*. I understand that tonight, on the Hallmark Station, they are beginning a new Sunday night television series called, “Adoption. They will share all kinds of heart warming stories about adoption.
*. I wish I could help them with the first story. I’ve got the perfect adoption story for them to hear. Now I may be a bit biased, but I’m sure my story will warm the hearts of millions.
*. This Thursday is Christmas and my family, like never before, is going to celebrate Adoption. And I would like to invite you to do the same! Now, you may never have thought about it like this, but Christmas is a story of Adoption!
Galatians 4:4-7: 4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
Christmas is the story of the Predestination of the Incarnation for the purpose of Redemption and Adoption. In other words, God’s plan was to send his Son to this World for the purpose of our Adoption and Salvation.
I. Predestination: Christmas is God’s idea! Christmas was planned by God!
*. “When the time had fully come!” At just the right time Jesus came! What made it the right time?
" . . . having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." -Ephesians 1:5
1. Humanly speaking.......
A. Pax Romana– a great time of peace.
B. Greek the Universal language–
C. Roman roads made travel and the spread of the gospel so much easier.
D. 400 + years of silence. No prophet, no Word from the Lord. Moral decadence. People were eagerly awaiting a Messiah!
2. Theologically speaking...... God’s plan was right. God’s plan of Christmas was from the beginning!
II. Incarnation: Christmas is all about God becoming flesh.
A. His Divinity... “God sent his son!”
B. His Humanity... “Born of woman”
C. His Sympathy.... “Born under law”
D. His Duty... “To redeem those under law”
III. Adoption: Christmas is all about our Adoption.
“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
*. Full Rights of sons... Father’s Name, Father’s Love, Father’s Character, Father’s Relationship, Father’s Choice, Father’s Access, Father’s Provision, Father’s Discipline, Father’s Family, Father’s Estate
A Father–
Spirit of Jesus–
Intimate Relationship with God
Heir...
What does Micah have that no other child in this world have?
Adoption was the legal action by which a person takes into his family a child not his own with the purpose of treating him as and giving him all the privileges of his own natural child. An adopted child was legally entitled to all rights and privileges of a natural-born child.
When the Apostle Paul speaks of our spiritual adoption by God he uses the word huiosthesia - (huios - a son) (thesis - a placing), to place as a son, the place given to one to whom it does not belong.
*. Adoption is the result of Grace! We do not deserve a thing and it’s not a bad thing to be reminded of that fact! Our adoption highlights the Grace of God.
During the process of adoption there were seven witnesses required to be present. If anyone later accused a son of not being adopted then one of these seven witnesses were to step forward and declare his true sonship. Paul said that God’s Spirit witnesses with our spirit to declare that we really are God’s children. Because the Holy Spirit testifies on our behalf we can cry out to God with confidence and say to him, “Abba!”
What significance is there in the word “Abba?” Abba is a word that could not have been spoken by a mere slave, for it is a very intimate word reserved only for the closeness between a father and his son that is earned either after the child’s coming of age or after his adoption. Verse 6 tells us that the word Abba means, “father,” but Abba actually can be translated, “Daddy.” That’s a very special word, especially today, because there are many people who don’t know what it is to have a Daddy. If you want someone who will always be there for you and be a true father to you, then call upon the Lord as your Daddy. If you believe in Jesus as your Savior, then God will accept you as his own son or daughter.
We are no longer members of Adam’s family. We have a new father. We have a new head of the family. God the Father loves us and wants us to become members of His family. All of our inheritance from Adam with its sin and death has been cancelled out and we are now members of another family. God is now our Father and Jesus is our big brother! What a privilege and honor to be members of His family.
*. Adoption means I have a new Life....
1. A new Father–
2. A new Spirit–
3. A new Position–
4. A new Prayer–
5. A new Future--
*. Adoption occurs at Baptism (Galatians 3:27-28). You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
John, in his Gospel begins the Christmas story like this: John 1:1ff–1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it...........10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
*. Jesus was given up for adoption so that we could be adopted!
*. Christmas has nothing to do with a chubby man in a red suit distributing presents to satisfy or to actually stir up our wants for more. The Santa lie serves only to distract from the real reason for the season. Christmas is all about our adoption into the Family of God. “For God so loved the world that he gave up his one and only son (to be adopted so that we could be adopted) and whoever believes in Him will not perish but have every lasting life.”
There was a elderly man who had a disabled son. One day the elderly Father died and the disabled son was left being cared for by the servants. While his father was still living he had a artist paint a picture of his son and being proud he had hung it on the wall all the years of his life. Now the disabled son was dying and family members could not wait for they were eager to gain the wealth of the Father from the son’s death. The son finally died and the attorney was setting everything in order selling possessions and because of the faithfulness of the servants he gave them the opportunity to choose one thing from the house as a gift for taking care of the elderly man’s disabled son. Some quickly chose furniture and jewelry and yet the son’s nurse only asked for the painting of the son that had hung proudly on the wall. As the men where taking it from the wall they found an envelope was taped to it’s back, with the words “Last will and testament and it gave the Father’s name.” The attorney stopped all that was going on in the house and began to read the the words written by a loving father. Tears began to stream down his face as he began to read the will...” Family members and servants were growing impatient and asked well what does it say? The attorney replied to them simply it says: “He who loves my son, is heir to ALL that I have.”
Is not that like Abba Father … He who loves my son is heir to all that I have…
*. Whether born as a son, or adopted as a son, God sees no difference! (Gal 3:29).
*. Abba– denotes child like intimacy and trust, but not disrespect.
Christmas is a time to Praise Him, to Worship Him and to Thank Him!
In R.T. Kendall’s latest book (Once Saved, Always Saved) he tells of attending an adoption procedure in a court in Florida. I’d like to read a brief account verbatim: "A few years ago my wife and I witnessed the adoption of a child in a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, courtroom. We listened to the judge as he spoke to the adopting parents in gravest tones. "’Before I sign my name to this document,’ he warned them, ’I need to know you realize what you are about to do.’ In a room of sobering silence in which you could hear a pin drop, that judge looked each parent straight in the eye and said, ’If I sign my name to this document, it means that this child is yours, legally yours, as though he were your natural son. There is no guarantee how he will turn out. He may disappoint you. He may turn to drugs as a teenager. He may develop a serious illness and you will be responsible to care for him. If I sign my name to this document, that means this child is yours from this day forward. He is protected by the laws of this state. You cannot turn him back once I sign my name to this document. Do you understand this?’ Those parents did not hesitate to answer. ’We understand,’ they responded. ’Then it is your will that you become the parents of this child?’ the judge asked. ’It is,’ they replied. The judge signed the order. In what I thought was a rather unusual gesture, he got off his seat and walked round to the two parents and congratulated them. Every eye was filled with tears. The judge then revealed that he too had been an adopted child." (p 114 ibid,)
