Would you turn back to Ephesians
chapter one? Paul begins in verse three, blessed
be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And this sentence is not over
until verse 14. And he named some 16 or 17 spiritual
blessings that every believer has in Christ. He hath blessed
us. If I am a child of God, this
is something that I have. Not that I will have, but that
I have. And all of these blessings cannot
be separated. If you have one, you have them
all. He begins with election in verse
four, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy. Now, if God has chosen
you to be holy, are you holy? You might not feel holy, but
what difference does that make? If God chose you to be holy,
are you holy? Yes, indeed. And without blame,
he says, if God has chosen you to be without blame, you know
what? You're without blame, right now, present tense. He says in
verse four, in love having predestinated us, what a blessing that is,
unto the adoption of children. Now that is our subject for this
evening. May God help us. The adoption
of children adopted into the family of God made an actual
son or daughter of the living God. Now, in some respects, this
is the greatest blessing. Like I said, you can't separate
any of them, but this is the greatest blessing to be a son. to be an actual son of the living
God and to have all the privileges of sonship, an adopted son. Not everybody has God as their
father. You remember when he said to
the Pharisees, the religious leaders, he said, you are of
your father, the devil and the lusts of your father, you will
do. He certainly was not father to
those people, but he said to his disciples, I go to my father
and your father, to my God and to your God. Your father knoweth what things
you have need of before you ask him to have God as my father. What all does that mean? Well,
first of all, it means I'm one of Christ's brethren. He's my
big brother. I say that reverently. He's my
elder brother. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one for the witch cause. He's
not ashamed to call them brethren. Christ Jesus would own me as
his brother. whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among what? Many brethren. I have the family name, if he's
my father. This is the name wherewith he
shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. This is the name
wherewith she shall be called, every believer, the Lord our
righteousness. If I'm a son, I have constant
and continual access to God. I'm always welcome. In whom we
have boldness and access with confidence, by the faith of him. If he's my father, I have his
fatherly pity. Turn with me for a moment and
hold your finger there in Ephesians one and turn to Psalm 103. Psalm 103, beginning in verse
10. He has not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward
them that fear him. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us, like
as a father pitieth his children. So the Lord pitieth them that
fear Him, for He knows our frame. He remembers that we're dust.
Aren't you thankful for the fatherly pity of our Father? If He's our Father, we have the
fatherly provision. His name is called Jehovah Jireh,
the Lord will provide. And I'm thankful for material
provision. With the food I had today, He
gave me. Everything I have, He gave me. Everything he requires
of me, he provides. He provides my righteousness.
He provides the faith I have. He provides the repentance I
have. He provides the love I have.
Everything I have, everything he requires, he provides. Now that's the privilege of sonship.
You have Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide. And I have his fatherly protection. You know, the Lord's on my side.
That could be said of every believer. If God be for us, who can be
against us? I have his fatherly protection,
how the father loves his children. And I have the fatherly, his
fatherly education. And, you know, I want to say
this reverently, but the Lord homeschools all of his children. They shall all be taught of God. He's the one who takes care of
our education. He's the one that causes us to
look to him and they shall all be taught of God. Every man,
therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the father cometh
to me. I have his fatherly discipline. If he's my father, whom the Lord
loveth, he chasteneth. And he scourges every son that
he receiveth. We're partakers, as the scripture
says, of the divine nature if he's our father. Not only is
it an act of adoption, I don't know how else to put this, but
his DNA comes through in the new birth. I say that reverently. I know I don't know what I'm
talking about, but the scripture says we're partakers of the divine
nature. We're born of the spirit. As many as received him, to them
gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them which
believe on his name. which were born, they were birthed,
not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will
of man, but of God. If I'm a son, I've been sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise. That's the guarantee of me continuing
as a son. And listen to this, if I'm a
son, I'm a joint heir with Christ. That's what Romans eight says.
Join heirs with Christ. The Son is the heir of all things.
You know who else is? Every son. All that he has coming
to him is coming to the believer. To be a son, behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. And who's doing this calling?
This is what God calls us, his son. This is what the son calls
us, one of the brethren, a son. This is who the Holy Spirit,
what he testifies to us. We're sons of God. Paul called it in Romans 8, 21,
the glorious liberty, the glorious freedom of the children of God. We're the only ones who are truly
free. We get to do what we want to. You know what we want to
do? We want to look to Christ only. We want him to be all in our
salvation. We want his will to be done. What a privilege to
be a child of God. So I think you can say why I
said in some respects, this is the greatest of all blessings.
You can't have one without the other. I'm not excluding any
of the others, but this is the greatest blessing to be an actual
child of God. Now, this word adoption is mentioned
five times in the New Testament. It's taught on every page, being a son of God through faith
in Christ. It's taught on every page, but
the word itself is only mentioned five times. One time in Romans
9, it's a reference to the nation of Israel. To whom pertaineth
the adoption is what it says. And the nation of Israel was
adopted by the father to picture spiritual adoption. That's what
that's all about. But the other four times it's
mentioned, this is going to be my outline, actually, when we
consider this thing of adoption, we see the grace of adoption,
the price of adoption, the reality of adoption and the permanence
of adoption. And that's going to come from
the other four times that this word is used in scriptures. But first let's consider the
grace of adoption. Now let me say at the outset
that if you're adopted it has absolutely nothing to do with
something in you. Is that good news? Sure is good
news to me. You see, this is a completely
gracious act of God, wherein he has made you his son, wherein
he has made you his daughter. And it's an act of free grace. The fountainhead of adoption
is election. Ephesians 1.4. according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world." Now, if you're
adopted, you've always been adopted. You were adopted before time
began. This is a gracious, what the
old timers called an imminent act of God, something done before
the world. So election, God's electing his
people before time began, is the fountainhead. According as
he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him. There's the
fitness for adoption. In Christ, I'm holy. In Christ,
there's nothing to blame me for. I have nothing to feel guilty
about. I'm perfectly righteous in Christ. Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ unto Himself. Oh, what grace, the grace of
God in adoption. This thing of being a son has
absolutely nothing to do with any personal merit or worthiness
in you. It's not God responding to anything
in you. It's God responding to Himself. I was adopted by Jesus Christ,
through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will. to the praise of the glory of
His grace. Now this is a gracious act of
God and if you're a child, if you're a son of God, if you can
say to him Abba Father and let me say Abba doesn't mean daddy. I've heard people Talk about
it like that. No, God is not to be addressed
that way. He's the living God. Abba is
simply the Aramaic for father. It's the same word. When Christ
cried Abba father, he wasn't saying daddy. The Lord is our
father. But what a holy reverend father
he is. Holy and reverend is thy name. And the reason behind his adoption
is his love. Thou hast loved them, this is
what the Lord said. Now listen to this. John 17, Thou hast loved
them, the adopted sons, as thou hast loved me. However it is that God loves
his son, he loves his sons. The adopted sons. And this is
an act that took place before we were born. I was adopted before
I knew anything about it, predestined to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren,
among many adopted sons. Now this was done according to
the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace. Now, let me remind you, the fountainhead of adoption
is God's electing love. And let me ask you a question.
This is a very simple question. How much of election is by grace? How much of election is by grace? It's called the election of grace
in Romans 11, five and verse six says, if by grace, it's no
more works. Otherwise grace is no more grace,
but it could be of works. Don't call it grace. Otherwise
works is no more works. I turn with me to Galatians chapter
four. That's the grace of adoption. Look in Galatians chapter four. Here we see the price of adoption. Verse one. Now I say that the air now what
he's talking about is the Greek Roman law of an heir being treated
no differently than a slave into the time his father announces
him as the heir. He's the heir, but he's not treated
like the heir. That's the way it was in the
Greek and Roman days. This is more of a Gentile thing.
Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing
from a servant, though he be Lord of all. Yet he's treated
as nothing but a servant and a slave. He's under tutors and
governors into the time appointed of the father. He may be the
heir, he may be the heir of everything, but he doesn't know it. And he's
treated no differently than anyone else. Even so, verse three, we,
when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of
the world before God saved us. We were controlled by the world.
We were a part of the world. We were, he said, just like other
children of wrath, just like everybody else, controlled by
the principles, the maxims, the volumes of this world, the same
objectives he had. We were in the religion of this
world, the things of this world. You were in the world, but, verse
four, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
his son, made of a woman. You see, we were flesh, He had
to become flesh. Made under the law, He subjected
Himself to His own holy law. What an act of condescension
that was that He would put Himself under the law. The lawgiver puts
Himself under the law. You see, if I can't be saved
without keeping the law, He's gonna have to keep it for me.
And He comes and subjects Himself to the law to Verse five, to
redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons. Now, here is the price of my
adoption. For me to be an adopted son,
Christ had to redeem me. He had to pay for my sins. Look in Galatians chapter three,
verse 11. But that no man, is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. It is clear, there's
no question about this, for the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse. What language? The Lord Jesus
Christ was made a curse. When he was made sin for me,
he was made a curse for me. He experienced the full curse
of God's wrath against sin. Everything that hell is, he was
made to experience. He became a curse. And through
him doing that, he redeemed all of his children. Now redemption's
an accomplishment. It's a fact. It's not a possibility. Everybody he died for He redeemed
that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now here's why I'm a
son. Because he redeemed me. No other reason is needed. He
redeemed me. I'm not a son of God because
of anything I say or do. I'm a son of God because he redeemed
me. We see the grace of this glorious
adoption and the price of this glorious adoption, the redeeming
work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree. Romans 8. Romans chapter 8. Verse 14. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, Now, if I'm a son, I'm led by the Spirit of God. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And how can I know if
I'm led by the Spirit of God? Because a lot of people make
that claim. You know, God's Spirit's leading
me. He's directing me. He's causing me to do His will.
Well, what is the evidence the scriptural evidence of being
led by the Spirit of God. Galatians 5 18 says, as many
as are led of the Spirit of God are not under law. Now if you're into the law, all
you prove by that is you're a stranger to the Spirit of God. As many
as are led of the spirit of God are not under law. Now let's go on reading verse
15. For you have not received, this is the experience of adoption. For you have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear. When you believe in works in
some way, You always think, have I done enough? And then your
conscience will say, no, you haven't done enough. And then
you start becoming afraid. And you think, what if I'm not
saved after all? What if I'm nothing but a hypocrite?
What if I'm not real? And you book into fear. That's
what the spirit of bondage is. All works. If salvation is dependent
upon you in any way to any degree, all it can lead to is fear of
what's going to take place. You know you're in trouble. That's
the spirit of bondage. Now, the child has not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption. There's the word again, the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, father, he's our father. It comes from our heart, our
father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Now look
what verse 16 says. The spirit itself, and that should
read himself, the spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit
that we are the children of God. Now what's that mean? Have you
ever had the spirit of God whisper in your ear and say you're for
sure one of God's children? That's the way most people present
this. You have some kind of supernatural light that lets you know you're
a child of God. Now, if you are a child of God,
God the Holy Spirit will bear witness that you're His child.
But it will not be apart from faith in Christ. You are children
of God. Paul said in Galatians 3.26,
you are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Now, understand
this. If you look at yourself and say,
yeah, I must be a child of God. Look how holy I've become. Look
how righteous I've become. Look how I'm getting this victory
over sin and I'm just becoming more and more like Christ. Look
at the evidence in my life. If you think that God, that wasn't
God, the Holy Spirit that told you you're a child of God. That's
satanic. That's all it is. And I'm using
that word strongly. God is not in that. That's not
the Spirit bearing witness with you that you're a child of God.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. Now, I can't look at myself and
say, yep, I'm a child of God, look how good I am. No. What
is the evidence that I'm a child of God? I look to Christ only. Right now, I can say that with
such depth of conviction. I look to Christ only. The only
hope I have is that who He is and what He did is everything
in my salvation. And I am resting in Him. I'm waiting on Him. I know this
on judgment day. The only hope I have of being
accepted is if Christ is everything in my salvation. It has nothing
to do with my preaching, my witness, nothing about me. Christ is all. Now that's what the Holy Spirit
bears witness to. You look to Christ only. That's
the evidence that he has done something for you. The Spirit
himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children
of God. And if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Now here's the experience
of adoption. And it's so simple, the Lord
lays this out for us so clearly. If you're an adopted child, here's
your experience. Our Father, our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. If he's your Father, you're a
worshiper, hallowed holy and reverend, altogether glorious
is your name. And that comprehends every single
attribute of God. His name is who He is. Now this is what children do.
They worship God for who He is. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. We're looking for a kingdom whose
builder and maker is God. And that's the kingdom we want
to be a subject in. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. If you could cut into the heart
of every true son of God, you'd find this. They want God's will. above all things. Thy will be
done. The worst thing that could happen
to me is for me to be left to my own will. That's what I would
dread more than anything else, for the Lord to just remove Himself
from me and say, go and do what you want. Oh, worst thing that
could happen. Thy will be done. Now that's the heart cry of a
son. And then the son says, give us
this day our daily bread. We're completely dependent. We're
needy for everything. Whatever it is, we need you to
supply it for us. We're poor and we're needy. And here's our cry in complete
dependence for everything. Give us this day our daily bread. And here's the continual prayer
of a child. Forgive us our debts. Forgive
us of our sins. You know, I can't come into the
Lord's presence without an awareness of my sin. Can't do it. When I come into
his presence, I'm faced with this fact. I'm a sinner. But you know something else a
child is? He's a forgiven sinner. All my sins are forgiven sins. And you know what else a child
of God is? A forgiving sinner. Forgive us our debts as we forgive
those who are indebted to us. And then these people who say,
our Father who art in heaven, They have some awareness of their
own weakness. They say, lead us not into temptation.
I know that if I'm tempted, I will fall. I know it. So I don't want
to be tempted. Let me not even be tempted. Put
a hedge around me because if I'm tempted, I know what's going
to happen. So my prayers, Lord, lead me not into temptation.
Deliver me from evil. Deliver me from the evil one.
I'm no match for him. Deliver me from the evil of this
world. Most especially deliver me from this evil person. You know when the Lord looked
at his disciples and said, if you then being evil. He said that to his disciples.
If you then being evil. Know how to give good gifts to
your children. How much more shall your heavenly
Father give good gifts to them but ask him? Deliver me from
evil. And then every child, this is
gonna come from their heart, giving him all the glory. Thine
is the kingdom and thine is the power and thine is the glory. Now here's something that every
child of God has in common. In his temple, Doth everyone
speak of His glory. He gets all the glory. And we
love it that way. Now that is the experience of
the child. Led by the Spirit of God, not
under law. They haven't received the spirit
of bondage to fear, but the spirit of adoption, whereby they cry,
Abba, Father, our Father, who art in heaven. Child adopted
by experience. And let's go on reading in verse
19. He's going to mention adoption again. Verse 19, for the earnest expectation
of the creature, the creation, waiteth for the manifestation,
the full disclosure of the sons of God. Now, that could mean
Paul speaking, almost personifying the creation. I don't think that
that's what it's talking about, but it could. I can see why people
say that. But I think he's talking about
the new creation. waiting for that complete manifestation of
the sons of God. Let's go on reading. For the
creation, the creature, was made subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope. Once
again, it could mean that the creation has certainly felt the
effects of the fall and volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, inclement weather that you can't
stand, the groaning of creation, the violence in the animal kingdom. He could refer to that, but I
don't think so. It may be that, but I think he's
still talking about the new creation. And you'll see that, I think,
as we go on reading. Because the creature, that new man in
Christ Jesus, the creature was made subject to vanity. That's
what happened in the fall. Not willingly, but a reason of
him who has subjected the same in hope because the creature,
the creation, the new creation itself also shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption. into the glorious liberty of
the children of God. This is what every new creature
has waiting. Verse 22, for we know that the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Oh, wretched man that I am."
Now this could speak of the physical creation. Maybe it does, but
I know it's also talking about the new creation because he's
talking about this manifestation of the sons of God. Verse 23,
and not only, notice they is in italics. I don't think it
helps to give the understanding of this. Not only, but ourselves
also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves
grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption
of our body. Now we grow. And I think Paul expressed it
so aptly. wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?" You see, I'm living in
a body of death. A body that still has the same
sinful appetites and passions and desires that it ever had. I've heard preachers try to say,
well, if you're a new creature, that stuff leaves. And somebody
that talks that way is a liar. That's all he is. He's not giving
the truth concerning his reality. The reality is that we are groaning
within ourselves, waiting for the adoption. That time when
I will be changed. And I will no longer have the
hindrance of this flesh. I will no longer have sinful
appetites. I will no longer have sinful desires. I will no longer
commit sins. And I'm waiting. And this is
the permanence. Remember, I call this the permanence
of adoption. We're going to enter into being
this way all the time. the permanence, and this is what
we're waiting for, the redemption of the body when this flesh is
put away and I'm perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. I love
the way Paul said in Corinthians 15, in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, we shall all be changed. And then I will enter into this
permanent Nothing but likeness to Christ. That's what we're
waiting on. That's what we have waiting. Now, if you're a believer,
you ought to be looking forward to dying. I realize young people
that have kids, they think, well, I need to raise my kids. I understand
that. I felt that way, too, when I was younger. I felt dependent. I understand that. But still,
this is what every believer is to long for. the adoption, the redemption
of the body. So you can see, I believe, why
this could, in some respects, be the greatest blessing. To be a child of God. To have God as my Father. and to have all the privileges
of sonship. What a father he is. Let's pray.