Welcome to the Family

GWFL

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Romans 8:15 KJV 1900

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

TITLE: “WELCOME TO THE FAMILY”

Intro

The Need for “Belonging”

In every single human being is the basic need of belonging. We desire:

Family

Community

The bond from one person to another is essential to our physical, mental, and emotional health. It’s even critical to our spiritual health.

orphan - a child deprived by death of one or usually both parents

adopted - legally made the son or daughter of someone other than a biological parent

- Merriam-Webster

Orphans hope and need to be adopted. When children lose parents, they lose an essential connection that is necessary to be happy, healthy, and productive. Unless they are adopted into a loving and nurturing family, that connection may never be regained.

The World Orphans organization reports: There are approximately 140 million orphans in the world. This means 140 million young children need a family to love them and believe in them. They need parents who will take them in, regardless of where they came from! Who will help them focus on their future and not their past!

I think it’s very telling that, of all adults in America who adopt, Christian adults are twice as likely to adopt!

Just maybe the world and government needs to be a little more thankful for the Christians of the world than they are!

Spiritual Orphans

But just like physical orphans, we were all spiritual orphans!

We needed a spiritual family to take us in and nurture us. We needed a Father to love us, protect us, and provide for us. The Bible lets us know that God has adopted us into His family! And when we are born again, we are part of the largest adopted family on the face of the earth!

Mephibosheth’s Adoption

Enter Mephibosheth.

I’m about to tell one of the most tragic stories in our entire Bible.

He was just a child when we first read of him in Scripture. He had quite a lineage. His father was Jonathan and his grandfather was Saul, the first king of Israel. So, Mephibosheth grew up as royalty with all the privileges that go with being in a king’s family.

But, he lost his father and his grandfather in one battle. And he was left with no family to care for him. He had become an orphan and all of the luxuries he used to have were gone.

Mephibosheth was Lame in His Feet

Let’s take it a little further… when Mephibosheth was only five years old, a man came running through the gates of the city with an urgent message. He was weary and bloody from battle. He ran into the city and said, “King Saul and his sons are dead! They have been killed in the battle!”

Mass chaos in the palace. Everyone knew the enemy couldn’t be far behind. Mephibosheth’s nurse told him to run as fast as he could. But those five year old legs could only go so quickly. His nurse scoops him up in her arms and keeps running.

But in her urgency to get to safety, something causes her to stumble and lose her grasp on the little boy. She fell to the ground and watched in horror as he fell out of her arms. He cried out in extreme pain.

She soon discovers that the fall had paralyzed him.

On this tragic day, his life changed completely. In so many ways.

The nurse gently lifted him back into her arms and carried him to Lo Debar, a small town pretty far away. And from there, he would learn to live with a disability he never chose.

The King Sought Out Mephibosheth and Adopted Him

Mephibosheth lived for years like this, removed from the rest of the world. Until one day, an unexpected knock came at the door. A messenger was there with orders from King David to bring him to the palace. The new king wanted to see him.

Thoughts that may have ran through his mind:

What does David want with me?

Does he want to take my life so I am not a threat to him? Me - a threat? I can’t run or fight. I’m no threat to the king. Let me be!

He’s now in the palace. And he bows before the king. But he’s surprised at what he hears from the king. He doesn’t hear anger or animosity. David called out his name tenderly and with kindness. There was compassion.

And then David’s next words overwhelmed him:

2 Samuel 9:7 KJV 1900

7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.

You have to think that he could not believe what he was hearing. He lifted up his head and answered:

2 Samuel 9:8 KJV 1900

8 And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

He really felt that he had nothing to offer. And he couldn’t imagine why David would show such kindness when he felt so undeserving.

Then, the king turned to his servant Ziba (who had been Saul’s servant):

2 Samuel 9:9–10 KJV 1900

9 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master’s son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. 10 Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master’s son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master’s son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

Here’s what just happened: in one unreal moment of compassion, David adopted Mephibosheth into his family. Restored into royalty, he would live with all of the privileges of being a king’s son!

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I Should Actively Seek for the Hurting

What amazes me about this story is… here you have a new king who just took the throne… and his first act of office… is to call for some nobody and make them royalty?!

By all standards of becoming king, this is the last thing that David should’ve been concerned with.

Nobody is looking or calling for Mephibosheth. When they look at him, their mind starts running through all the possibilities of why this guy is where he’s at in life. Unable to take care of himself.

But here’s the thing: WE NEVER REALLY NOW PEOPLE’S STORIES JUST BY LOOKING AT THEM.

There are people we encounter who are hurting! Suffering as spiritual orphans!

We need a compassionate heart like David that causes us to seek out those who have been injured by life!

I WANT THEM TO HAVE A SEAT AT THE KING’S TABLE!!!

Spiritual Adoption in the New Testament

In the Old Testament, David adopted Mephibosheth. And in the New Testament, there is a method of adoption. It goes beyond physical adoption - it’s spiritual adoption!

Every Person is Spiritually Lame

We talk about Mephibosheth being lame… all human beings are born spiritually lame - regardless of how healthy they are physically. David made this clear:

Psalm 51:5 KJV 1900

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.

Paul explained this in Romans…

Romans 5:12 KJV 1900

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Every single one of us were born with this sin nature… that cripples us! And if it’s left to continue its work in us, we would hide away and live our lives away from the King’s house, like Mephibosheth.

Discarded, unworthy, useless, inadequate, undeserving and unwelcome!

The King of Kings Has Sought Us Out and Adopted Us into God’s Family

BUT - like David had other plans for Mephibosheth - God had other plans for us!!!

God refused to let us live our lives crippled by the effects of sin with no answer. In the story, David sent a messenger to the house… but GOD SENT HIMSELF as a messenger as Jesus Christ, with a message of restoration for us!

“Well, what’s the message, Bro. LaRue?!”

The message is the Gospel! That, through the death, burial, and resurrection, we also can be adopted into the family of God!!!

I mean to tell you today, that every time someone repents of their sins, is baptized in Jesus name, and receives the Holy Ghost with the sign of speaking with other tongues… THEY’VE JUST BEEN ADOPTED!!!

God had this all planned out from the beginning:

Galatians 4:3–5 KJV 1900

3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

I’m just reading Scripture to you!!!

God planned to provide a way for us to be adopted into His family, the body of Christ. And Romans 8:15-16 explains even more what happens to us at the point of adoption:

Romans 8:15–16 KJV 1900

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

And everything has changed here! We no longer have to live in fear of the consequences of sin! When the Spirit of the Lord entered our lives, we received the Spirit of adoption! As part of Jesus’ royal family, we now cry out to Him like children would cry out to their father!

We Have Rights and Privileges as Children of God

And along with adoption comes rights and privileges as children of God.

Titus 3:4–7 KJV 1900

4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

These scriptures are teaching that God adopted us and saved us by the gospel that “regenerates” us. Regeneration means to be “formed or created again.” We are a “new creature in Christ Jesus!”

So what happens? We run from our old life of guilt and shame into the arms of God who gives us an eternal place at His table!

Galatians 4:7 KJV 1900

7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Mephibosheth was living at the lowest level of society, barely getting by, before he was adopted and pulled out of all of that… Leet me ask you something: do you think he ever felt like going back???

“No longer am I going to live satisfied dumpster-diving in this world to survive and get by! I’m in the KING’S FAMILY!!! I can live better than that!!!”

The way of this world is to partake regularly off of what belongs in the dumpster… But a prince doesn’t go near trash… it just ain’t right!!! He’s too busy at the King’s table!!!

And the ultimate privilege of being His child is knowing we will one day spend eternity with Him!

Romans 8:16–17 KJV 1900

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

The Spirit bears witness that we are His children! And we’ll be glorified with Him one day!

I Will No Longer Live My Life Below My Standing as His Child

Now, here’s where the rubber meets the road…

I’m sure that palace life was probably awkward for Mephibosheth at first. As one of the king’s sons, he had new clothes and furniture. Chefs prepared him better meals than he could remember. He wanted for nothing!

Just a few days ago, he had been hiding in Lo Debar, scraping to get by.

And, the day did dawn when Mephibosheth finally accepted what was happening to him. He might have even realized this life was not just what David wanted for him; this life was God’s desire for him as well!

Jeremiah 29:11 KJV 1900

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

And God has great plans and desires for us. But, if we refuse to live as His children, those things will never come our way.

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Here’s the thing, some people try to treat this lifestyle as if it has a revolving door on it. “I can come into the King’s house, run back out and hang out in Lo Debar, then come back and eat at His table, and then go back to Lo Debar!”

But, that’s not a lifestyle. That’s a vicious merry-go-’round that makes shipwreck of a lot of people’s lives.

The world doesn’t have anything to offer the child of the King. And I will not live my life below my standing as God’s child!

As a matter of fact, if I’m a child of the King, why wouldn’t I want to live like a child of the King 24/7?!!!

The great experience of being born again of water and the Spirit is only the beginning of the blessings the Lord has in store for us. Ephesians 1:13–14 calls the experience of receiving the Holy Spirit just a down payment toward what God is going to give us.

We should live our lives with confidence that we are loved and accepted by God. We should declare within ourselves that we are blood-bought children of the living God, and as such, all the promises for the church are ours.

POINTS TO INCLUDE:

There are things that we still allow to cripple us, even though we’ve been adopted! Things we’ve struggled with in private for years! But where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty! And he who the son has set free, is free indeed!

I’m sick and tired of that Spirit that lies to children of God and says, “You don’t belong at the table!”

Conclusion

Internalizing the Message

There are many, many people who are spiritual orphans. Cast to the side, overlooked. They are looking for someone who sees value in them. No matter what they seem like on the outside.

And you know, that is exactly how God saw us. When no one else saw any value at all, God said He would take us just as we were. Were we unlovable? Absolutely. Did we need cleaned up? Certainly. Did we have issues? Without a doubt.

But check this out… when Mephibosheth pulled up his chair to the table, and those paralyzed legs went under the table, HE LOOKED JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE AT THE TABLE!!!

Were those reasons for Him to reject us and move on to someone else who had it more together? Not on your life! Jesus loved us too much to leave us where He found us. Instead, He did for us what David did for Mephibosheth. Jesus adopted us and made us His own.