Let's turn in our Bibles today
to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1, beginning
with verse 1, reading through verse 7. Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus,
and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace
from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him and love. Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace. These verses might
be compared to a string of precious jewels, and each one of these
jewels is certainly precious. We have God's sovereign election,
we have God's predestination unto adoption, We have acceptance
in the beloved. We have redemption through the
blood of Jesus Christ. And we have the forgiveness of
sins. Each one of these precious jewels
are special to God's people. Today, I only want to speak to
us on one of these jewels, and that is adoption. Adoption. The Apostle Paul is the only
New Testament writer who used this word that is translated
adoption, but other writers also wrote about it. For instance,
in 1 John 3, verse 1, the apostle John said, Beloved, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called
the children of God, to be called to be made a child of God. God has only one eternal son,
one natural son, we might say. That is God the eternal son,
equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. But he has many
sons by adoption, and that's what we're looking at this morning. Adoption, what is it? Well, it's
making a son of or a daughter of someone who is not naturally
a person's son or daughter. Notice these three things in
this verse here about adoption. First of all, those who are adopted,
children of God, were predestinated unto it. Do you see that? The scripture says that having
predestinated us unto what? Unto the adoption of children. The first thing we see about
adoption here in this passage of scripture is everyone who
is an adopted child of God, if you are one of his children today,
you are so by adoption and you were predestinated. That is,
before the foundation of the world, God set his love upon
you and he predestinated everything necessary to bring you and to
make you one of his children. The first thing about adoption
is those who are adopted sons, they were predestinated to the
adoption of children. Why do people And I'm talking
about religious people here for the most part. Why do religious
people hate the doctrine of predestination? Because they hate God. That's
why. Why would anyone hate this beautiful,
lovely, precious truth of God's predestination? When you look
at every verse, there's just four or five, I believe, where
the word predestination or predestinated is in the New Testament. Take
your concordance sometime and just look up those words and
see what people were predestinated to. And you can't find any fault. Surely, if you love God this
morning, you couldn't find any fault with these things. being conformed to the image
of Christ? Isn't that something to look
forward to? Isn't that something to thank
God for that one day because of God's predestination, because
He planned it, determined it, and brings it to pass that someone
like me and someone like you will be conformed to the image
of Jesus Christ. The second thing in this passage
that speaks to us about adoption, those who are adopted children
of God are adopted by or through Jesus Christ. Notice that again
in verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children,
how? By Jesus Christ. The only way
any person is made a son of God, a daughter of God, is through
the person and work of Jesus Christ, by or through Jesus Christ,
through his obedience, his perfect obedience, and his suffering,
the penalty for the sins of his people. The third thing in this passage
is those who are adopted children of God are adopted to the praise
of the glory of His grace. Why do God's people love to talk
about, hear about, sing about grace? Why? Because we owe everything
that we are and have to the grace of God. Apart from the grace
of God, we would all be lost and on our way to a devil's hell
this morning, apart from God's unmerited favor. God the Father purposed our adoption,
God the Son provided for our adoption by His sacrifice, and
God the Holy Spirit applies makes us to understand and know that
we are the children of God. Now looking at the subject this
morning, we're going to do so by asking three questions. The
first question is simply this, when is a person's adoption manifested? When is a person's adoption manifested? Well, in Galatians chapter 3
and verse 26, the apostle said, for you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. I looked at that verse again
this past week in preparing the message and that word all just
stood out to me. All. For you are all. the children of God by faith
in Christ Jesus. In other words, what especially
spoke to my heart is all who are children of God are all children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Some are not children of God
by baptism. As some false religions would
tell people, they sprinkle water on a baby's head and then say,
now you're a member of the kingdom of God. No, the scripture says,
for you are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Some believe they're made children
of God by their works, by their obedience. No, no, no. The apostle Paul said, for you
are all the children of God by faith. There's only one way,
by faith in Christ Jesus. All are children of God by faith. When a person believes and trusts
in the Lord Jesus Christ, that's when his adoption is manifest. That's when his election is manifested. The Apostle Peter wrote, make
your calling and election sure. Well, how do you make your election
sure? By your calling. By your calling,
you've been called to faith, been brought to faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ this morning, then you'd know that you were
chosen. You were elected of God. You
never start with election. That's where some people make
a mistake, isn't it? They say, well, if I just knew
I were one of God's elect. Well, the only way you will ever
know that is if you believe, if you trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The only way you will ever know
that you are an adopted child of God is that you believe in
Christ because all of his children were all made children of God
by faith in Christ Jesus. Keep your places here, but look
with me, if you will, in John chapter one, the gospel of John
chapter one. beginning in verse 11. He came
unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. When a person is born of God,
he or she receives or believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. And
believing, we know that we are adopted children of God. It's manifested. Our adoption
is manifested when we believe, when we have faith in Christ. I can ask you this question,
are you a child of God? Are you a son? Are you a daughter
of God? If you don't believe in Christ,
you're none. I can tell you that from the
word of God. That's the only way your adoption
is manifested, by believing in Christ. My second question is,
what are some signs of a person's adoption by his faith in Christ. Well, I have four. I'll go through
these hurriedly, but first of all is obedience. Obedience is
one sign of adoption for a son obeys his father. He desires
baptism as an act of obedience. He doesn't want to be baptized
to be saved in order to be saved, but because he has been saved,
because he is a child of God, and is obedient unto his Father,
and he sees and hears from the Word of God. that men are to
go into all the world preaching the gospel, making disciples,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit. Well, when he hears that, well,
I believe in Christ, and the word of God says I'm to be baptized. I want to obey. I want to obey. Obedience is a sign of being
an adopted son or daughter of God. Another sign is love. And really, love may be the greatest
of all signs. Because the Apostle Paul makes
it ever so clear in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 of all the things
that a man might do. But if he doesn't have love,
he's not of God. He's not born of God. love. A child loves his father. Father
doesn't have to sit down and say now son or daughter, I'm
going to teach you how to love me. No, you don't have to do
that. They love you. Why? It's just in him to love you
and a child of God. He doesn't have to be taught
to love his father. He loves his father and he loves
the Lord Jesus Christ and he loves the things of God. He loves
the word of God. He loves the people of God. He
loves the house of God. That's a sign a person's been
adopted into the family of God. A third sign is An adopted son
or daughter of God is guided or led by the Holy Spirit. In
Romans chapter eight in verse 14, Paul said, as many as are
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. The sons
of God. The Lord Jesus, the night before
he was betrayed and went to the cross, he told his apostles,
that he would pray the Father and the Father would give them
another comforter. And we know he was speaking of
God the Holy Spirit. And he said this, he shall guide
you into all truth. He shall guide you into all truth. Now, the apostles, those who
were inspired of God to write the word of God, what we have
is the truth. And when we read here, as the
verse says, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are
the sons of God. Just remember this, that the
truth, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit who guides us, that
there'll never be any conflict. The Holy Spirit will never guide
you in such a way that is contrary to the Word of God. They just
won't do that. Why? Because thy word is truth,
the scripture says. A fourth sign is love for God's
children. 1 Peter 2 and verse 17, the apostle
said, love the brotherhood. Love the brotherhood. And in
1 John 5, John wrote, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God. and every one that loveth him
that beget. Who does the begetting? The Father
does. We've already read that in John
chapter one. Born not of the will of man or
of the flesh or blood, but of God. He's the one who begots,
begets people, births people as the children of God, and we
naturally love him. And John says, if we love him
who begat us, then we love others who are begotten of him. That's
what he said. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God, and everyone that loveth him
that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him. In his letter,
he said, how can a man say that he loves God if he doesn't love
his brother? You can't love God who you've
never seen if you do not love your brother that you see. No,
that's just a sign, isn't it, that a person has been begotten,
been born of God, is adopted son of God. Obedience, love,
guidance, and love of the children of God. My third question is
this. What are some benefits? What
are some benefits of this adoption? Someone wrote, God's power made
us his creatures. God's grace makes us his sons
and daughters. What are some benefits of adoption? Now, with God as our Father,
we have the best of fathers. That's the first thing. With
God as our Father, we have the best of all fathers. All other fathers, and I'm a
father, many of you men here today, you are fathers. All other
fathers are limited. Limited in so many different
ways. But not God. He that has God
as his father has the best of all fathers. Because you see,
he is infinite in wisdom. What does that word infinite
mean? It just means unlimited. That we cannot fathom the depth
of the wisdom, the love, and the power of God. And he, as
our father, has all wisdom, all power, and infinite love for
his children. Now I want us to think of six
parallels this morning between an earthly father and God as
our adopted father. An earthly father will protect
his children. Now he's just gonna do that.
He sees one of his children in some way in danger, some way
is going to be harmed. He's going to do his dead level
best. He's going to do everything he
can to protect his children, his child. But again, many times
he's limited, limited in so many ways. but not our heavenly father. Our heavenly father, if you are
one of his children, adopted children this morning, know this,
he does and always will protect you. He just will. The scripture says,
God says it, there shall no N-O. That pretty well excludes everything,
right? There is no evil that shall befall
thee. You say, well, I don't understand
this. We walk by faith, don't we? Not by sight, but by faith. And this is God's word. This
is what he declares. There shall no evil befall thee. Now, either he's going to make
sure that no evil befalls thee, or he's a liar, or he's not faithful. That just ain't so. That's just not so. There shall,
you're one of his children. You are a father. Many of you
men out here looking today, you would do everything you can to
protect your child. I know you would. God will protect
his children. No evil shall befall them. In Job, we read this. He shall
deliver thee in six troubles. Here's a child of God, he falls
into six different troubles, and God delivers him. Well, maybe
that's exhausted God's patience and God's power and God's ability. Oh, no. He shall deliver thee
in six troubles, yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. You know, seven is a perfect
number in the scripture, isn't it? That's just a complete number. It's not just saying in seven,
seven troubles that no evil's going to touch you. No, in an
unlimited amount of troubles, no evil will touch you. A second thing, an earthly father
will provide for his children. He will do his best to provide
food and clothes and shelter. And sometimes, even doing his
best, he's not able to do that. I'm talking about an earthly
father. He'll do his best to make sure his children have clothes
on their backs and roof over their head and food on the table,
but that might not always be possible. That will never be
true of our Heavenly Father. He will always make sure, and
not just any kind of food either, the best of food, that is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the bread of life. He is the heavenly bread that
came down from God and we feast upon Him. And he said, unless
a man eats my flesh and drinks my blood, he has no life. He has no part in me. The heavenly
father has given us the best of all food, that is eternal
life. His son, Jesus Christ. He's our food. And not only given
us the best of food, but the best of clothes. The best of
clothes, because We're dressed in his robe of righteousness
and the best of shelter because we have a mansion prepared for
us in heaven. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. Yes, he's provided, as our heavenly
fathers provided food and clothes and shelter for his children. A third thing, an earthly father
will teach his children. Now, if he's a good father, he
will teach his children to be honest, to be kind, to be sincere. But earthly fathers are not always
able to do that. not always able to teach their
children exactly what they would like to teach them. But our Heavenly
Father, he's not limited, and he will teach his children. He will teach them because he
has unlimited resources in teaching. He's given us his word, first
of all, to teach us. He's given us ministers. to teach
us using the word of God. He's given us his providence,
how he's ordered all things to teach us, to teach us. A good father will do his best
to teach his children. But like I said, He's not always
able to do so. But God, our Heavenly Father,
will teach his children. If you've been a child of God
for very long, you can look back over your life, as I can, and
you can see how God has taught you. I used to have a pastor
who made this comment quite often. He said, if ignorance was heavy,
we'd all weigh two tons. Let that sink in. If ignorance
was heavy, we'd all weigh two tons. And my, my, you look back. But when we're born into the
family of God, we're born children. And we have to be taught. And
we are taught. And I'm thankful this morning
that I can say like John Newton, He said, I'm not what I want
to be and I'm not what I should be, but thank God I'm not what
I used to be. He teaches. A fourth thing, an
earthly father will comfort his children. He'll do everything
he can to relieve the hurt of his children. But there's some
things that happen that you can't kiss away the hurt. to your child,
some things they experience, and you know, some of you mothers
and dads as well, your child will maybe fall and scrape his
knee or hurt himself, and here, let daddy kiss it, it'll feel
better. You'll comfort your children
the best you can, but you're not always able to do that. Some
things that you're just out of your control. But do you know
one of the names of our God is he's a God of all comfort. He's
a God of all comfort who comforted us in all not most but in all
our tribulation. That's our father. That's our
God. He comforts us in all our tribulations. When you're hurting, when God's
providence takes you through difficulties and tribulations,
don't run to somebody else for comfort. They'll do their best,
but they're limited. Go to your Father. Go to your
Father. Here I am, and I'm hurting. He has all comfort at his disposal,
and he comforts his children in all tribulation. The fifth thing, an earthly father
will discipline his children. Now stay with me. An earthly
father will protect his children, provide for his children, teach
his children, comfort his children, and he will also discipline his
children. Proverbs 13 and verse 24, Solomon
wrote, he that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth
him chasteneth him betimes. Being fallible as we all are,
it's true that that we make mistakes in chastening and disciplining
and teaching our children. We all do. We all have. There's
no question in my mind about that. But not our Heavenly Father. Not our Heavenly Father. He knows
how to correct his children, and he loves his children. And
as that scripture says, if a man hateth his son, he spareth the
rod. God loves His children. And if
a child be without chastening, Paul wrote in Hebrews, then he's
not a son. He's not a legitimate son. If
he says he's a son of God and he's not chastened by his father,
why? Because a father who loves his
children chastens his children. I know that word has been misunderstood
and probably is by many people even today, but the word means
discipline. He disciplines his children to
teach us for our good. And it may be just he hides his
face. You say, what does that mean? You're walking, in the sunlight
of God's love, and then all of a sudden everything gets dark.
And you begin to wonder, begin to question if you really are
a child of God. Begin to question even the truthfulness
about God and about the word of God. What's happening? God may be disciplining. And
what it will cause you to do is to seek his face. We neglect
him sometimes, don't we? We forget about him. We don't
have time. We've got other things that are
more important. And so God may just hide his
face from us and won't be long, we'll be knocking on the door. Lord, forgive
me. Forgive me. Last thing I wanted
to say, an earthly father will leave his children at heritage
and inheritance. Now, usually when we think about
an inheritance, of course, we're thinking about monetary or material
things. And that's good, and most fathers
would love to do that and try to do that. But you know, the
best heritage that every father here this morning, every father
there is, the best heritage that we could possibly leave our children
is that we have been men of God, servants of God. That they'll
be able to look back on their parents and their father and
say, you know what, my dad loved God. My dad was faithful to the
house of God, to the worship of God. One of the greatest,
I guess, epitaphs, I think that's the right word, that I read in
the word of God of any of God's children was Moses. Moses, you know, he didn't seek
that job. God called him, God put him into
that work of leading the nation of Israel. He may have sought
the job when he killed that Egyptian, but he ended up running out of
town and living out in the desert for 40 years. But when God called
him and sent him to Egypt to go before Pharaoh and said, let
my people go, Who's the Lord? Who's the Lord that I should
obey his voice? Well, he found out pretty quick
who God is, didn't he? God destroyed Egypt. He found out who the God of the
Israelites was, and he did. let God's people go. But remember, like all men, the
meekest man, the scripture says, the meekest man in the world,
Moses. But one day, like all of us,
he was having a bad day, I guess. God said, take that rod with
which you've struck the rock before and go to the rock and
speak to the rock. and water's going to gush out
of that rock to supply the needs of the people. And Moses, what
did he do? He took that rod and bam, he
struck the rock. The rock is Christ. The rock
had already been struck once. Christ only needed to die once. The type Moses, when he struck
that rock a second time, he disobeyed God. And because of that, God
said, you're not going to go into the land of promise. Took
him up on, I think it's Mount Nebo, isn't it? And he said,
you can look over the horizon there. You can see the land that
flows with milk and honey, but you're not going in, Moses. But
then we read, and Moses, the servant of the Lord, died. The servant of the Lord. Oh,
if that could be true of me, if that could be true of you,
what more could we ever want? For God, because God wrote the
scripture, God the Holy Spirit, for him to be able to say about
you, the servant of the Lord. That's the heritage that we want
to leave our children. Our Heavenly Father has given
us an inheritance. In fact, we've been made children,
heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. so that the
Apostle Paul wrote, all things are yours. Everything's yours. How's that possible? Because
you are a joint heir with Christ and everything is his. What a thought, what a truth,
what a blessing to contemplate being made a child of God, adopted
children of God and all because of his amazing love and predestinating
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to the praise
of the glory of his grace. May the Lord bless this word.