Ephesians 1:5
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Adoption into the Family of God
Adoption into the Family of God
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
Last week we discussed the fact that we were chosen by God to be holy and blameless before Him. That’s why we were chosen. It was with a plan, with a purpose. Tonight we will look at what it means that we are adopted.
“Family of God” Here’s the chorus:
I'm so glad I'm a part
Of the family of God
I've been washed in the fountain
Cleansed by His blood
Joint heirs with Jesus
As we travel this sod
For I'm part of the family
The family of God
Tonights outline: 1. We will look at what adoption is and what it means. 2. The benefits of adoption. 3. The responsibilities of adoption.
1. What is adoption as it is referred to here? What does adoption mean?
Adoption is the creation of a relationship between two individuals that is recognized as essentially equivalent to one stemming from natural descent.
In other words: adoption creates a relationship that is just as binding, just as legal as a biological relationship.
I don’t know if you have seen this yourself, but it is an amazing thing whenever a family takes children into their home whom they don’t know (or maybe they do because of a relative) and makes them their own. Adoption is such a beautiful thing because it is marked by great sacrifice.
We have some friends that have taken two children into their home and it truly is a beautiful thing.
During the adoption hearing the judge asks these questions of the parents.
Will you (the parents) take this child to be your son/daughter?
Will you be his/her mom & dad?
Will you provide for this child and love him/her forever?
Aren’t those questions a beautiful picture of what adoption is?
Many, many times there are great burdens and hardships that surround the adoption process and it is amazing to see a family open their arms to a child (or multiples) and raise them as their own.
And I think it is OK for us to draw a correlation between that beauty of a family bringing a child into their home, and that of God bringing us into His family.
Now, what spiritual family were you born into? This is a difficult statement to make, but we were born into the kingdom of darkness. We were born with the devil as our father. This whole ridiculous notion that God is a universal father to man is complete nonsense. It isn’t biblical at all. Only in the sense that we are all God’s creation could we ever be considered “all God’s children”.
The Bible clearly says that “all who are born in Israel are not of Israel”. That means that not every person born on this Earth is a Christian. We know that to be true. So, for someone to say that all people born are “God’s children” is a lie that the devil wants us to believe.
We were born into sin. We had a sinful nature at birth. Sin was all we knew, and the kingdom of darkness was our domain.
We have to know that to appreciate this doctrine of adoption. We have to know what we’ve been rescued from to appreciate our rescuer.
2nd verse - “Family of God”
“From the door of an orphanage
To the house of the King
No longer an outcast
A new song I sing
From rags unto riches
From the weak to the strong
I'm not worthy to be here
But, praise God, I belong”
Adoption means that legal status is given to the child as an heir of the family. It means that the child carries the family name that they are adopted into. It means that they have standing and relationship in the family. It means they are accepted.
Adoption (many times) is transferring a child from a broken home or no home at all, into a loving home that wants them. Adoption is transferring them from broken to beautiful.
Spiritual adoption transfers us from the “kingdom of darkness” into the “kingdom of light”. It literally transfers our citizenship from being a child of darkness into a child of light.
What an amazing thing this is.
Verses that reference adoption:
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!”
5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
You’ll notice two things about these two verses that we just read.
1. It uses the term “sons” as does Ephesians 1:5, that is important. It means sons and daughters. It carries a more personal connotation than “children”. If I say to my oldest son - “you’re my kid!” does that carry the same warmth as saying “you’re my son!”?
2. Adoption is something that we “receive”. It isn’t something we claim, it isn’t something we can earn, it is something that is freely given.
Adoption means that we have been “grafted” into God’s family.
Q - I wonder if we know what it means to be adopted into the family of God? Do we really appreciate God adopting us?
HE DID NOT HAVE TO!
Now that we’ve seen what adoption is and what it means, now let’s look at the benefits of adoption.
2. What are the benefits of adoption?
Well, we’ve already alluded to a majority of the benefits.
But the main benefit of adoption like we’ve been talking about is “sonship” as Galatians and Romans says. Sonship or Daughtership if you like. It is a universal term.
Unconditional Love, Forgiveness, Belonging, Acceptance, HEAVEN!
When we are adopted spiritually, we take God’s name as our own and our inheritance becomes the Kingdom of Heaven and all that it entails. We are granted forgiveness of sins and an eternal reward of righteousness that surpasses anything we can imagine on this Earth.
When I think about the fact that we are sons & daughters, I’m frequently drawn back to the story of the prodigal son. You see, the prodigal son never stopped being a son even when he went into the far country. He was still a son. He still bore the name of the Father. He was still accepted into the household of the Father. There was nothing that the son could do to erase his name from the ledger of sonship.
Is there any greater benefit than unconditional love?
3. OK - what about the responsibilities of adoption?
What responsibilities do we have in this adoption process? Well, we just identified them last week. We are to be holy and blameless.
As a son or a daughter, don’t you want to keep from disappointing your father or your mother?
We have a responsibility to carry the name of God in a manner that glorifies Him.
We are now wearing a jersey that has His name on our back. We should remember that.
But God also has a covenant responsibility with us as His children.
He has made us a promise that He will keep us, guide us, never leave us. He has made us a promise based on His character that He will guide us safely to our new Home in heaven. He cannot break that promise. His immutable character won’t allow Him to break that promise.
Jesus is the mediator of this covenant promise.
“through Jesus Christ”
It is only through the atonement of Jesus that we can be adopted. He is the only one that can provide us with the payment needed to satisfy the requirement of our sin’s penalty. Jesus is the mediator of our promise of adoption. He makes the adoption possible.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Your life has a purpose and a plan.
Verse 5, 9, 10, 11 all have something in common. Can you tell what it is? It is Paul telling us very clearly that God has a plan and a purpose.
If you are here tonight and God has saved you from your sin, He has a good purpose in mind for you. No matter what your background has been, no matter what you are going through now, or what you will endure in the future - God has a plan and a purpose for your life.
This isn’t just “Christian lingo”. Look at these verses here. It says that God purposed these things to happen for us. He chose us before the foundation of the world so that we would be holy and blameless before Him. He chose us to be adopted. He chose us to be redeemed. He chose us to Himself.
I don’t know if you are here tonight and you need a word of encouragement. Listen to these words in this first chapter to the Ephesians. It says that God planned all these things to happen. Nothing ever surprises God. Nothing catches Him off-guard. Nothing happens that makes God need to shift his plans around because of unforeseen issues.
Isn’t that a comfort to know? It is to me. It is a great comfort to me to know that God planned all of these things that are happening to me and around me LONG, LONG ago.
What a mighty, merciful God we serve.
God - in eternity past said “Yes, I will take Will to be my son. I will be his heavenly father. I will love him forever. I will provide for him and take care of him as my own. He is mine.