Welcome to the Family: When God Adopts You as His Own
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
In 1880, Lew Wallace published his book Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ. In this book, Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jewish man, was falsely accused by his good friend Marsala of attempting to assassinate a Roman procurator. Having been found guilty, he was sentenced to row in the galley of a warship. As the ship was about to enter into a sea battle, Quintus Arrius the ship’s commander, saw Ben-Hur and asked if he was afraid of death. Ben-Hur showed courage, and as a test, Arrius left him unchained while all the other slaves were chained to their positions. During a battle, the enemy’s warship rammed the Roman ship, and as a result it began to sink. Arrius was drowning when suddenly, he felt Ben-Hur’s arms around him, saving his life. Awestruck by Ben-Hur’s courage and willingness to rescue of his enslaver, Quintus Arrius initially took this Jewish man in as his protege, but in time he adopted him as his own son. From that moment on, neither Arrius nor Ben-Hur nor anyone else in the Roman Empire would consider Judah Ben-Hur a slave. He had a new identity; as Arrius, himself said, “He is my son, and heir.”
In similar fashion, Paul says we have gone through an adoption process. In fact, in he told the Galatians
So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
I don’t think that we give the doctrine of adoption enough real estate in our hearts and souls with all the other doctrines that have a home in our minds and hearts. So this morning, I want to change all that. I want us to stop for a moment and purchase a little bit more real restate for Divine adoption because, one again, it has so much to do with our identity—our new identity in Christ. And I do agree with David Powlison who said (and I paraphrase) that these verses are not meant to bring about debate and division, but adoration and admiration. These verses are not primarily speaking to the head (though they do that); they are meant to speak to the heart—the soul! So my hope is that as we look at these four truths of adoption (a heady word to use) our emotions will be stirred so that whenever we think upon our adoption, we will erupt in praise to almighty God! The first truth may be the most difficult for some of us, and it is the predestination to adoption. The second, for some may come in a close second for difficulty swallowing: the pleasure of adoption. Thirdly, there is the praise for adoption. Finally, the place in adoption.
The Predestination to Adoption
The Pleasure of Adoption
The Praise for Adoption
The Place in Adoption
The Predestination to Adoption
The Predestination to Adoption
In Ancient Rome, adoption was not so much done out of desire, but out of necessity. Rarely would a child be adopted because a couple could not get pregnant. Rarely did hearts go out for the orphans so that a couple lovingly took in Annie. Adoptions were a matter of need, not desire. There was no male heir born to the couple and a male heir was needed. Thus, what often would be the case is that a man would adopt the second, or perhaps the third, oldest son of a friend or at least someone in the same social class as he was, though there were times where an adoption of a lower class would happen. And in the case of Ben-Hur, he was adopted out of slavery and made a son. But nearly all adoptions were matters of need, not desire.
But when we speak of God adopting us, we know that God has no need of anything. In fact, as we saw last week, and as most of us know since we were knee-high to a grasshopper, Jesus is God’s only-begotten (one and only unique) Son. He has a Son already. Any adoption on God’s part is not done of out need, but for some other reason. Paul put it like this:
In love he predestined us for adoption.
We’ll get to that other reason in a moment. For now, I want us to focus on the fact that Paul said that God predestined us to adoption. Again, I don’t want this to be a mental exercise, so much as it is a joyful one, but true joy comes by way of hearing and knowing the truth. And the truth is that God predestined us believers unto adoption. That word predestined literally means predestined. It’s used six times in the New Testament and it is always predestined—or if you prefer, predetermined. We don’t have time to go into them, but if you’d like a list, look at Acts 4:28, Romans 8:29 and 30, this text we just read and verse 11 as well. There is one more in 1 Corinthians 2:7 which the ESV translators spelled out with “decreed before the ages,” but we could certainly see “predestined” taking the place of “decreed.”
The word for adoption is actually two Greek words put together. It literally means “a placing of sonship” (or daughtership). Like Ben Hur, we were not sons. In fact we were slaves just like Ben Hur. Our place was in a place of vile servitude that would eventually lead to our death if we were not freed from the chains that would pull us down to the abyss. Like Ben Hur, we were removed from slavery and put in a place of sonship. But unlike Ben Hur, we did not earn this sonship. We didn’t save God. He saved us. God was not impressed with our prowess or our intellect. He didn’t put us in a probationary status as a protege to see if we had what it takes or to see if he could trust us. If he had, every single one of us would fail. Instead, he predetermined in eternity past that we would be be his sons and daughters.
In ancient Rome, as in modern America, the word adoption—the legal process of adoption—would make a person as much a son or daughter as a biological child is. Hence, we find the idea of God grafting us into the tree that is known as Israel in Romans 11. We are now as much a part of that tree as the original branches. Hence, we find Paul saying to us in 2 Corinthians that all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ! All the promises—not some of them, not most of them—all of the promises are ours. Hence, we find that Paul says to us in Romans 8:17
and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
What is Christ’s as God’s only-begotten (one and only unique) Son is ours just as much as it is his! Hence, we find the truth over and over again that we, as believers—as adopted children of God—will reign with Christ! All because God, in his sovereignty chose us in eternity past to be adopted, with full-rights of sonship, into his family. From slave to son! From Pauper to Prince and Princess! That’s what the Predestination to Adoption does for us. We could not have done it on our own.
The Pleasure of Adoption
The Pleasure of Adoption
But that leads us to that question of why? Why would God adopt us unto himself? And the answer is he wanted to. This is the second truth that we must receive deep into our souls: it pleased God to adopt us. Let’s look again to verse 5.
In love
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
I told you we would get to the reason for adoption in a moment, and here we are. “In love he predestined us for adoption to himself...according to the purpose of his will.” You may be thinking that I am hanging all the weight on the words, “In love,” but in reality, no one is quite sure which part of verses four and five those words belong to. It could be that we stand before him blameless in love (as opposed to wrath/judgment) or it could mean that in love he predestined us to adoption. You see, when Greek was written, it was written in what we call scriptio continua. In essence, these letters were in all capital letters with no spaces between them and no punctuation. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s no problem to determine which words go with which. In this case, there is a problem. Did God cause us to stand in his presence as blameless saints in his love or did God adopt us into his family in his love? What a problem to have to figure out! The choices! Either way, we see that God loves us more than we could ever fathom and in ways we could never dream!
So, no. I don’t base my it-pleased-God-to-adopt-us stance based on the words in love. Instead, I base them on the part we can be assured of that goes with this verse: “according to the purpose of his will.” That word “purpose,” actually is better translated, “good pleasure.” In fact, that’s exactly how the Christian Standard Bible translates it. The NIV says that it was in accordance with his “pleasure and will.” The NLT says that it’s what he wanted to do.
We need to understand the language that Paul is using. This is not just a legal transaction (though that is part of it as adoption must be legal). He’s using filial language—the language of sonship. To fully understand, let’s turn to the Gospel according to Matthew and the third chapter. We see this same wording being used here, except in Ephesians 1, we find the noun form of the word. In Matthew 3, we find it in its verbal form. It would be the difference between “I run,” and “the run I’m on.”
and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
The pleasure that God had in Jesus, his only-begotten (one and only unique) Son is the same pleasure that led to our adoption. Do you understand the implications of this? It means that God was not obligated to adopt us. He did not have to. He was not under compulsion to adopt any of us. He wasn’t under the time-crunch of death and still in need of an heir. His biological clock wasn’t ticking. He adopted us because adopting you and me made him happy. It brought him pleasure. He wanted to do it. And God will never deny himself of that which he wants because everything he desires is good. He never has an evil desire. Do you understand what I’m saying here? God not only loves you; he likes you. He is happy that you—if you are a believer in Jesus Christ—are his child. He has always been happy to have you; he will always be happy to have you.
Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
The Praise for Adoption
The Praise for Adoption
The great thing is that the Psalmist found the Lord doing whatever he pleases to be a reason for praise. That’s the third truth that ought to put deep down into our souls: the praise for adoption! Understand what the Psalmist says here. He does not just say that what God does brings him pleasure, but that God will not do anything unless it brings him pleasure. This includes the death of his own Son.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
The words “the will” at the beginning of the verse, “It was the will of the LORD to crush him,” is the same exact word that the Psalmist used for pleasure. It pleased God to crush his only-begotten Son because through that crushing—through his death—he would bring many sons and daughters to glory! To the praise of his glory! To the praise of his mercy and grace! He is the God who saves!
to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Look at where we’d be if God had not predestined us to adoption according to his good pleasure.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
That’s who we were. Paul emphasized that in the letter. “And you were...” We were enslaved to the power of the air. We were following hard after the spirit that still exists and births sons of disobedience. We lived in the passions of our flesh. We carried out the desires of our bodies and minds. We were naturally born as children of wrath. That is what we were. It is what we’d still be God had not predestined us for adoption because he wanted to—because it made him happy. And no one can take God’s happiness away from him. Another way to say that is that no one can thwart God’s purposes. For that we give praise!
The Place in Adoption
The Place in Adoption
Lastly, there is not only the Predestination to Adoption, the Pleasure of Adoption, the Praise for Adoption, but there is also the Place in Adoption. Where does this adoption take place? In Christ, or as Paul says, “in the Beloved.” This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased, and I am well-pleased to place my adopted children in him. What glorious grace he must have for him to secure us to his own Beloved Son! His death is our death. His life is our life! His reign is our reign! Our adoption is secure because by God’s glorious grace, we were placed in Christ so that we are no longer our own, but our identity is securely placed in Christ.
We don’t have to be good enough. We don’t have to be smart enough. We don’t have to be holy enough. We don’t have to be athletic enough. We don’t have to be strong enough. We don’t have to be clean enough. We don’t have to be pure enough. We don’t have to be talented enough. We don’t have to be pretty enough. God’s standards are not the world’s standards. God says you and I must be in his beloved Son.
The problem is that on our own, we would never even find his Son. Even if we could, we would never have the power to enter into his Son. We were enemies of God, naturally a part of the children of wrath. We lived, breathed, dwelt in the domain of darkness with no way of entering into the kingdom of the beloved Son. But
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
As natural children of wrath, we need someone who looks upon us in love and compassion, and chooses to remove us from our deadly peril and adopt us in his Beloved.
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
United with Christ—so closely united that we are said to even be in Him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, I hope you souls are bursting with praise as we look at all that God has done for us “In Him,” and all because of his glorious grace and his good-pleasure. We have seen The Predestination to Adoption, The Pleasure in Adoption, the Praise for Adoption, and the Place in Adoption this morning. Because all of these are truths, we not only have praise welling up within us, but we have the secured hope of eternity. We rest secure in knowing that once we are “in Christ,” we are in Him forever. God predestined us to be there. He takes pleasure in us being there. It is by his glorious grace that we are there. As Jesus said in John:
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
Church family, there is going to come a time when you will struggle with your own sin, and that sin is going to lead to shame and perhaps despair. You’re going to feel as if your communion with the Father is broken. But do not forget that God’s Word is our firm foundation, not our feelings. In that moment, come back to Ephesians 1:5-6 and remember that God chose you in accordance with his good-pleasure. You’re communion is just as secure on that day as it was on day one. And then, let that truth drive you to praise to him for his glorious grace.
If you want this hope, you can have it. If you don’t know this joy, this hope, this life, know that God can transfer you of your darkness and transfer you into the kingdom of his Son. You need only put your trust in Jesus for this life and the next. You need only repent, in other words: turn away from your darkness, turn from your rebellion as an enemy of God, and turn and pledge your loyalty and love for Jesus, the very Son of God. God will adopt you as his own and secure your place in the Beloved.
For Ben-Hur, adoption meant he was no longer a slave but a son, he became a citizen of a a great empire, he had more wealth and power than he knew what to do with, and that he could overcome the very one whom he had once called friend, but became his false-accuser. Beloved, for us adoption also means becoming a son, but our citizenship is in kingdom of the Beloved Son, our inheritance and wealth are beyond measure, and yes, we too will overcome the one whom we once called friend but found to be an accuser.
Prayer
Our Heavenly Father,
As the song says, “Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made; were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade; to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry; nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.” But even then, when the sky is filled and the oceans dry, we would not cease to praise your for your glorious mercy and grace in our lives. Thank you for bringing us into your family, adopting us fully as your children. Help us now to live as your beloved children. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
We want to invite all who are baptized believers in good standing with your church to join us during this third song as we gather the elements so that we commune with one another in Christ when the song of praise is over.
One of the beautiful aspects of communion is that it demonstrates God’s glorious grace. He took those who were children of wrath and enslaved to sin and made them sons and daughters who now sit at his table and enjoy a family meal with our brothers and sisters, our big Brother, our heavenly Father, all by the power of the Spirit.
For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
