Haluwasa Tuesday Night

Our Identity in Him

Wednesday Night

Jesus- Who are you?

Introduction

So far we have covered who Jesus His, His redemption plan for us, and His willingness to take our place as a leper and make us clean.

You Are Adopted

Anchor Text

Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he[b] predestined us for adoption to sonship[c] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Adoption and its Benefits

Although this concept is found all throughout Scripture, Paul puts it so clearly and so sweetly here.

This is the identity of the believer. This either is your identity or your potential identity today.

The aspects of adoption that are still true today

Adopted children are chosen

Adopted children are treated by the law, and by healthy families, as if they were born into that family

Adopted children receive the same rights that every other child receives the moment that they are adopted.

Children that are adopted into a community or family may look different than the rest of the family, but they are still family.

On my mom’s side, her siblings have adopted dozens of children. They are from Mexico, Haiti, the US, and Honduras

Although they are not believers, it is beautiful picture of what the family of God should look like under the adopted to sonship through the blood of Jesus

The privileges that these kids get are the same as the biological children in these families; the same food, education, clothes, hugs, advice, and so on.

The privileges that Paul writes about are beautiful as well: blessed with spiritual blessings, chosen, glorious grace, freely given gifts, redemption, forgiveness, and unity.

All of these things are amazing and wonderful and only come when you identify as a child of God

The Scriptures are replete with allusions to God acknowledging you as his child.

John- 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the [a]right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

1 John 3:1- Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of [a]God! Therefore the world does not know [b]us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba,[a] Father.”

Galatians 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

In Romans 8:15, Paul writes that we have received the Spirit of adoption. This means that we are not merely spectators in God's family but active members. Just as a family member is fully included and valued, we are co-heirs with Christ. Imagine being at a family reunion where every single person is delighted to see you and genuinely values your presence. This is the joy of our adoption into God's family.

Adoption, as the term clearly implies, is an act of transfer from an alien family into the family of God himself. This is surely the apex of grace and privilege.

John Murray (Professor)

Faith is the evidence of divine adoption.

John Calvin (French Reformer)

Adoption is a greater mercy than Adam had in paradise.

Thomas Watson

Adoption Relating to Purpose

When you know who you are, you know what to do and what you can accomplish

John 3:2, after he talked about being a child of God, he says that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Our beliefs about who we are and who God is, affect what we do.

Soccer team analogy

Every kid was mediocre, but they knew their role

They filled their unique purposes as HHS boys soccer team to have incredible victory.

They didn’t get to choose their ID on the field, the coach did. You are a full back. Your job is to clear the ball out. You are outside midfielders, you run to the corners every time the outside backs get the ball. Practices were just defining roles.

God defines who you are. Through all of human history, God had you in mind. He planned to redeem you through Christ’s work on the cross.

Smart, kind, beautiful

Every night, I remind her who she is

She is a child of God, and she is smart, kind, and beautiful

Every time she does something that requires correction.

Like yelling at me or snapping at another kid, I ask her if it was smart, kind, or beautiful.

Her identity as a Child of God and a Preim, tells her who she is and what she is like

Inside out 2

The sense of self determining how to make decisions

All of her core memories created her self-identity, which influence how she saw the the world

When new emotions and circumstance came into the picture, she was fine until her sense of self was torn out and sent away.

I want you to know that you are a Child of God.

You are loved more than you could ever know.

You were created for a purpose.

Everyday when you wake up, there is a God is created you for that day.

You were wonderfully and fearfully created.

Despite what the world throws at you, Jesus provides you with a free identity.

There are only two groups people in the world today. Those who identify themselves as a Child of God and those who do not.

You Are Created

Read

3. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

4. What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit[c] him?

5. For You have made him a little lower than [d]the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,

7. All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the field,

8. The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.

9. O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

Explain:

The Psalmist is coming to conclusions that we have just come to, but is doing so with the modern advances of science.

When the Psalmist discusses the heavens, he is looking up at the sky, the moon, the stars, and the clouds and observing creation.

In this, he was in awe

He observes that God is behind all of it, by the work of His fingers

In seeing the beauty of the heavens, he reflects on how small we are and how incredible it is that He is thinking of us.

God is personal. He is a personal God who doesn’t stay in the distance

God loves us: God has crowned us in glory and honor, the small specs that we are

God gives purpose: we are the guardians of creation. We are to tend to the Earth, and we have been given dominion over it.

All of the living things on Earth are second to us. We rule under God’s authority

All Glory to God

Relate:

The odds that you would be here tonight are incalculable. The odds that you were born, that you are healthy enough to see, hear, and process what I am saying.

You are here this weekend for a reason and that reason is this:

The God of the universe wants to connect with you

He wants to love you, to give you purpose, to make you right again

We will talk abou this more, but he created a very unique want for you to connect to Him

That way is through the life, death, and ressurection of Jesus Christ.

Jesus says that he came so that whosoever wants to believe in Him can have everlasting life.

The work to connect is done.

He died on the cross for your sins

To connect with Him, to have access to the God of the universe, you just need to acknowledge that work on the cross is enough to cover your sin