Romans: Adopted as Sons…

Good morning, Watermark. My name is Chris. I oversee community groups here at Watermark,

and if you're here for the first time, you're very, very welcome amongst us. Today is not

just a day of celebration for Father's Day, it's also a day of mourning. And I would like

you to bow your heads for a minute's silence for the victims of the tragedy of what took

place earlier this morning. The England football team lost 2-1 in a tragic performance. Seriously,

let me just pray before we start. Father, I pray that we would know you as our Father.

I pray today that we would understand something more of how amazing it is to be adopted as

your children. I pray that you'd speak to each one of us and show us more of yourself. Amen.

Today we're looking in Romans 8, and we're continuing our series here. A writer called

J.I. Packer once said this, what is a Christian? The answer can be answered in many ways, but

the richest answer I know is a Christian is one who has God for his Father. If you want

to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being

God's child and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his

worship and prayers and whole outlook on all of life, it means he does not understand Christianity

very well. If that's not the thought that God is your Father and you being his child doesn't prompt and

control your whole outlook on life, then you don't understand Christianity very well.

And today my heart is that each one of us would understand Christianity better. That on Father's Day,

we would see that there is a father who is far beyond the father's, even the best father that you may have had.

If you were to look around this room now, look around, very attractive faces, but around you as you look

are 200, 250 people who are deeply insecure, including me. Now you may be offended by that, you may think I'm pretty secure,

but if I just spend a bit of time with you, I can guarantee that it wouldn't take me very long to prove the point.

Just, I was at Essential the other day, and just looking at people, and people who walk, you know,

if you walk past a window, or you walk past a glass door when you're out, it's fascinating to see how people respond.

You know, they've looked in the mirror probably just 10 minutes earlier, but suddenly they see the door,

and they're just checking that their image is still up to standard for what they want to portray to everybody else.

Now I'm sure none of you do that.

Or maybe you were really happy with your work package, with your exam marks, with your kids' performance,

and then you hear about everybody else, and suddenly you feel like, oh, maybe I got second best in that.

And, you know, we could go on and on and on and on with example after example,

which show us that deep down, we are actually people who are insecure in many ways.

And it's not hard to understand why we feel insecure.

The world around us is insecure and makes us feel insecure.

We have white papers from Beijing that make us feel insecure.

We have stock markets that make us feel insecure.

We have jobs which the security, we wonder about whether we're going to still be in the job.

Our health is sometimes uncertain.

And if it wasn't just, if that wasn't enough, we also have other people who make us feel insecure.

We can't always trust other people.

Even if you were born in the best family with the greatest parents,

I'm sure that there were times where you craved your parents' approval.

You wanted them to be there.

You wanted them to say maybe, well done.

You wanted them to be there on that special occasion, and maybe they weren't.

Maybe sometimes they were too busy.

Maybe they were there, but emotionally they were detached.

Maybe they were too much.

And deep inside, many of us still have that same longing for security and approval

because we didn't receive it as a kid.

You see, all of us are insecure in different ways.

and it's not just that but also we know that if we're honest with ourselves we ourselves

are not trustworthy sometimes we hurt the people that we love and we regret it sometimes we feel

like there are things in our past which weigh us down there's things we know we should do but we

don't do and there are things that we don't do which we know we should do and that's what the

bible calls sin and whether it's externally or internally all of us have these insecurities

and you can feel secure for a little while maybe you're feeling it's a good period at this moment

i'm on top of my game but sooner or later the world kind of tips you up at some point and you can be

back in flux feeling insecure again now as we as we look in this passage and there's so much in this

passage we can't focus on all of it and i'm going to particularly focus on verses 15 to 17

this passage is talking to each one of us this morning it's talking to us in our insecurities

and it's telling us that there are two different identities that we can live under

we can live as orphans who are enslaved or we can live as adopted children who know we're loved by

our father so we're going to look at those two different identities we're then going to have an

interview with melanie case then afterwards we're going to finally examine how does the experience

of knowing what being a child of god change the way we view life okay so that's that's where we're

going we've looked through the book of rumors if you've been following along with us so far

and paul has brought in all kinds of contrasts he's been telling us that you can live two different

ways you can live trusting in yourself or trusting in christ you can live in adam or you can live in christ

you can live in the flesh or you can live in the spirit and today it's you can live as an orphan or

you can live as an adopted son

and what he's done he's talking to some small groups of christians in churches from different

backgrounds and he's telling them that the gospel message radically changes your view of everything

your gospel message changes your view of everything so he's gone through the bible story the bible

story is basically a garden to garden story it's a story about we were placed in a garden as a in an

intimate dependent relationship on our loving heavenly father with security and in that relationship

that relationship was the foundation of all the security in the world that there is but as children

of god what we decided to say was actually

we prefer to run away from our father we we didn't care about him we said okay i want to live my life my

way and i'm gonna i'm gonna treat you as dead i don't you don't have any say in my life that's what we said

and we thought we could be free in ourselves but the only freedom that we gained was the freedom

of being an orphan and the world became like a giant orphanage with people running around trying to

fend for themselves trying to find hope trying to find meaning trying to find significance

in a insecure world

and we kind of pilfer for survival

and the thing is if you're trying to survive what happens is often people become slaves to somebody else

like julie was talking about earlier and we cling to anything and anyone who can give us that sense of that security that we're craving

because it was meant to be found in god but now we've become like orphans

and you know sometimes maybe we join gangs you know we join um office gangs who are kind of um chasing after success on the stock market

or we join singles gangs who are chasing after the one who's going to fulfill your greatest desires

or

we join parents gangs

who who are pushing their kids to success

all to make ourselves feel good secure

worth something in our lives

but actually in those gangs what often

is the gang leader

what often drives us is fear

fear of missing out

fear of being rejected by others

fear

that maybe

other people are going to think badly of you

fears of all kinds

but the bible story is this

that god

takes us out of slavery

to gangs

to fear

when we're at our worst

as orphans who are running around trying to find meaning

he adopted us

into his family

which was the beginning

of that restoration of the way we were always meant to be

and that's the beginning of full restoration of the whole world

okay

so

to understand just a little bit more of this background

of um

of verse

uh

15

let me just read it to you one more time

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

to understand what it means to be adopted

we've got to understand the um

the context

in the roman world

adoption was something in the roman world where

um

the roman world was a man's world

the father of the household was the undisputed authority

and even a son

even when he was grown up

he was still under his father's authority

and it was critical for a father

to have for his sense of esteem in society

to have a son

who could inherit

all of his wealth

all of his property

everything that he had

now sometimes powerful landowners

aristocrats

for one reason or another

didn't have a son

and so what they would do

they would go and look around society

and find someone from a lower status

maybe even their slave

to make them their son

so that they would become the person who inherited all of their wealth

and what would happen is

their old father would have to legally renounce

his authority over their son

all the debts that the son had were cleared

and the son became

no longer a slave or a lower class citizen

he became the son of a nobleman

he had new responsibilities

but he was now seated

in a place of honor

the most significant example of this is

Julius Caesar adopted

the emperor who became the emperor

Augustus Caesar

and the thing is

Augustus Caesar

he wasn't Augustus to start with

he changed his name

and when Julius Caesar adopted him into his family

you know what happened?

he became

the emperor

the owner of the whole Roman Empire

from nothing

from a nobody

to a somebody

that's what happened

and that is what God

and Paul is saying here

happens for each one of us

you were orphans

you were slaves

you were people who

were nobodies

but actually

I have removed all your debts

I've brought you into my family

I've made you now

sons of the royal family

you are seated in a place of honor

and the kingdom that is mine

is yours

that's what he's saying

now let's just think about this for a minute

one more minute

Russell Moore

who's the head of a seminary in the States

who's adopted two kids himself

he once said this

imagine for a moment

that you're adopting a child

as you meet with the social worker

in the last stage of the process

you're told that this 12 year old

has been in and out of psychotherapy

since he was three

he persists in burning things

and attempting repeatedly

to skin kittens alive

he acts out sexually

the social worker says

although she doesn't really fill you in

on what that means

she continues with a little bit of family history

this boy's father

grandfather

great-grandfather

and great-great-grandfather

all had histories of violence

ranging from spousal abuse

to serial murder

each of them ended their life

the same way

death by suicide

each found hanging from a rope

of blankets

in his respective prison cell

now think for a moment

would you want to adopt

a child like that?

would you want that child?

if you did adopt them

wouldn't you want to keep an eye on them

as they played with your other children?

would you watch nervously

as he looked at the kitchen knife

the knife on the kitchen table?

would you leave the room

as he watched a movie

with your daughter

with the lights out?

well he's me

and he's you

that's what the gospel

is telling us

your birth father

has fangs

and left to ourselves

we'll show ourselves

to be as serpentine

as he is

wow

we don't want to think

of ourselves like that

I want to think

that actually

I deserve to be

in God's family

I want to think

that actually

there was something about me

that made God

just think

man Chris

I've got to have him

man

can't let him

go to another team

but actually

the gospel is saying

God

wanted

you

God

took

the initiative

knowing

everything about you

he

took the initiative

it wasn't your initiative

he took the initiative

and out of his

infinite love

he came down

to the squalor

of the orphanage

that was at

earth

with all these people

running around

and he became

an orphan

for each one of us

he was abandoned

by his

father

so that you

and I

would never

have to be

abandoned

ever again

we

are secure

in his family

that

is the gospel

and the beautiful

thing about it

is this

you could earn

more money

in the world

you could have

the greatest spouse

in the world

you could earn

all the respect

that you ever wanted

all the achievements

that you ever desired

and the thing is

you could never

be more secure

than you are now

in God's family

if you're a Christian

isn't that amazing

isn't that amazing

Melanie

case

if I can

find her

is going to come up

and just

share with us

a little bit

about her story

a few extras

this morning

that's great

thank you Melanie

so Melanie

and Jason

would you like

to just tell us

a little bit

about

your family

my name is Jason

and this is Melanie

and this is Helen

and this is George

we have three others

Esri is our oldest

Javi is our oldest son

who's adopted

from Guatemala

and Helen

and Ethan

are in the process

of being adopted

from Uganda

thank you

it's an amazing

family you've got

and you've probably

seen them running

around

causing joy

to everybody

but could you

tell me

as we've kind of

talked about

the process

of adoption

there are some

people here

who've adopted

many of us

maybe have not

had experience

of this

maybe could you

kind of run us

through

what some of that

process of adoption

has been like

and how you've seen

orphans

when they're in

that situation

how does

being an orphan

affect

children

I think

the process

can be quite

long and lengthy

and always

has hiccups

but as far as

I think something

you just mentioned

in the sermon

a few minutes ago

about how

God pursues us

how God initiates

and I think

that's a really

poignant point

about physical

adoption

is that

the parents

are the one

who initiate

that relationship

the parents

are the one

who pursue

that

and who

do the work

of getting

that child

home

and bringing

that child

into their

family

and there's

no merit

on the part

of the child

the child

did not

do anything

to become

an orphan

and the child

cannot do

anything

to earn

favor

to be adopted

but the parents

are the ones

who are assessed

and scrutinized

so that

they

so they put

in the work

I'm not saying

that for us

I'm just saying

that that really

relates to how

God is the one

who puts in

the work

to bring us

into his family

but I think

as far as

children

who are orphans

and some

of the things

that we've

noted

in two different

orphanages

so our kids

when we met

them for the

first time

those of you

who are moms

you'll know

that overjoy

when you

when you birth

a child

or when you

adopt a child

and just that

that first meeting

and that wow

and that I don't

have words for this

and that happened

with each of our

children we adopted

as well

it was different

but it did happen

and I was really

grateful to God

for that

but what we

noticed when we

meet them

in that moment

they are timid

they are scared

they don't know us

they've never been

known really

by anyone

they don't have

any favorites

and that to me

was really strange

I asked the caseworker

well what are

their favorites

you know what

what color do they

like what animal

and she said

they don't have any

because they've

never been noted

or noticed

in that way

so they don't know

to have

favorites

does that make any

and to me

that was really

hard to contemplate

and so my eldest

daughter said

to me this morning

I asked her

what should I add

to this talk

and she said

well they don't

like anything

there's nothing

that they can

you know

they don't like

anything

I mean

and then when you

ask okay

what do you like

well they like

exactly what I like

she's like

have a favorite color

you know

you don't have

to like pink

so yeah

that's a new

thing for us

just understanding

that they're learning

what it means

to own anything

and to own family

so those are some

yeah timid

I think fear

and not being known

great

and how have you seen

just in the process

of children moving

from being an orphan

to being part

of your family

what are some

of the struggles

that happen there

what are some

of the joys

that you've seen

just in that process

as far as

as far as

bringing them

into our family

I remember

we went before

the judge in Uganda

and she said

well how are you

how are you going

to treat these children

and I said

well once they're

in our family

I'm going to treat

them just like

the other children

and it kind of

it kind of

I mean

we try to have

more patience

and more sensitivity

that they're dealing

with more things

from their past

especially the ones

that have more

traumatic experiences

but adoption

is just the way

that they enter

into our family

and once they're

in our family

it's just a more

it's more an idea

of assimilating them

into our family

and making sure

that they know

that there are cases

and there's nothing

they can ever do

to break that bond

and I mean

they're just like

all the other kids

in that they test

boundaries

they have fits

you know

and you just

like I said

it really becomes

more of an issue

of parenting

and making sure

that they're strong

and they're foundation

in their identity

as cases

do you find

the kids

naturally

just

accepting

to you as parents

and naturally

or are there any

struggles that you find

well I think

the transition

early on

Helen had grown up

in orphanages

she was very happy

there

and she was very

hesitant about

coming with us

Ethan had more

trauma in his

background

and he loved

the iPhone

so I won him over

pretty quickly

by taking this picture

but Helen

the three weeks

I was there

she never did

she never did

really welcome me

so that was

kind of an issue

for me

you know

so I remember

the first time

she gave me a hug

I thought it was

you know

a real step forward

but you know

as they come over

and as they get used

to us

and as they're here

and bond with other kids

you know

it's become easier

and easier

great

great

thank you

anything else

you want to

add on that

well let me just pray

pray for these guys

even as you

we know

you're still going

through some of the

the issues

with the Ugandan authorities

so let me just pray

pray for them

Father thank you

for this

this family

thank you for

Melanie and Jason

and for all of their kids

and for the way

that they're just

such a great picture

of how you

you adopt us

and you bring us

into your family

Lord I pray that you would

bless them as parents

bless them

in their

as they're seeking

to bring the kids up

to know you

as their heavenly father

Lord we pray for all the

the details

of all the legalities

at the moment

with the Ugandan authorities

we pray that you would

just really open those doors

that that might happen

and that each one of these kids

would know that you

are their father

and that they are

so secure in you

please bless them

as a family now

in your name

Amen

Thanks guys

Do you want to just

take that down?

Thank you

Thank you

You see

what is it like

to live

as an orphan

what is it like

to live as a child of God

orphans

are often fearful

they hide their food

in their high chairs

because they're not

sure when the next meal

may be coming

they may be fearful

but others

will reject them

so maybe they chase

after approval

from everybody else

or

they'll do anything

to be liked

they can't say no

to anyone

or the other

the other extreme

can be

because they've been

hurt before

they feel they can't

trust anyone

so they can't open up

they can't be vulnerable

with other people

because they're

they're suspicious

if someone does

show them love

sometimes orphans

can be

controlling

because they want

to be in control

because they've had

to sort out

the world themselves

they're the only ones

who can fix

the problems

because there's no one

else around

to do it

so they've got to

take responsibility

for everything

themselves

and sometimes

that may mean

orphans get angry

they lash out

because

if people are getting

in their way

they can't control

the situation

it makes them feel

insecure

and the problem is

often orphans

are enslaved to fear

and I wonder

how many of us

including me

are like that

we stockpile

our money

our stuff

our time

in our high chair

bank accounts

in our

in our ways

of trying to make

ourselves secure

we don't want to be

generous

because we're not sure

what will happen

in the future

if we give away

time now

if we give away

money now

we're fearful

about our kids

we're fearful

about our jobs

will God

actually provide

for us

or do I have

to actually

take it all

on myself

because no one

else is going

to sort out

the situation

maybe we're fearful

and we don't say

no to anyone

because we've got

to get other

people's approval

we want people

to like us

or we're trying

so hard to fix

everybody

because we want

to feel like

we're needed

and we're valuable

and we're worth

something

and yet

often

and this is

so true

of myself

we're living

like orphans

locked up

by fear

in an orphanage

and we're

shaking the bars

of our cot

angry

complaining

hurting

stressed

not knowing

that we don't

have to live

there

you see

at the root

of all

of your

anger issues

all of your

stress issues

all of your

worry about

the future

issues

if you peel

back the layers

far enough

you would find

it all comes

down to this

one truth

you and I

have forgotten

who our father

is

and we've forgotten

that we're a

child of God

and we're living

like an orphan

someone once said

man made

orphanages

for children

but God

made the family

for children

as followers

of Jesus

we cannot

be satisfied

with children

living in

orphanages

as a long

term solution

I would like

to say

we as Christians

cannot be satisfied

with ourselves

living as orphans

in the long term

it doesn't matter

how long

we've been a

Christian

every one of us

in one part

of our lives

or another

lives in an

orphan

and God

wants to

bring us

in every

part of our

lives

to knowing

what it is

to be a

child of God

so let's

very quickly

look at

just some

of the experience

of what it is

to be adopted

as children

verse 15

says

by the spirit

we cry

Abba

father

now Abba

is the

intimate cry

of a child

to a father

she knows

cares

and is fond

of her

you know

when you're

in a crowded

room

or you're

in a

pressure

situation

the presence

of someone

who loves

you

intimately

brings a

sense of

security

and safety

well here

in the passage

it says

we cry

Abba

father

notice it

doesn't say

we kind of

gently murmur

it doesn't say

we whisper

in dulcet tones

it says

we cry

Abba

father

now that word

Abba

occurs only

three times

in the bible

and one of

those times

is with

Jesus

in the garden

of Gethsemane

before he's

going to go

to the cross

and at that

moment

he is sweating

drops of blood

and he cries

out in distress

to his father

Abba

father

take this

cup

away from

me

you see

the cry

of Abba

is the cry

of a child

who maybe

is in distress

it's the cry

of a child

who has wandered

off somewhere

in the crowd

and is lost

and doesn't know

where their father

is at that moment

and they say

daddy

and the thing is

if you're an orphan

at that stage

you can cry

all you like

but the only person

who's going to hear you

may be a stranger

but if you're a child

your father

hears

you

and he comes

running

to you

with open

arms

just like the father

in the prodigal son

story

he's right there

with you

you see

the world

is full of

precious situations

and moments

of stress

moments where we fear

moments of intimidation

moments of all kinds

of insecurity

and it's just

at those moments

that God

wants you

to cry to him

Abba

father

now an orphan

often doesn't cry

Abba father

because they think

they've got to fix

the situation

all themselves

so they don't cry

because they don't

think anyone

will hear them

but if you're

a child of God

God hears you

second

children of God

are reminded

who they are

you see

it's the spirit

who reminds you

of who you are

it's not your initiative

you didn't think

oh

I'd like to cry

to God now

because

the Bible says

that none of us

wanted actually

to run to God

we treated him

as if he was dead

naturally

we wrapped up

in ourselves

but

what God does

he puts his spirit

in you

so that you

will cry to him

in those moments

it's his initiative

to do that

you know

whenever you read

a song lyric

and it kind of

gets your heart

and you just want to say

father

when you're in those situations

and you just want to cry out

to God

God help me

those situations

are God

putting that cry

in your heart

because God

is wanting to draw you

to himself

because that's a sign

that God loves you

because he is drawing you

at that moment

because he wants you

and he wants to know you

and there's another thing

the spirit does

the spirit also

continually

bears witness

that's what verse 16

says

the spirit bears witness

with our spirit

that we are children

of God

now what that means

is this

his job

is to remind you

that you're a child of God

if he doesn't do it

he'll get fired

okay

so it's his job

to do it

now

think about this

when was the last time

that you heard

the spirit

saying to you

you're

my

child

when did it last

thrill you

that God

was your father

I mean

really excite you

that God

was your father

because

it doesn't matter

how long

you've been a Christian

it's possible

to grow deaf

to what the spirit

is saying

because in this world

there are so many voices

that are competing to us

voices telling you

you're not good enough

voices telling you

you've got to just

try a bit harder

yourself

voices which are

condemning you

voices which are

telling you

look at what

everybody else has got

voices which are

telling you

life's not fair

and you know

so many of those

just drown out

the spirit's voice

the thing is

what each of you

and I need

we need

spiritual headphones

we need these things

because

God's just convicted me

of this really

just as I've been

just thinking about this

because you see

headphones are great

you know what

headphones do

they do two things

one is

you put them in

and it blocks out

all the noise

that you don't want

to hear

yeah

all the other voices

that you don't want

to hear

if you want to

ignore somebody

the best way to do it

is just put your

headphones in

and then they'll

stop talking to you

okay

you notice that

now

so it does that

but the other thing

it does

is it enables you

to focus on

and concentrate

on the noise

that you do want

to hear

the voices

that you do want

to hear

and so I think

we need to use

the Bible

and God's word

as spiritual

headphones

we need to

take this passage

and meditate

on it daily

speak it to yourself

daily

I would recommend

that you learn

and memorize

verses 15 to 17

as your spiritual

headphones

learn them

speak them to yourself

when you're having

a shower

tell yourself

I'm a child of God

I'm accepted

I do not have

a spirit of slavery

to fear

when you're going

into the office

when you're going

to that interview

when you're going

to meet your boss

and you don't want

to meet your boss

at that moment

you can tell yourself

I do not have

a spirit of slavery

to fear

I have the spirit

of adoption

as a son

of the king

of the universe

I am secure

in him

I have nothing

to lose

I have nothing

to prove

he will provide

for me

entirely

I wonder

how many times

we actually

tell ourselves

those things

every day

because if you're

like me

I kind of know

that

but every day

I forget it

when I'm in the moment

and we need

in our community

groups

to be people

who are enabling

each other

to put on those

spiritual headphones

of reminding

each other

who we are

because otherwise

we won't know

Christianity

very well

because we won't

know our father

very well

and the spirit's

voice will be

drowned out

next

and

we're nearly there

Christians

also

if you're

a child of God

you display

the family likeness

you know the phrase

like father

like son

I find that phrase

very scary

because

the older I get

the more I realize

you know when I was a kid

my dad

I always used to cringe

at the embarrassing things

my dad used to say

as I get older

I hear myself

saying the same things

and it's frightening

but you know

that's the same thing

that should be true

of Christians

children of God

become like

their father

now here's the thing

here's the key thing

to remember

if you remember

nothing else

I want you to remember

this

in all of our lives

there are areas

where we live

as orphans

where we know

that we should be

living as children

of God

but if you want

to change

in your life

as a Christian

to live more

as a child of God

you've got to

remember this

if you are more aware

of your sin

in your life

than of God's

adopting grace

of you

you will only ever

be motivated

to change

out of fear

guilt

or desire

to prove yourself

let me repeat that

if you are more aware

of your own sin

and guilt

and shame

in your life

than God's

adopting

fatherly grace

on you

then you will only

be motivated

out of guilt

or fear

or a sense

of desire

to prove yourself

because God's

adopting grace

if you want

to change

anything

in your life

and walk with God

that is the foundation

of it all

let's

let's

take an example

everyone's gossiping

at work

about one of your

colleagues

you know

she's

she's oversensitive

she's just

she's a slacker

she doesn't do the work

she should do

and you know what

you kind of begin

to join in

with what everybody

else is saying

why do we join in

well we don't want

to be left out

we want to belong

and you know what

there's nothing better

than helping you

to feel okay

about yourself

than by putting

somebody else down

so I mean

it works like that

doesn't it

you know

she's bad

that must mean

we're okay

yeah

well

at that moment

the spirit wants

to remind you

of who you are

you're a child

of God

children of God

don't have to gossip

because

you already belong

you don't need

to have some people

around you

to feel secure

because

I'm already

secure in Christ

I don't need

in this situation

to get involved

because children of God

don't gossip

they're like

their father

and so that

enables us

and that's what

Paul means

when in verse 14

he says

those who are led

by

so verse 13

those who are led

by the spirit

put to death

the flesh

because when you know

that you say

I'm a child of God

so I don't need

to do that

so I say no

I'm not going to do that

I'm not going to worry

I'm not going to stress

I'm not going to do

all those things

that naturally we do

when we're living

as orphans

because I know

who I am

and the spirit

is reminding me

I'm a child of God

if you don't know

that as the center

all other change

is just window dressing

you need to put on

your spiritual headphones

we need to do it

with each other

if you're in a community group

let that be

one of the key things

that you're continually

telling each other

reminding each other

of who you are

last thing

and we're finishing here

children of God

look forward

to a bright future

you see

if I can find

the verse

it says

that we are not

just children

but we are also

heirs

verse 17

if children

then heirs

heirs of God

and fellow heirs

with Christ

provided we suffer

with him

in order that

we may be glorified

with him

there's too much

to go into

in this

but

what he's saying

is this

if you think

adoption of sons

is just about

you and your

relationship with God

you've got too

narrow a view

of adoption

verse 23

also goes on

to talk about

we are eagerly

waiting

we who have

the first fruits

of the spirit

grown inwardly

as we eagerly

wait for adoption

of sons

the redemption

of our bodies

it was in this hope

that we were saved

because adoption

us getting right

with God

knowing who we are

is the beginning

of the process

of restoring everything

so in this

insecure world

of corruption

cancer

aging

rebellious kids

of women

trafficked

as objects

for sale

God says

there's going to

come a time

when those things

are a distant memory

I'm going to

wipe it out

I'm going to

restore

all the insecurity

in this world

all the tyrannical

bosses

all the unfair

market systems

it's going to be

a thing of the past

and we will be

on the managing

committee

of the biggest

facelift

this world

has ever seen

God is going

to restore

everything

and we are going

to be those children

who inherit

the restored

creation

now if I'm honest

I probably

don't eagerly

wait for that

that often

because I often

more eagerly

wait for my

next holiday

or your next

job promotion

or the next

break from

your kids

or your work

or whatever

it is

but let me think

about this

Russell Moore

who mentioned

who we mentioned

earlier

he told when he

picked his two

new kids up

from the orphanage

this is what he says

we nodded our

thanks to the

orphanage personnel

and walked out

into the sunlight

to the terror

of the two boys

they'd never seen

the sun

they'd never felt

the wind

they'd never heard

the sound

of a car door

slamming

or felt like

they were being

carried along

a road

at 100 miles

an hour

I noticed

that they were

shaking

and reaching

back to the

orphanage

in the distance

I whispered

to Sergei

now Timothy

that place

is a pit

if only you knew

what's waiting

for you

a home

with a mummy

and a daddy

who love you

grandparents

and great

grandparents

and cousins

and playmates

and McDonald's

Happy Meals

he's American

it's okay

but all they knew

was the orphanage

it was squalid

they had no other

reference point

it was home

that restored

creation

that we talk

about

that is our

home

and our lives

here are often

those of the

orphanage

but that's not

all

because in some

ways that may

seem just a

pipe dream away

but the Bible

says unlike

those orphans

we do have a

reference point

to that great

restoration

and that reference

point is your

experience now

of the Spirit

telling you

making you

secure

in who you

are in Christ

in his

adopting love

that when you

see the reality

of that

worked out

in your day

to day

when you're

facing your

fears

when you're

facing the

worries and the

stress

that is a

tangible sign

of something

that is going

to be so

much greater

later on

and I

wonder

for me

and maybe

for you

the reason I

feel that

hope of

restoration

is so

intangible

is because

my experience

now

of the

Spirit

reminding me

is often

intangible

because I've

grown busy

and distracted

and deaf

to the Spirit

telling me

that I'm

his child

if you're

a Christian

you're not

an orphan

you're a

child

if you're

not a

Christian

the call

is come

to know

your Father

know

security

in him

and let

us be

children

of him

who

continually

remind

each other

of that

fact

we need

spiritual

headphones

when you're

in distress

we have

somewhere

to run

to

we have

someone

who

listens

we have

a witness

telling us

again and

again

don't fear

you're not

a slave

to fear

you're a

child of

God

let's pray

Father I pray

that you

would

take

these things

and think

in our

lives

Lord

where

some of

us know

this

but

actually

there are

so many

areas

in our

lives

where we

don't

live

this

I know

that's

true for

me

I pray

for each

one of

us

that you

show us

those areas

in our

lives

where we

actually do

live in

fear of

other

people

we live

in fear

of

circumstances

and you

show us

and you

speak to

us

again

that we're

secure

that you'll

provide

that you're

in charge

that we

don't have to

fix everything

by ourselves

you're the

one who

takes it

and will

make us

fully restored

one day