Well, I call this message this
morning, Because You Are Sons. When I use the word sons, I use
it in a biblical sense. The word means something like
offspring or children, and not necessarily a male child, but
the offspring of God, the children of God. And so that makes it
very interesting when we read this fourth chapter of the book
of Galatians. The scriptures clearly show that
every descendant of Adam, which is all of us by nature, are in
bondage to sin. We fell in Adam, we're separated,
and we're alienated from God. And in Adam, all men died spiritually. Now, in Galatians 4.3, We all
do, to Adam's sin, lost all fellowship with God. And that includes us,
God's elect. But that's not the first state
or the last of some of Adam's race. The good news is that out
of all mankind that fell in Adam, out of that mass of humanity,
There were some who were objects of God's grace. Note what it
says there in verse 3 of Galatians 4. It says, so we, when we were
children. This clearly states that God's
elect, his children, were still his children while we were in
bondage to sin and prior to God the Spirit giving us life, in
regeneration and conversion and through the preached gospel. Now those that are the objects
of God's grace, his children, those are the ones that shall
receive glory. Because glory always follows
grace. And it is these people, these
children of God, these sons, who are called in scripture,
God's elect. These are the ones that Christ
came to redeem. That's what he's talking about
here. He came to redeem them. As we look back at Galatians
4 verse 5, it says, to redeem them that were under law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons. It's these people, that God was
in Christ reconciling them unto himself. And they are the ones
that God reconciled unto himself. Both redemption and reconciliation,
both of those words imply a previous relationship. So that we read
them, we know about God the Father choosing those people and putting
them in union with Christ. as their head, as their mediator,
and as their surety. And God having blessed them with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Everybody wants to speak
of how God is blessing them or has blessed them in their lives.
But these people were blessed of God before time. And God the
Father purposed in Christ to bring them into his family. Now, there in Galatians 4, 5,
again, as amazing as that sounds, as wondrous and glorious as that
sounds, as far-fetched as that sounds, God purposed to bring
his elect into his family, and so he determined our spiritual
adoption. God determined our adoption and
justification, And these cannot be separate from one another,
but they can be distinguished from one another. We read about
them in the Bible. You see, justification is something
that God does as a judge, whereby he releases us from all condemnation
on the basis of Christ's blood alone. And he accepts us as righteous,
based, on Christ's righteousness, imputed to us, charged to our
account. This is not some new doctrine.
We read about it all over the Bible. Adoption seems to be something
that God does as a father, whereby he appoints us his children,
his children in Christ. And he does this on the basis
of Christ's work, and he makes us join heirs with Christ. I love that Bible term, join
heirs with Christ. And so God the Son, in his work
of redemption, he removed all the obstacles from his people,
receiving our learning of and discovering about this adoption. He removes all the obstacles
to that. You might say it like this, justification
brings us into favor into favor with God as a holy God and a
just God, but adoption seems to bring us into the family of
God, into the family of Almighty God. John Gill says this concerning
the receiving of this adoption that's stated there, in verse
five where it says that we might receive the adoption of sons. John Gill says, adoption here
as a blessing of grace exists before it is really received. Nor does the reception of it
add anything to the thing itself. It was in God designation from
all eternity, who predestinated his chosen ones unto it by Christ. According to the good pleasure
of his will, it was provided, it was laid up, and secured for
them in the everlasting covenant of grace, and is part of that
grace given them in Christ before the world began." Close quote. Adoption in the Bible means the
placing of one as a son, or the placing of one as a child. It has to do with this sonship
in relation to God. The world says that we're all
children of God. We're all God's children. But
only in the sense of creation. not in the sense of grace. That's
what the world says. We are all his creatures, but
we're not all his children, all God's children, except we be
so by grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1, beginning
at verse 3, said, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. according
to the good pleasure of his will. Paul begins blessings and praising
and thanksgiving and thanking God on his behalf, as well as
believers there in Ephesus and all believers throughout all
time. Nobody wants to hear about any word in this Bible that puts
everything in the hands of a sovereign God. Preachers don't preach about
it. Professing Christians read quickly
over it. But if we know anything about
the grace of God, we've got to trace it back to the fountainhead. We've got to go back in this
family, this family tree to root, to the root and to the ground
of it all. The Apostle Paul says, having
predestinated us, marked off beforehand, or foreordained us
unto the adoption of children. Somebody has been adopted into
the family of God because God predestinated it. Now men can
talk about what God will do, but the Bible talks about what
God has done. He hath already done this, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ.
no other way, no other one, but by Jesus Christ and to himself,
his children to himself. And it's to his glory, according
to his good pleasure, not free will, but his will, to the praise
of his glory, and it's of his grace, wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved. He has graced us in the beloved.
Men talk about people accepting Jesus. It's not up for acceptance. But it says here that he hath
made these individuals accepted. He accepted them in Christ, in
the beloved. One translation says, having
foreordained us into the adoption of sons in Jesus Christ. And this is exactly what Apostle
John is saying here in 1 John 3. 1 John 3, beginning at verse
1. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. The elect of God did not merit
this adoption. We don't earn it by something
that we do, and we certainly don't deserve it. God in love
and out of his love bestowed it upon us that we should be
called the sons of God. What love, what grace, what mercy,
and what a miracle it is to be called the children of God. Me
and Randy was talking about that Friday at lunch. That's something
else. We're a child of God. those that
he chose in eternity, give to Christ for safekeeping, adopted
us into his family, children of God. We're not waiting to become children. We're not hoping to become sons. Behold now, we are the children
of God. When Christ came into the world
and took upon himself a body in order to die and shed his
blood, it was a ransom prize that he paid. It was a ransom
prize paid for the debt of our sin and against the judgment
of God, which was the sole basis upon which God had justified
these individuals and blessed these individuals and called
them righteous. and loved them as his children
and referred to them as his offspring, and he did this in his mind and
purpose before time. God never refers to them in any
other or lesser way than his people, his children. This justifying work of the Lord
Jesus in time was the foundation the just foundation upon which
every prophecy and every promise was made concerning these sons,
even before they were born. These prophecies not only spoke
of this relationship and showed how that Christ and his work
would accomplish their salvation, but it also showed the fact that
they would be manifested for what they are before God, to
God. They're his sons, his children,
his beloved ones. Isaiah records it like this in
Isaiah 44, verse three. For I will pour out, I will pour
water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground.
I will pour my spirit upon the seed and my blessings upon thine
offspring, a seed the Lord had reserved for himself, whom he
had chosen in Christ before the world was to be holy and happy
and to grant them grace here and glory hereafter. And they
should believe in him and profess his name and to serve him. God has a family. The basis of
being a child of God is always and always has been in God alone
and in his son, Jesus Christ. Isaiah also says in Isaiah 56
verse five, even unto them will I give in mine house and within
my walls a place. and a name better than of sons
and of daughters. I will give them an everlasting
name that shall not be cut off. There's only one name that's
everlasting. There's only one name that's
the name that's above every name. The name is Jesus. I'll give
them a name and it's going to be his name. the Lord our righteousness. I'll make them join heirs with
him, and it will never fail, and the Father's will concerning
them will be made known, and the Son's work for them shall
be declared. But also God the Spirit working
in them shall be made manifest, evidenced. It is sure and certain
that the Son of God will be discovered and manifest it. Not that he
needs to discover them, but he will discover himself in them. And every one of them will be
discovered by the spirit, using the word of God and the gospel
of grace, the gospel of the grace of God in Christ, crucified. And they shall also, by this
same spirit, learn of their sonship. We'll all, all of God's elect
in time, will learn that they are sons of God. Through the
gospel preached out, through regeneration and conversion as
God reveals himself to us, causes us to grow in grace and knowledge,
causes us to see the true and living God, and we'll learn that
we are sons of God through Christ. heirs and join heirs with Christ. Every once in a while you hear
about somebody dying, supposedly they don't have any heirs. And
they have a vast fortune, and they don't have any heirs to
give it to, and then somebody comes along with some information,
some DNA, or something like a DNA test, and discover a relationship
that has been long before. And it's determined accurately
and legally that this person is an heir to this vast fortune. I think that'd be good news,
wouldn't it? Well, that's what this is all about. And this is
a picture in Ezekiel 17, when God sends Ezekiel out to preach
to that valley of dry bones. Y'all remember that. These people
who are dead, They're brought to life under this message and
preaching, and they discover something. They find out God's
grace, and every one of the sons, every one of these children,
every one of his elect, they shall, in what he calls the day
of his power, they'll be made willing in the day of God's power. They are made to learn of their
sonship. In Psalms 101, 102, verse 13,
says, thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion, the church,
for the time to favor her, yea, the set time is come. God has
a set time that he is determined to reveal himself to his children. It won't be through a vision
in the sky. It won't be through some miraculous
miracle of health. It won't be through a bunch of
other things that men claim these days. But it will be by the revelation
of the Spirit of God through the Word of God, the Gospel of
God. They'll come to the conclusion
that I believe God's talking to me. I believe this is for
me. How can I believe that this is
for me? Well, it's by faith. That faith
that God gives his children by his spirit. We come to realize
and know it's for us. We know that the spirit bears
witness to us that we are his children. And the Holy Spirit
in this role in this role and accomplishing this work in them
is called the Spirit of Adoption. It's the Holy Spirit, the Spirit
of Truth, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Adoption. As we look at Romans 8, 15, you know the Bible is designed
to give comfort to the sons. So he begins by saying this in
verse 15, for you have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear. We ought to just immediately
be suspect to anything or everything that would make us fear in our
standing before God in Jesus Christ. God's word says, for
you have not received the spirit of fear again to fear, but you
have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. I'm told that this term, Abba,
Father, is not just a relationship for us, or a formal addressing
of the Father's will, but an intimate expression of a relationship
of love, whereby we cry, Abba, Father, because the Spirit itself
bears witness with our spirit. that we are the children of God.
The Holy Spirit, the spirit of adoption, bears witness with
our spirit in our hearts, in our minds, in our affections,
and our will that we are the children of God. I conduct myself
sometimes and I do things and I say to myself that there's
no way I could be a child of God. That old sin nature comes
to me and says there's no way that you could possibly be in
this family, family of God, this holy family of God. But the spirit
of God, the spirit of adoption, bears witness with my spirit
that I am a child of God. And also reveals to me how that
I am a child of God, by the grace of God through Christ and Him
crucified. Also in Romans 8 verse 17, it
says here, and if children, no other prequalification, no other
way, there's no if you do well, you'll be rewarded with this.
He says, if children, then heirs. And an heir are those who received
an inheritance. If children, then heirs, heirs
of God. Now, that's a wonderful inheritance. Heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. If so be, we suffer with him. Well, it also says that the heirs
suffer with him sometime. They suffer for His glory. They
suffer for His gospel. They suffer just because this
suffering will cause them to go to Him and to lean on Him,
to trust Him more, thereby to glorify Him for what He's done. Then it says here in Romans 8
verse 18, and 19, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of
the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God. You know, why don't everything
in this world just blow up, dry up, burn up, just a thousand other other things
that would happen and that they are warning us about every day. Why isn't it just going to be
the way they're saying it's going to be? Those that prophesy doom
and destruction, especially in our day, we're the fanatics of
climate control. People are so demented that they
actually believe that they can control this climate. They have truly made a God out
of climate control. Why is it that all of these false
prophecies will always end in a lie? Well, it's because God
has subjected the whole creation to stand and to wait for something. This earth is preserved for something.
What is it preserved for? As it says here in verse 19,
it's preserved until the sons of God are manifested. In other words, it's preserved
until all of God's elect, his children, his lost sheep, are
brought into the fold. Look at Romans 8, beginning at
verse 20. For the creature was made subject
to vanity not willingly, but by reason of him who had subjected
the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. You see, when man fell, the creation
fell under the curse as well. But the creation is going to
be delivered when all the sons of God are made manifest, all
of God's elect brought into the fold. Also, the creation of God
is going to be brought under a glorious manifestation of itself. But we must see this, and that
is that the spirit of God who moves sovereignly as he is likened
to the wind In John 3, the Spirit does not do this in those people
in order to make them or to enable them to become sons of God, but
because they are sons. When you manifest something,
you show what already exists. I think that is the great meaning
of what glorified means. When something is glorified,
it's shown or unveiled or manifested to be what it actually is. And
in time, these sons of God are going to be manifested for what
they actually are and have been in God's mind and purpose from
all eternity. They, in time, will be manifested
to be children of God. You see, sons of God are not
children of the devil. who become children of God. They're
not goats that become sheep. You remember what Christ said
to the Pharisees in John 8 verse 44. Christ said to these Pharisees,
religious leaders of that day, you are of your father the devil
and the lust of your father you'll do. He was a murderer from the
beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth
in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he's a liar and the father of it. Biblical adoption
has most to do with the public open discovery and display of
this sonship. It's the setting forth of these
children as sons and heirs. Let's look back at Galatians
chapter 4 again. I know I commented on these verses
at the start, but I want to look back particularly at this sixth
verse here. Galatians 4. It says, And because
you are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. It says here, and because you
are sons, which is the title of this message here. It doesn't
say that I'm going to make you his sons or to enable you to
be his sons or to show you the way to be his sons. It says because you are sons.
God does all he has done in Christ. our Savior. And for these sons
of God, He does all of this by the Spirit of God, and He does
it for these children of God. As far as it concerns Christ,
it says, call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sin. And so the Spirit of God begets
in us spiritual life. And when this happens, when God
gives us faith, And when he shows us this glorious gospel, when he shows us how the Father
has loved us and he chose us, when he shows us how the Son
of God has redeemed us and how he was dying on the cross for
us and paying our sin debt as our surety, at this time, the
elect of God are manifested to be the sons of God by adoption.
This is why the doctrine of universal atonement is so dishonoring to
God because in a sense, when you believe in a universal atonement,
that is that Christ died for everybody, you believe that Christ
died really for nobody except the ones who will make his death
effectual by their believing or by their works or by their
believing. Sinful man would get all the glory if this was the
case. Universal atonement is foreign
to the Word of God. God's Word said that Christ died
for the sheep. He laid down his life for the
sheep. God's Word that Christ loved the church and gave himself
for it. In other words, Christ died for all these sons. He died and shed his blood and
paid their sin debt and redeemed them, actually redeemed them. You remember that, those of you
that got a little age on you. I, like myself. S&H Green Stamps. You remember you go and you buy
food and you get these stamps to fill up the book. And you
go back to the store to redeem them. for merchandise, in order
to buy that merchandise. I thought of that when I started
seeing this. He purchased their redemption
and saved them by his grace. The Lord knows them that are
his, and not some kind of abstract love, not in some kind of general
love, and not in some kind of general universal death of Christ. This love is a particular love
Now, how can a holy God love an ungodly sinner such as we
are? It's because he loved us in Christ. I look back since the Lord revealed
the truth to me and I can look back and I can't see any, not
one thing, not one thing that could deserve God's love toward
me. But God saved me out of this
love, keeps me out of this love, and does wonderful things for
me every day. And this shows that it's all
of grace, it's all of God, and it's all in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the heir of all things. Galatians 4 verse 7 says, wherefore,
thou art no more a servant, but a son. And of a son, then an
heir of God, through Christ. One thing for sure, there is
no peace, there is no true joy, there is no righteousness, there
is no hope, and there is no eternity, there is no eternity with God. There is nothing of value, nothing
eternal worth, but what resides in the Lord Jesus Christ. God
gives his grace to his people and he gives it to them into
one who is the true heir of all things. Look again at Romans
8, 17. And if children and heirs, heirs
of God, and join heirs with Christ, if so be that you suffer with
him that we may be also glorified together. The apostle says, if
the children then heirs, heirs of God join heirs with Christ.
It says join heir because God says that all he gives in Christ,
he gives to everyone who are in Christ. Being a joint heir
kind of knocks out this idea of rewards, that bigger mansion,
better place in heaven, more blessings, if you do this,
that, or the other. No, if I'm an heir, if I'm one
with the heir, the Lord Jesus Christ, or if I'm a joint heir
with Christ, then I have all things, all things in Christ. As a matter of fact, that's what
He says He gives us, as He sends the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of
adoption, and by Him, He reveals to us all things that are freely
given. One day, every sinner going to
know who Jesus is, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall
confess that He's Lord to the glory of the Father. But as many
who believe, truly believe, do rest all their hope in the accomplished
merits, the accomplishments of the Lord Jesus Christ. They do
know Christ and they are children of God. Our hope is that we will
be glorified together with him. And when the spirit of God comes
to us, giving us life and faith in Christ, the spirit of God
bears witness in us that we are children of God and causes us
to cry out to God as he is, Abba Father. We are enabled by the
Spirit of God to see and to call the true and living God, the
creator, the sovereign creator, the sustainer of all life. We're
able to call him Abba Father. Well, I pray that God will use
this message here for his glory. Because you are, you are sons,
sons of God. Thank you.