE being in God’s family. There’s a difference! It’s MORE than just a legal transaction that took place when you were saved.
As a child of God, you have the Holy Spirit living within you. He gives you the assurance that you are God’s child.
o When you are in turmoil, He gives you peace.
o When you are in doubt, He gives you hope.
o When you are unsure, He gives you wisdom.
o When you are weak, He gives you strength.
The Holy Spirit is the Person who makes your adoption REAL to you. If your Christianity is merely a creed … a religion … a formality … a ritual … if you are only going through the motions … THEN … you haven’t been “adopted” into the family of God. The Holy Spirit will make it REAL to you. Romans 8:16 again.
8:17a – If you are “adopted” into God’s family, you are an HEIR of God … along with His other Son, Jesus. This means that you have a rich INHERITANCE waiting for you.
NOW … you aren’t saved because you want the inheritance you will receive. BUT … when you are saved, you will receive an inheritance as a RESULT of your salvation. Let me explain the difference.
Some preachers will approach a lost person and say: “Do you want to go to Heaven when you die?” NOW, who in their right mind would say “No!”? HEAVEN is a part of the INHERITANCE. It’s not WHY you are saved … the MOTIVE for being saved. It’s the RESULT of being saved. If you say the “sinner’s prayer” and “accept Christ” just because you want to go to Heaven, you are just fooling yourself. BUT … if you repent of your sins, and trust Christ to save you because you are a lost sinner and deserve an eternity in Hell … then Jesus will save you. The RESULT of your salvation is HEAVEN. It’s not the reason WHY … the MOTIVE for being saved.
That’s like a person who wants to be President so he can live in the White House. Living in the White House is the RESULT of being President … NOT the reason for being President (I hope!). Being President means accepting the responsibilities and duties of being President. It means living the life of a President … every day. It means being devoted to your calling and “election”. It means being faithful to your position. Living in the White House is just the RESULT of being President … NOT the MOTIVE for being President.
If you are a child of God, you have a RESPONSIBILITY to your Heavenly Father … to live for Him in love, obedience, and faith. 2 Peter 1:10 – “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:”
8:17b – If you are “adopted” into God’s family, you will have a FUTURE inheritance to enjoy. As “heirs of God”, we not only get to partake in a PRESENT “inheritance” … BUT … we have a FUTURE “inheritance” to enjoy. See 8:22-23.
Our enjoyment in being a child of God is LIMITED while we’re here on this earth. We will enjoy our FULL INHERITANCE when we get rid of this old body and get to our home in Heaven. That’s when our “adoption” will be complete. That’s when we will enjoy our “inheritance” in the fullness of His riches.
MEANWHILE, we will have to “suffer” like Jesus did while He was here on this earth. He was hungry … He suffered pain … He was rejected … He was tempted … He was betrayed … He wept … He “suffered” while He was here on this earth. We are not exempt from pain and suffering here on this earth.
HOWEVER … someday, we will be “glorified together” and be with Jesus. Paul gives us HOPE in 2 Cor. 4:17 – “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;”
What Paul is saying here, is, “No pain, no gain.” Our present sufferings can’t be compared to the future glory that we will share with Jesus when we get to Heaven. We are “joint heirs” with Jesus. That means sharing in the suffering, as well as the glory.
CONCLUSION:
Do you know anybody who was “adopted” by an earthly family? They’re special! Their parents CHOSE them. My parents didn’t CHOOSE me … they got ME, whether they liked it or not! I didn’t CHOOSE my children. I didn’t pick them out … they didn’t pick me out. I had to take what I got (and I’ve been blessed!).
BUT … God CHOOSE you! God picked you out. God “adopted” you. Jesus said in John 15:16 – “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit …”. When you trusted Christ to save you, you were “adopted” into His family.
Why do people adopt? They adopt because there is an empty place in their heart, that needs to be filled. God adopted you, because you are special to Him. You fill an empty space in His heart. Somebody once said: “If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it; if God had a wallet, your picture would be in it.”
God desires fellowship with you … that’s why He “adopted” you. That’s why He opened up His home to you.
Even though we are “adopted”, people should still see a “family resemblance” between us and our Heavenly Father. People should see some common traits between those of us who are in the family of God. We are brothers and sisters “in Christ”. We share the same Heavenly Father. We are a child of the King!
STAND – PRAYER
OUTLINE FOR HANDOUT:
WORDS OF DISTINCTION – “adoption”
Romans 8:14-17
INTRODUCTION: When you were saved, you were adopted into the family of God – Galatians 4:4-5, Ephesians 1:4-6.
1.- The adopted child lost rights to the old family … and gained all the rights as a legitimate son in the new family.
2.- The adopted child became an heir to his new father’s estate.
3.- The old life of the adopted child was wiped out.
4.- The adoption was legally binding.
- The LOST inherit the Lake of Fire – Revelation 20:10-15.
- The SAVED inherit Heaven – Revelation 21:1-2.
- The adopted child is a new creation – 2 Corinthians 5:17.
- You can’t become “un-adopted” – Romans 8:35-39.
8:14 – The adopted child will be led by the Holy Spirit.
- If you are being led by the Devil, you are not a child of God.
8:15a – The adopted child won’t live in fear.
- The lost are filled with fear, and in bondage to their father.
8:15b – The adopted child has a personal relationship with his Heavenly Father, calling Him “Abba, Daddy”.
- Jesus had such a personal relationship – Mark 14:36.
- We are in God’s family – Galatians 4:6.
8:16 – The Holy Spirit makes our relationship with our Heavenly Father REAL.
8:17a – The adopted child has a rich inheritance.
- Heaven is the RESULT of salvation … not the REASON to be saved.
- We have a responsibility to our Heavenly Father – 2 Peter 1:10.
8:17b – We also have a FUTURE inheritance – 8:22-23.
- As “joint-heirs” with Christ, we will have to suffer like He did until we see Him in glory – 2 Corinthians 4:17.
CONCLUSION:
- Adopted children are SPECIAL … they have been chosen – John 15:16.
- God loves you more than you could ever imagine!
- You are a child of the King!
PRISCILLA BAPTIST CHURCH – Ray Scott, Pastor
