KNOW CONFLICT: PART 2
Fully Alive • Sermon • Submitted • 47:40
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· 86 viewsTHE HOLY SPIRIT IS GIVEN TO HELP US IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST SIN BY INDWELLING OUR LIVES, CHANGING OUR IDENTITY AND SECURING OUR INHERITANCE.
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THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GIVEN TO HELP US IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST SIN BY INDWELLING OUR LIVES, CHANGING OUR IDENTITY AND SECURING OUR INHERITANCE.
IDENTITY: ADOPTION CHANGES OUR STATUS (v.14-15)
Like justification, adoption refers to a legal transaction that results in a change of status. Leon Morris (The Epistle to the Romans [Apollos/Eerdmans], p. 315) says, “It signifies being granted the full rights and privileges of sonship in a family to which one does not belong by nature.”
We Have A New Family (v.14)
According to Paul, when we believed, we became the "sons of God." That is, we were removed from the family of Adam and were transplanted into the family of God. We are literally His children,
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
John's verses tell us that we are His children now, and that one day, we will be just like our new Father.
Notice what the first part of verse 14 says.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
This means is that those who are in the family begin to act like the family. If A person is saved, they will develop traits that are like the Father's family. The primary trait being that they will be led by the Spirit of God! You see, every child of God has the Holy Spirit living within him,
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
And, if the Spirit is in residence, He will make His presence known! He will change the life He inhabits.
We Have A New Father (v.15)
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
According to a report in "Fathers and Their Impact on Children's Well-Being":
Even from birth, children who have an involved father are more likely to be emotionally secure, be confident to explore their surroundings, and, as they grow older, have better social connections.
The way that fathers play with their children also has an important impact on a child's emotional and social development. Fathers spend a higher percentage of their one-to-one interactions with infants and preschoolers in stimulating, playful activity than do mothers. From these interactions, children learn how to regulate their feelings and behavior.
Children with involved, caring fathers also have better educational outcomes. The influence of a father's involvement extends into adolescence and young adulthood. Numerous studies find that an active and nurturing style of fathering is associated with better verbal skills, intellectual functioning, and academic achievement among adolescents.
There is no question that fathers do play an important part in their children's lives: the majority of studies affirm that an involved father can play a crucial role, particularly in the cognitive, behavioral, and general health and well-being areas of a child's life; having a positive male role model helps an adolescent boy develop positive gender-role characteristics; adolescent girls are more likely to form positive opinions of men and are better able to relate to them when parented by an involved father; it is generally accepted, under most circumstances, that a father's presence and involvement can be as crucial to a child's healthy development as a mother's; and experiencing validation of their importance in the general parenting literature has made fathers much more conscious of their value, which, in turn, leads to their greater desire to be involved.
In a wonderful chapter in Knowing God (“Sons of God” [IVP], pp. 181-208), J. I. Packer says (p. 187) that adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers, even higher than the blessing of justification, because it brings us into a richer relationship with God as our loving Father. He goes on to say (p. 190, italics his) that “the entire Christian life has to be understood in terms of it” [adoption]. He illustrates from the Sermon on the Mount (pp. 190-193) how adoption is the basis of Christian conduct, as we imitate the Father. It’s at the root of glorifying the Father, as people see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. It’s at the heart of pleasing the Father, who sees our hearts, rather than being hypocrites who practice our righteousness before men. Adoption is the basis of Christian prayer, since Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father who is in heaven.” Adoption is also the basis of a life of faith, as we trust the Father to provide for our needs.
Then (pp. 194-207) Packer elaborates on how adoption gives us the deepest insights into five other matters: (1) It shows us the greatness of God’s grace and love; (2) the glory of the Christian hope; (3) the ministry of the Holy Spirit; (4) the meaning and motives of what the Puritans called “gospel holiness”; and, (5) the clue we need to see our way through the problem of assurance.
Does the doctrine of God’s gracious adoption of you as His child make your heart well up with thanksgiving and joy as you realize what the Father has done for you? He picked you out of the gutter of sin, cleaned you up, clothed you with the perfect righteousness of Christ, and lovingly brought you into His family as His child, where you enjoy the inexhaustible riches of His grace, both now and for all eternity! Meditate on that truth every day and it will give you strength to resist sin and grace to endure trials.
In our society, adopted children often feel, and are perceived to be, second class members of the family. That is sad, but true for many. They are forever reminded of the fact that they were not born in to the adoptive family. However, in ancient Rome, things were vastly different. To be adopted was considered a great privilege.
The picture of adoption is a beautiful picture of what God does for the Christian. In the ancient world the family was based on a Roman law that gave father’s absolute authority over their children so long as he lived. He could work, enslave, sell, and if he wished, he could pronounce the death penalty. Regardless of the child's adult age, the father held all power over personal and property rights.
Therefore, adoption was a serious matter. Yet, it was a common practice to ensure that a family would not become extinct by having no male children. And when a child was adopted, three legal steps were taken.
1. The adopted son was adopted permanently. He could not be adopted today and disinherited tomorrow. He became a son of the father--forever. He was eternally secure as a son.
2. The adopted son immediately had all the rights of a legitimate son in the new family.
3. The adopted son completely lost all rights in his old family. The adopted son was looked upon as a new person -- so new that old debts and obligations connected with his former family were cancelled out and abolished as if they never existed.)
When we came to Jesus, we were taken out of Adam and adopted into Jesus. We have a new Father!
We Have A New Freedom (v.14-15)
These verses tell us that as children of God, we have been delivered from the power and influence of the flesh. We are no longer led about by Satan and the whims of the flesh. Now, we are led by the Spirit of God. This does not refer to the Spirit’s leading us in matters of guidance about life’s choices, but rather to the Spirit’s leading us to kill our sin. If the Holy Spirit is prompting and enabling you to fight against and kill your sin, it’s an evidence that should assure you that you are a child of God.Not only have we been delivered from our old leadership, we have been delivered from the life of fear that we used to live while we were in our old family. Now, in Jesus, we are bought into a close relationship with our new Heavenly Father. A relationship so close that we are permitted to address Him as "Abba" or "Daddy."
The idea is that we are brought into such an intimate relationship with God that we assume the place of small children who lift their voices to God as a hurting, helpless child would who cries out to its father. There is the idea of intimacy and dependence, but of a complete lack of fear. Of course, there is respect and reverence, but there is the sense that our Father will not harm us, but that if He loved us enough to die for us, He will certainly care for us as we walk with Him.
INDWELLING: ASSURANCE CHANGES OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SIN (v.16)
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Not only have we been adopted into the family of God, but we are given priceless assurance of that fact in our hearts day by day.
Our Communion With The Spirit
The child of God has communion with the Holy Spirit of God. It was this relationship that was predicted by the Lord Jesus Himself,
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
The Spirit of God spends time with the redeemed and this is a truth that the saint of God must not take for granted. He leads us and teaches us all we need to know about how to live for the glory of God in this world.
Our Confidence In The Spirit
The Spirit of God has fellowship with those who are saved by grace and that is one of the surest ways to know that you have been born again! If you are genuinely saved, you will know it because the Spirit of God will hold communion with you.
He will guide you. He will warn you. He will lead you. He will feed you. He will comfort you. He will teach you the truth. If the Spirit of God never speaks to your heart, then you need to examine yourself. It may be that you have never really been saved.
Like a mother who wraps her arms around that insecure child everyday and expresses her undying love, the Spirit of God does the same things for the redeemed child of the Lord. He is the Divine lover of our soul!
INHERITANCE: AFFLUENCE CHANGES OUR REALITY WITH SIN (v.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.
Not only are we adopted into the family and assured of that fact everyday of our lives, we are also wealthy beyond measure. Notice what this verse teaches us about our new standing.
Our Privilege
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
If we are co-heirs with Christ, our inheritance is secure because there is absolutely no doubt that Jesus will inherit all that the Father has ordained to give Him. In Psalm 2, the nations rage against God and seek to throw off the lordship of His anointed king. But God, who sits in the heavens, scoffs at these proud earthly kings. And then Messiah responds
I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
It is certain that Jesus will inherit all that the Father has promised to Him. And since we are fellow heirs with Christ, our inheritance is secure. Our right to the riches of heaven is not because of anything in us, but because we are in Christ. But, what does our inheritance look like?
Our Portion
“And if children, heirs also, heirs of God…” At the very least, this means that we will receive all that God has promised to us as His children.
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.
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—
and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
These riches include our being heirs of the world. Paul says in
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
Abraham did not inherit the world in his lifetime. The only piece of real estate he owned was the burial cave of Machpelah. But God has promised a new city whose architect and builder is God (Heb. 11:10). Abraham was looking for that heavenly city (Heb. 11:16), and since we are fellow heirs with Christ, who is the seed of Abraham, we will inherit the new heavens and earth with Him.
Also, we are heirs of the kingdom of God. James 2:5 declares,
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
And, included with these promises, we are heirs of eternal life, which is the joy of knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ. Paul exults in
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
We are given an equal share in the wealth of our Father. Under Jewish Law, the eldest son would be given a double portion of the father's wealth. However, under Roman Law, all sons were treated equally.
When I think about this, it isn't the idea of getting things that amazes me. I am amazed when I come to understand that I have been placed on the same footing with Jesus. Please do not misunderstand me, but you and I that are saved have been declared to be the sons of God and we are given the same standing before God as is His Son Jesus Christ! We will never be Him, but we have been made like Him in the Father's eyes!
These riches include our being heirs of the world but that God Himself is our inheritance.
The psalmist knew the joy of having God as his inheritance. For a while, he was envious of the wicked as he saw their prosperity. But then he got his bearings and realized that they would die and face God’s judgment. So he affirmed
Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
The prophet Jeremiah also knew this wonderful truth. He had witnessed the awful destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, along with the slaughter of many of his people and the deportation into slavery of many others. In the midst of his grief, he affirmed
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
Our Promise
As we pass through this life, we will go through difficult times and we will face many trials. There will be many times when we will feel like God has forsaken us and is not meeting our needs like we think He should. However, we need to remember that we are "pilgrims and strangers" in this present world. The fulness of our inheritance will not be realized until we arrive at home in our Father's House. When we get to Heaven, then we will see just how rich we are and were. One look around will tell the tale forever,
I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.
I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.
I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God.
He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.”
The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”
Then he said, “It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty.
Conquerors inherit all this. I’ll be God to them, they’ll be sons and daughters to me.
But for the rest—the feckless and faithless, degenerates and murderers, sex peddlers and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars—for them it’s Lake Fire and Brimstone. Second death!”
One of the Seven Angels who had carried the bowls filled with the seven final disasters spoke to me: “Come here. I’ll show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.”
He took me away in the Spirit to an enormous, high mountain and showed me Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God,
resplendent in the bright glory of God.
The City shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light. She had a wall majestic and high with twelve gates. At each gate stood an Angel, and on the gates were inscribed the names of the Twelve Tribes of the sons of Israel:
three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west.
The wall was set on twelve foundations, the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb inscribed on them.
The Angel speaking with me had a gold measuring stick to measure the City, its gates, and its wall.
The City was laid out in a perfect square. He measured the City with the measuring stick: twelve thousand stadia, its length, width, and height all equal.
Using the standard measure, the Angel measured the thickness of its wall: 144 cubits.
The wall was jasper, the color of Glory, and the City was pure gold, translucent as glass.
The foundations of the City walls were garnished with every precious gem imaginable: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,
the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate a single pearl. The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass.
But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple.
The City doesn’t need sun or moon for light. God’s Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp!
The nations will walk in its light and earth’s kings bring in their splendor.
Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won’t be any night.
They’ll bring the glory and honor of the nations into the City.
Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will get in.
Then the Angel showed me Water-of-Life River, crystal bright. It flowed from the Throne of God and the Lamb,
right down the middle of the street. The Tree of Life was planted on each side of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month. The leaves of the Tree are for healing the nations.
Never again will anything be cursed. The Throne of God and of the Lamb is at the center. His servants will offer God service—worshiping,
they’ll look on his face, their foreheads mirroring God.
Never again will there be any night. No one will need lamplight or sunlight. The shining of God, the Master, is all the light anyone needs. And they will rule with him age after age after age.
These glorious truths, especially our sure inheritance, enable us to fight the damning sin of apostasy brought about by suffering. I will preach more about this next week but let me say this for now.