Being Children of God

Okay, thanks so much, Sarah.

So this is just truly a remarkable passage.

And please, whoever you are here today,

tune into what God says is true.

It's one of these passages that you think,

I wouldn't believe this if it weren't for the fact

that God tells me it's true in his word.

And so whoever you are here today,

whatever's going on in your life,

whoever you come here today,

this is something really worth tuning into.

So let me just try and get this to the heart of it.

I lived one of my worst nightmares recently.

So it was the middle of the night

and I'm just hitting the greatly sought after

deep sleep phase of the night.

And I happen to look up and I see at the end of the bed,

I see a silhouette of a person.

And what I do is I inwardly give myself that pep talk.

I think, come on, you've done this so many times before.

You're almost 40.

Never has there really been a person at the end of your bed.

It's just a light hitting the gap in the window

and it appears like that.

It's just time to go back to sleep.

Everything's fine.

But then the silhouette moved

and I discovered it was a person.

It was a little person.

And because I went on a sleepover when I was young

and we watched horror films for that one evening

and I cannot get the images out of my head,

the fact that it was a little child

added to the sense of fear

and I could feel the adrenaline beginning to pump

through my body

and this whole fight or flight thing

kicks into my system.

And I think to myself,

who dares waltz into my bedroom

uninvited in the middle of the night?

And then the answer came to my head,

actually there's three,

technically there's four

when she can learn to walk

that can do that.

And the silhouette spoke

and the silhouette said,

not Mr. Shanks.

Okay, that's how my bank relates to me.

The silhouette said,

not Graham.

That's how you relate to me.

The silhouette said,

Daddy.

Because that's how my children relate to me.

Dear friends,

if you take one thing from this today,

let it be this,

that as earth shattering as this passage is,

it really is simple.

The one thing to take from this passage today

is that this is exactly how

a Christian believer

can relate to the God of the universe.

And if you take one word from this sermon today,

and I hope you take a lot of words,

but if you take one word from it today,

maybe the one that appears at verse 15,

it is the word Father.

Father.

That is what the God of all creation

has done to write that identity

all over our lives.

It's what the God of the Bible does.

His is the light that can transform

the messiest and the darkest

and the bleakest of situations.

Let me just do a little bit of work

on that word Father,

because I don't know how it lands

on many of us today.

It's a deeply relational claim.

It's a deeply intimate word.

And it's one that differentiates Christianity

from every other religious faith system

in the world.

In fact, if you're looking for a little example of that,

here's Muslim scholar Shabir Akhtar,

who died not so long ago,

taught in Oxford for a while.

And he's letting us see how our Muslim friends,

and we love them,

how they understand this.

He says,

Muslims do not see God as their father.

Men are servants of a just master.

They cannot,

in Orthodox Islam,

typically attain any greater degree of intimacy

with their creator.

And so how different, then,

the God of the Bible?

This is a God who has made himself known.

He's made himself known in creation,

generally.

He's made himself known in his word,

specifically.

And he's made himself known in his son,

perfectly.

And those three things come together

and tell you that this God longs to be known.

He is a God who has revealed himself.

And he's a God,

if you turn to the opening pages of the Bible,

who has made human beings in his image.

It means whoever you are here today,

whatever is going on in your life,

you are somebody who has been wonderfully made

in the image of God.

Dignity is not something you earn.

Dignity is something that is pronounced on you

from the outside.

And because we have been made in his image,

dear friends,

it explains why,

as human beings,

we are hardwired for relationship.

Because he is a father, son, spirit.

He is the relational God.

So to be made in his image

helps us understand

why we long for relationships.

And that's why we found COVID so difficult,

wasn't it?

Because for so long,

those relationships,

we can't have them with a screen.

And that's what the word father is telling us.

And I recognize it for many of us here today,

that word doesn't conjure up happy thoughts.

Because I imagine it for many of us,

we know what it is to be deeply hurt

by an earthly father.

And so maybe you hear that word

and you're suspicious.

You're wondering what this father in heaven is like,

whether he's trustworthy,

whether he'll be any good.

If you want to know what he is like,

look at Jesus.

Because there is no God in heaven

who is unlike Jesus.

And maybe for us,

maybe you hear that word father

and actually it's really painful

because you've lost your father.

All of those things

that you most loved about him,

the way that he just knew you,

the way that he could make you laugh,

the way that he could pick you up,

the way that he was there for you

in the hardest of times.

This is the perfect father

who you were created to know.

And I always wonder whether God,

that's the reason why he weaves

these longings and experiences

into the tapestry of human life

so that we'll understand

a little bit more

what he is like.

Those famous words of Augustine

that are a bit cliche,

but one of the things about cliches

is that they're truthful, right?

So you made us for yourself, O Lord,

and our heart is restless

until it rests in you.

This is the father

who we were made to know.

Now last week we thought

as we began this chapter,

as we entered this chapter,

all about Christian assurance,

how the Christian

is united to Jesus.

If you didn't listen to that last week,

go back and listen to it.

It's what it says.

It is to be a Christian,

that declaration

that God makes over us,

remember it?

Those 10 words

that will transform our lives.

There,

now for,

no,

there's,

therefore,

now,

no condemnation

for those in Christ Jesus.

And the word,

so then,

at verse 12,

is Paul's way,

if you see it in the text here,

verse 12,

it's his way of saying,

this is what that now means for you

in your life,

dear Roman Christians.

And here's the earth-shattering truth

that this is telling us,

that this God

isn't simply after us

being declared

innocent rather than guilty,

as wonderful as that is.

the intention of this God's heart

is way bigger than that.

It's way bigger than that.

It's way more glorious than that.

This God

wants us to be

declared

family.

And so we move

downstream

from the declaration

to the invitation.

So in light of that

no condemnation,

how does God invite us,

draw us in

to live?

Two points for us this morning.

Here's number one.

As people who bear

the family likeness.

Now there's a famous story told

of the late

Queen Mum

who turned up

to a royal visit

in her limo

and in the back of the limo

were her children.

Before getting out of the car,

she turns to the back

and she says this line.

She says,

remember children,

royal children,

royal manners.

Now you could be forgiven

for thinking

that's exactly what God

is saying to us here.

Don't let the side down.

Don't slip.

Keep your chin up.

Keep up appearances.

And yet the problem is,

see when I try and live

a God-honoring,

moral life on my own,

I'm not very good at it.

I fall,

I make mistakes,

I hurt people,

I get it wrong.

And God here says,

I know.

Friends, without the Spirit,

you and I are like

a mobile phone

that has run

out of battery.

You can try

all you like

to rub the battery,

try and get the thing started,

speak life over it,

but it doesn't work.

And this is what the Bible

says we were

before Jesus

got involved

in our lives.

We were slaves

like we were singing

in the second song

this morning,

slaves to our sin.

We were slaves

to our flesh.

Everything we were doing

was out of

this

me first

mentality.

But see the hope

for failures

like me

at verse 13.

How do we live

a God-glorifying life?

Just see it

in verse 13.

How do we please

this God?

What do we need?

We need to be connected

to a new power

that will bring us

inwardly

to life.

And feel

those words

by the Spirit.

And that's what

the Spirit living

in us does.

He is the animating

presence of the

Christian life.

He helps us

and just follow

the logic of the

passage.

He helps us

to put to death

the deeds

of the body.

Feel the strength

of that phrase

put to death.

I'm always amazed

when you watch

those programs,

those animal programs.

And you get

the animal

hunter saying

I kind of grew up

with this lion.

I kind of played

with this lion.

I stroked this lion.

I put the bottle

in this lion.

and we're surprised

when we learn

that the lion

grew up

and tried to

eat the person.

Right?

And it's this idea

of recognize

what is going on.

Put to death

the deeds of the body.

Don't stroke.

Don't negotiate.

Don't try and bargain

with.

Sever ties

is what he's saying.

Sever ties

with the old us.

The old us

with the old way

of thinking

and live out

the new us

that God has created

in Christ Jesus.

We've got to see

that this is deeper

than behavior modification.

Right?

This is not fake it

till you make it

with a religious

veneer on top.

Because let me tell you

church is the easiest

place to hide

from God.

The spirit

he transforms

our inner tastes.

The spirit

puts new desires

in us.

And whereas before

we reveled

in our sin

now we come

to find

a greater delight

in the God

who has saved us.

The sin

that pleased us

before

now becomes

odious.

The God

that we flinched

from on the other hand

becomes

entrancing.

And what does

that look like

you see?

A better question

to ask is

who does

that look like?

The spirit

is working

in us

and forming us

so that we would

increasingly come

to bear the image

of Jesus.

Now there's a myth

that's often peddled

in our culture

that God

is a kind of

life stealer.

And I imagine

that's how many

of our dear

non-Christian friends

who we love

might look at us

and think

why would you

sign up for

something like that?

Do you remember

there was this

famous slogan

that was on the

side of buses

in London

a number of years

ago

promoted by

Richard Dawkins.

There probably

is no God

so stop worrying

and enjoy

your life.

Is God

some kind of

killjoy in the sky?

Is he the referee

in the sky

who always

gets it wrong?

The person

who we love

to hate

who's just out

to spoil

the fun?

Friends,

if holiness

is being transformed

into the image

of Jesus

then you look

at Jesus

in the scriptures

and you have

to say

here is a man

who is truly

alive.

The first time

I read about him

thinking that

here is a man

who does not

seem to be

missing out

on life.

So to be

transformed

into his

image

is to become

more human

not less.

Jesus as it were

he shows us

what life

was always

meant to

look like.

And so with

that framework

in mind

if that is

where the

spirit is

pulling us

friends I wonder

here's some

hot questions

for you.

What new

step of obedience

is God the

Holy Spirit

calling you

to make

today?

You know

is there a

sin that you

are making

peace with

in your heart?

That you're

allowing a

foot in

the door?

What is it

that God

is calling you

out of his

grace,

out of his

mercy to

see and

to kill?

Have you

ever prayed

and this is

a scary

prayer

Lord show

me the

hidden bits

of my

heart

and expose

them

even the

bits that

I'm not

even aware

exist.

And if that

battle rages

in your

heart

be encouraged

that the

presence of

the spirit

creates the

conflict.

You know I

used to think

of it like

this, I

used to play

a lot of

football when

I was

younger.

I'm growing

up in the

west of

Scotland.

we didn't

play on

grass pitches,

we didn't

play on

4G pitches,

we didn't

play on

3G pitches,

we didn't

play in

concrete,

but we

played on

something much

worse.

If you

remember this,

if you're

certain vintage,

we played

on this

thing called

ash.

Ash is

just gravel,

red gravel.

And the

thing about

ash is it

completely

wrecked my

knees.

Right?

Every time

you'd fall

on this

ash, it

would just

cut your

knees open.

And so what

I would do

is I would

go home

after every

game and

mum would

get out

the scrubbing

brush and

she would

just scrub

away until

getting most

of the dirt

out.

And then

finally when

she called

it quit,

she whacked

on top of

this cut

pseudocreme.

And boy

did it

sting.

Every time

it stung.

But what

I soon found

out was

true that

the sting

was a sign

in my head

that the

good stuff

was trying

to attack

the bad

stuff.

Yeah?

So the

sting

was a sign

that the

good stuff

was trying

to go

at the

bad

stuff.

And so

here's what

that means.

Friends,

if you feel

yourself in

a fight,

if you feel

like the

Christian life

is tough,

if you feel

like there's

a tug of

war going

on,

that is not

a sign of

failure.

that is a

sign of

faith.

Or if you

want to

quote verse

14 there,

that you

feel the

battle is

proof that

you are a

son and

daughter of

God.

Because if

you weren't,

if the

spirit wasn't

present,

you wouldn't

care.

Let me try

and put this

another way,

friends.

What is going

to transform

Rome?

There's a big

question.

What's going

to transform

Rome?

this letter

written to

Roman believers

living in the

heart, the

motherland of

the empire.

What is going

to transform

Rome?

Where you

are encouraged

to let your

passions run

wild?

Where might

is right?

Where people

are disposable

according to

human wants?

Where society

is based on

where you

were born and

exist in the

ranking system?

What is going

to transform

society?

I take it

it is individual

people coming

to know Jesus

and putting to

death the deeds

of the body.

In other words,

it is only dead

fish who go with

the flow.

How do you

spot a living

fish?

It is going

against the

current.

Students,

if you are here

today, you want

to be revolutionary

amongst your

peers.

You want to

stand out.

I take it that

is a wonderful

thing.

Can I encourage

you from this

passage not to

think protests

and marches

primarily?

Think putting

to death the

deeds of the

body.

Think the

fruit of the

Spirit.

How much are

you going to

stand out if

people look at

your life and

they see growing

inside of you,

and this is what

the Spirit produces

in our lives,

love, joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness,

and self-control.

Nine words.

I cannot think of

nine words that

are more different

from the social

media age in

which we live.

You want to

stand out at

uni,

you want those

around you to

sit up and

take notice,

live lives

where people can

see that you are

putting to death

the deeds of the

body.

Can I just say

as well,

this is what I

found in five

years when I

was at Aberdeen

University.

There is never

a better week to

do it to nail

your colours to

the mast than

in the first

week.

Yeah, we'll be

praying for you

the first chance

that you get to

be different from

the world around

about you,

take it.

It means saying

no to drink,

it means saying

no to sex,

it means saying

no to drugs.

Take the

opportunity to be

different from

Jesus.

We always say

here at the

church we want

to be walking

question marks in

this world in

which we live.

What is it that

makes those

people tick?

Paul wants

these Christians

to be people

who bear the

family likeness.

And secondly,

he wants them

to be people

who know the

Father's nearness.

And this will

be a lot quicker,

but it is

incredible.

Do you see

verse 15?

What does Paul

not want the

believer to fall

back into?

The word

beginning with

death?

It's fear.

Now, I've

been asking

myself all

week, why

would you

fear?

The word

fall back

there, I

think, is

the clue.

I think it's

falling back

into an old

way of thinking

about God.

Because sometimes,

and I know this

is true in my

life, we're

tempted to think

when we get it

wrong, when we

stumble, when we

doubt, when we're

weary, that God

somehow changed

his mind on

us.

Like he saved

us, and like

you would in

your work, any

job you can go

into, he saved

us and he's put

us on probationary

period.

We'll give it six

months and we'll

see how this

salvation thing

turns out.

For the Spirit

leads us to

relate to God

as a Father

who we can

trust, rather

than a God

that we are

fearful of.

And this is so

important why we

don't base our

faith on our

feelings.

Because our

feelings go up

and down all

the time.

And this is

true on your

best day, this

is true on your

worst day.

That this is how

God wants to

relate to us.

Formally, before

we came to know

this God, because

of our sin, we

were in fear of

judgment.

And we want to

be clear that there

is coming a day

of judgment for

every single human

being who's lived.

We'll have to give

an account for our

lives before the

holy God who made

us.

But if you're a

Christian here today,

what this is telling

you is that your

judgment day happened

2,000 years ago on

an old wooden cross

outside Jerusalem.

And Jesus knew

exactly what he was

doing when he died

for your sin on the

cross.

Jesus doesn't offer

us there a matching

grant.

You know those

things?

People say, I'll put

up the first 50% of

the funds and I

kind of leave it to

you to find the

rest.

It's not how

salvation works.

The number is not

50.

The number is 100.

He took all of our

sin on the cross.

And what that means

is that God the

Father loves Jesus

with fatherly love

because Jesus is his

son by nature.

It means that God

the Father loves you

and I with the same

fatherly love because

we are his sons and

daughters by adoption.

God loves us exactly

how he loves his son

because our lives are

united to his son.

Right?

And I know that's

stretching us a little

bit but it's so

profound.

It transformed my

Christian life when I

understood that.

I'm not right before

this God because of

how I act and how I

am.

I'm loved by this God

way more than I could

possibly imagine

because Jesus has

died and brought me

to himself.

And he'll never change

his mind on us.

You know there's a

woman called Faith

Chang.

She wrote a book

called Peace Over

Perfection and I hope

you can see that with

the contrast.

If not, come and I'll

let, I can give you

the book and you can

read it yourself.

But she says this,

okay.

If drawing near to God

is the goal, maybe we

can aim to return to

him a little quicker

when we fall instead of

staying away because we're

not yet perfect.

Do you feel that?

I often assume that God

is just as impatient with

me as I am with myself.

But he is not like me

and I greatly need his

lengthening perspective.

It's incredible.

I loved that quote when I

read it.

God is not like me.

His patience is so much

greater.

His knowledge is so much

greater.

His love is so much

deeper.

Let me just really quick

and the time we have

left pick out two words

that Paul uses here.

Verse 15.

What does that mean?

How can we come before

this God?

Do you see the word Paul

uses there is not say

or declare?

It is the word cry.

Now that is a really

painful word when you

look at the original.

And when Paul quotes there

Abba Father, he's picked

that phrase deliberately

because that is the phrase

that Jesus cried on his

darkest hour.

On the eve of his death

on the cross as the sheer

terror of what is ahead

of him overwhelms his

soul.

He says Abba Father

in that cry of pain.

And so this means as it

were that we can pray

through the lips of Jesus

when we find ourselves

particularly in those

dark times.

When we are in the depths

of despair.

When the only words that we

can possibly muster up are

the cry of a child

screaming for help

with nowhere else to go

but to dad.

Even then and maybe

especially then

we can pray through the

lips of Jesus and say

Father.

And so next time you pray

we pray let's remember

that through Jesus we have

the Father's undivided

attention.

Remember when I was

grappling with this when

I was young I used to

picture God with a

massive ear bending

down.

He listens, he cares, he

knows, he loves.

As we see next week he's

working all things

together for the good.

And that means that we

can pray with rock solid

confidence when we come

before this God and we

can do it every time.

Second word real quick

see that word air right

at the end of verse 17.

If we're thinking more

about this next week we

just want to try and set

us up.

Do the spike before the

dig.

Can't remember what it

is.

Anyway.

Everything that Jesus

stands to inherit will be

ours by right.

A child inherits not based

on their performance.

A child inherits because of

their family name.

God's life.

And the shape of the

life of Jesus.

Trust in God and the

hardships and the

roller coaster of life

now leading to glory with

God then.

That is to be the shape of

our lives too.

Everything that the son

stands to inherit will be

ours.

We'll think more about that

next week.

But this is the identity

that this God has so

graciously and kindly

written all over our lives.

It's what he does.

He brings newness of life.

He brings forgiveness.

He transforms people who

were spiritual orphans and

makes them spiritual sons.

Now just as we close and I

thought of this dear friend

of mine recently.

I think this is a wonderful

application of this.

I've got a good friend who's

got a tattoo on the top of

his left arm.

And this is his story.

They say every tattoo's got

a story, right?

This is his story.

He grows up in a Christian

family.

He goes to university when

he leaves home.

And in his own words he

drifts from the things of

Jesus.

And part of this phase of

his life he goes on this

rugby tour to a place called

Loret de Mar near Barcelona

if you've ever been there.

It's a nice place.

He gets caught up in the

spirit of the tour to the

extent that he goes to a

tattoo parlor and he gets a

tattoo of the rugby club on

his arm.

And one of those things

that's good in the moment

and then when you wake up

the next day you think I'm

living with that for the

rest of my life.

And years later with this

tattoo still on his arm,

years later he comes back to

Jesus.

And in response he goes to

another tattoo artist and he

says I want another tattoo

but I don't want a tattoo on a

different place on my body.

What I want you to do is I

want you to, the tattoo that

I've got, I want you to

transform it into a collage of

Psalm 23.

So they plan it together and

they come up with this image

and so on top of these

initials of the rugby club is

transformed into a collage of

Psalm 23.

That verse, even through the

darkest valley you will be with

me.

The Lord is my shepherd.

And it was his way of saying

that what God has done for me

has covered all my shame and

regrets, all my foolishness,

all my mistakes.

This God has transformed my

story.

This God has written his story

of grace over all of my life.

And instead of thinking I was

the head honcho of my life, I

now see that he is my loving

shepherd and I want to follow

him.

And that's what this God does.

It's what he does.

He takes the messy lives of

sinful people living in a broken

world like us.

And because of the death and

the resurrection of his son, he

forgives us.

He accepts us.

He welcomes us into his family.

He makes us sons and daughters.

And he promises us to bring us

into his heavenly home and

shower that fatherly kindness

upon us for all eternity.

Friends, if you do not know this

God for yourself, may today be the

day when you put your trust in his

son and come to have life in him.

Why don't we just be quiet for a

minute and then I'll pray.

Just use this opportunity before

everything gets noisy and busy

again.

Bring your cries and your mistakes

and everything that's going on in

your life to this God.

And know the forgiveness and the

newness of life that's found in

Jesus.

And so Father, as your word has gone

forth today, I pray that your spirit

would take these truths and apply

them deep into our hearts.

Like the master farmer, just doing the

work that's needed in the soil.

Lord, I pray that you would be in our

own individual circumstances.

Lord, if there is stuff that we need to

realize today, would you bring a fresh

realization of who we are?

Lord, if there's stuff that we need to

sever today to put to death, Lord, I

pray that you would be bringing a

convicting knowledge of that.

But Father, most of all, I pray that you

would help us to grasp something more

today.

In all of our different generations, in

all of our different life circumstances,

that together we have been declared sons

and daughters of you, the living God.

Father, thank you that you are the God who

is bigger than our mistakes.

Thank you that Christ on the cross, he

absorbed the judgment that was deserved

for us.

And thank you now that we are the

beneficiaries of fatherly love and

perfect care.

So Lord, be with us now as we close our

time as we sing.

May these truths just resonate in our

hearts and in our minds.

Father, be with us as we close.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.