Our Spiritual Adoption

Psalm 19 says that the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

I've never met a single person in my life that doesn't want their soul revived.

And God's word promises that it can do that for us.

And so what a privilege that we have the time this morning to open up God's word,

say, God, you speak, you tell us what's reality.

Give us ears to hear, give us a heart to soak that in and then live in the good of that.

Revive our souls.

May God do that this morning as we open up his word.

Let us pray to that very end this morning.

God, as much as we possibly can right now, we want to say, God, we believe that your word can actually do that for us.

Revive us.

Restore us.

Put us back together, God.

And give us ears to hear who we are and who you are and what the world is like.

God, we know that we come in as, you know, many of us redeemed and made whole again in Jesus.

But there's a lot of parts of us that are still dark and have all these clunky edges and we need help.

We ask, God, that your word would have that effect this morning.

So we invite you in the name of Jesus, God, have your way in us.

Correct us where we're wrong and where we have wrong views of you, how we have wrong views of ourselves and of the world and what life here in this pilgrimage is like.

And God, allow us to walk in the good of who you are and who we are in Jesus.

In the name of Christ, amen.

Amen.

We should have gotten a worksheet, as Mike mentioned.

If you have that, I want to invite you to, you can go ahead and put that in the Galatians passage if you have a Bible with you.

That's Galatians 4.

We're going to get to that in a while.

But you can also then put that in Galatians 4 and open up to 1 John chapter 3.

1 John 3 · chapter mention

We're going to make a couple stops before we get to Galatians.

So this morning, I'm not actually going to be walking through just a single passage, more like expository preaching.

But I'm going to be speaking on a topic known as the doctrine of election or adoption.

I'm pulling an audible here.

No, doctrine of adoption or the fatherhood of God.

I don't know how you hear that when you, you know, sometimes we can be tempted to think,

Oh yeah, I know this stuff.

But we always have to come back when we think about rich theology and say,

No, I never want things like this to get old.

And I want to take the time to slowly think through this.

A little bit like my wife and I had a concrete mixer at Culver's yesterday.

Those things never get old.

Now my kids don't know that we actually had that and they're finding that out for the first time.

So they're probably going to ask on the way home to stop for that.

But you never go, Oh, I had a concrete last week.

I don't want one this week.

And you say, Yeah, I'll have another one of those.

And then when you eat it, you want to enjoy every last bit.

And God's, the theology of the doctrine of adoption, we never want that to become old.

There's so much gold here.

I think for my own personal life, this theology has probably had the most influence in severing at the root of sin.

Particularly, say, of fear of the future or fear of man or many, many others.

There's no other doctrine that gives me such a heart of rest and of worship in who God is and what he has done in the gospel.

So we really want to take our time as we think through this.

But listen to this from J.I. Packer.

J.I. Packer is now with the Lord.

He's a man that ministered for many years, preaching.

He was a professor as well.

He wrote many books, one of his classics, called Knowing God.

He has a chapter on the fatherhood of God in there.

Listen to this man, much wiser than myself.

This is what he says.

He says, What is a Christian?

The question can be answered in many ways.

But the richest answer that I know is that a Christian is one who has God as 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, his prayers, and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.

The revelation to the believer that God is his father is in a sense a climax, the climax of the Bible.

Now I want to read that last sentence again.

Because that is stunning for J.I. Packer to say that.

Listen carefully to what he says.

The revelation to the believer that God is his father is in a sense the climax of the Bible.

That's an amazing statement.

We live in a time and we're in this circle where we put a lot of emphasis on justification.

We are made right with God because of the cross.

And that is, we want to applaud that.

I mean, amen to that.

Here J.I. Packer is saying there is even something greater.

Now when an old man says that, my ears go, whoa, hold on a second.

I want to listen carefully to this.

And I hope you will see why he says that very thing.

But take a look at 1 John.

We don't have to take J.I. Packer's word alone for it.

1 John chapter 3.

1 John 3 · chapter mention

John, starting this chapter, he says,

See what kind of love the Father has given to us.

Now pause there for a second.

He uses this word.

He says, look at it.

Behold something.

And then he says, the ESV translates this as, what kind of love.

N-E-S-V translates that.

It says, see how great.

Because that word is, it's the same word that you find in Matthew 8 after Jesus calms the storm.

And you remember what the disciples say to each other?

Say, what sort of man is this?

Like, who is this dude?

They're not just saying like, you know, hey, what kind of guy is this?

They are terrified of this guy who actually speaks to water and wind and they stop.

And so they recognize they're in the presence of greatness and they say, who is this guy?

He is so great that we're terrified of him.

And so this is what John here says.

I want to show you something.

I want you to look at something.

The greatness of God's love.

Now, what do you think he would say?

Well, a very good answer would be to say, look at the cross.

There you see the greatness of God's love.

Would that not be a great answer?

Yes, it would be a great answer.

That's not where he turns in this passage.

You want to see the greatness of God's love?

How great a love the Father has given to us?

Well, that we should be called children of God.

And that's what we are.

The reason why the world doesn't know us is that it didn't 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.

Obviously, I don't have time to unpack this whole passage.

But I want you to see one more thing there.

Notice how he first paints this.

The greatness of God's love is that we are children of God.

And look at the result.

He says, if you hope in God like this, what's the result at the end of verse 3?

You purify yourself.

You see, this doctrine is so practical that it actually has this holy effect on your life.

But I don't have time to unpack that.

I just find it amazing and so practical that God uses this everyday relationship that all of us walk into the world in some measure to help us try to understand what God is like.

You know, Jesus does this very same type of stuff as he's teaching.

Matthew 7 and the Sermon on the Mount.

Remember, he's teaching the crowds and he says,

Now, hey, if one of your sons comes to you and says,

Hey, Dad, can you give me some bread?

Are any of you going to look at your kids and say,

No, here's some stone.

Or if your son comes to you and says,

Can I have some fish?

Are any of you going to give him a scorpion?

The obvious answer is no.

And Jesus looks at the crowd and says,

Now, you who are evil,

If you would never do that to your kids, but you would give them good things,

How much more would the Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask?

You see what Jesus is doing?

He's trying to use this everyday relationship that you walk in life in.

And he says,

God is like that in some measure, but so much greater.

And so that's how I understand how Jesus would have us to look at everyday relationship,

Father, child, and then look upward.

Now, the hard part is,

Is many of us come to the world in all sorts of different settings.

For some people, the idea of God being Father is not immediately pleasant.

I mean, some probably in this room have had absolutely terrible dads.

Maybe they walked out real early.

Maybe they did things that are atrocious.

And that can make it difficult to begin to think of God expressing himself as Father.

But I want to assure you,

One of the ways that we can think about this is to look at negative examples and say,

God is nothing like that.

Because we all know what a good father should be like.

And others of us have had good fathers.

But even those are failing people.

They stumble.

And so they can give us good pictures of what God would be like,

But God is always greater.

Okay, so we're going to just mess around, or not mess around,

We're going to look around at this doctrine.

First, I want to explain it, walk you through it.

And then we're going to simply reflect upon it.

So here's how I would define the doctrine of adoption.

I would say it like this.

Everyone who is justified before God in Jesus,

Or every Christian, everyone who is born again,

However you want to phrase that,

Is transferred into the family of God.

Whereby we have a new relationship with God.

When is father and child.

So everybody who is justified before God in Jesus,

Is transferred into the family of God.

Whereby we have a new relationship with God.

One is father and child.

Now one of the key things to that,

Is to recognize that when we talk about the doctrine of adoption,

Or the fatherhood of God,

We're talking about something new that happened.

It can be common in the culture,

To talk about how God is the father of everybody.

Of all people.

Now in a sense,

You could say,

Okay, well God created everyone,

So he's master over all.

Or the father of all.

In one sense you could say that.

But when the scriptures talk about the fatherhood of God,

Or the doctrine of adoption,

It is not talking about all mankind.

It is talking about people,

That are justified.

That have been brought into the family of God.

There is something new that happened,

That wasn't true of you before.

In fact, we just looked at this in Ephesians 2.

So why don't we actually turn back there,

If you have a copy of the scriptures.

I'm not going to look at the whole passage,

But just,

It's good to see,

Who we really were.

Ephesians chapter 2,

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

Beginning in verse 1,

Read the first three verses only,

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,

And the spirit that is now at work,

And 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,

And look at that phrase,

Children of wrath.

And in case you're wondering if that's you,

Like the rest of mankind.

Everybody.

That means all the little babies that are coming into the world.

All your nephews,

All your grandchildren,

All your own children,

And you sitting here,

And myself,

All of us,

Were by nature,

Children of wrath.

Or Jesus talking to the crowds,

Remember he says,

Well you are of your father,

Who?

The devil.

Imagine watching Jesus have that teaching.

You want to know who your dad is?

It's the devil.

Lines right up here with Paul.

You're children of wrath.

Or Colossians 1,

That we are under the domain of darkness.

Or Romans 5,

We are enemies of God.

You see,

People come into this world,

I came into this world,

Not just like me and God just didn't get along.

We were enemies of God.

Ephesians 2 goes on,

Without God,

Without hope in the world.

This is all throughout scriptures.

It's not a pretty picture.

Can we just say that?

And that's a very bad place.

Because Psalm 5 and Psalm 11

Declare that God hates the boastful.

Wages a sinner's death.

This is a terrifying picture

That the scriptures actually paint.

Jesus describes the place

Where people will go,

Where the wrath of God is poured out.

At a place where there's weeping

And gnashing of teeth.

I don't know if you've ever seen

Someone just so distraught,

Where that actually kind of captures

A little bit of the flavor.

Somebody sobbing so deeply,

That it just affects you to the core.

This is what it will be like.

Utter darkness for those people.

And Paul and Jesus

And the writers of scripture

All agree.

That is who we come into the world as.

Can you agree with me

That that's bad news?

Yes.

Good.

And that is why the gospel

Is such great news, right?

Because the gospel says

That he who knew no sin

Became sin for us

That we,

Who were children of wrath,

We would actually be

The righteousness of God.

That we,

Our sins,

Though they are crimson,

That we will be made

Fully clean,

Pure,

And forgiven.

And that,

Brothers and sisters,

Is the idea of justification.

We are declared

Right with God.

And we are given

A righteousness,

Not our own,

But it comes from outside

And is given to us.

But that's not

The end of the story.

That's not

Where the gospel stops.

It gets even better.

So let us go to

Galatians 4

And see this

Unfold a little more.

Hey, that was a rhyme.

I got little kids.

I read a lot of

Dr. Seuss books.

So Galatians 4,

Let's read that again.

He's using this metaphor here

Of guardians and children here.

He says,

I mean that the heir,

As long as he is a child,

He's no different

From a slave.

Though he is the owner

Of everything.

But he's under the guardians

And messengers

Until the date

Set by his father.

In the same way,

We also,

When we were children,

We were enslaved

To the elementary principles

Of the world.

He's lining right up

With his other letters here,

Right?

We're enslaved.

Which is bad news.

But then the good news,

Verse 4,

But,

When the fullness of time

Had come,

God sent forth his son,

Born of a woman,

Born under the law.

Why?

To redeem those

Who were under the law.

That's justification.

Right?

To bring us out

From that enslavement

And to redeem us.

And bring us

Into this

Being declared

Not guilty.

But look at where he goes.

Look at the next phrase.

So that.

That's an important phrase.

She says,

We were redeemed

From under the law

For something.

There's a purpose to this.

Or in Ephesians 1,

It says that this,

What he's about to say

Was actually

Predestined for us.

He says,

So that

We might receive

Adoption

As

Sons.

Now,

Paul is writing

To a community

That is aware

Of what adoption

Is in the culture.

There was such a thing

Known as adoption

In the Roman world.

It was a little bit

Different than we

Practice today,

But there was some

Similarity.

So typically

In adoption

What happened

Then

Is if

It was typically

A very wealthy man

Who didn't have

Any sons.

So,

You know,

You passed along

The inheritance

And everything

To the sons.

But if a man

Was very wealthy

And he had no sons,

What he would do

Is go out

Into the community

And find

A man,

Usually a younger man,

Who he could then

Bring into his family

And pass everything

Along to.

Now,

When that would happen

That young man's

Everything that

Was true about him

Was severed.

So if he had any debts

They were gone.

If he had any ties

To anything

Totally cut off

And he was transferred

Into this new family

Whereby he had

Full rights

To the whole inheritance.

And so Paul

Directing us to this

Is saying

This is something

Of what's happened here.

All your ties

Have been cut off

And now you are

Part of this

Inheritance.

So we practice

Something like that

Here still, right?

So our youngest

Child, our son

Is adopted.

And I remember

This was a couple

Years ago

When

On adoption day

We had to go

To the courts

In the city

And stuff

And I didn't know

I was going to be

Called to the stand.

But the judge

Looks at my wife

And I and says

I want you to

Come up here.

So my wife

Throws me up there.

And so I go up

And the judge

Starts asking me

Questions like

What my wife's

Birthday is

And stuff like this.

And I don't know

If that was like

I don't know

Why she was doing that

And she was trying

To trick me or what.

But I was so nervous

That I could hardly speak.

But I got it right.

And then she turned

And she looked at me

And she said

Now Mr. Allen

Do you understand

That if you

Adopt Dupree

He will have

The full rights

Of the inheritance

Equally

As your biological children?

And in my heart

At that moment

I said

Yes!

That's the gospel!

Yes!

Yes!

Yes!

Everything!

And that's what's

Going on here.

You're being cut off

From your old family

A child of wrath.

You're a child of the devil.

You're being totally

Separate from that

And put into this

New family

Where you have

Full rights

Of the inheritance

Of almighty God.

Now

The way the gospel

Does this

Is quite amazing

Because now

You think in that culture

If this man

Is wealthy

And he's going out

To find someone

To pass his name

Along to

Who do you think

He's going to look for

In the community?

He'd probably look for

A guy like Mike

Or Billy

Or Matt

And he'd look for

The cream of the crop

Maybe

Mike says no

Regardless

You get the point

Right?

You're going to look

For somebody

That's going to do

A good job

Now

Who does Jesus

Run after?

He goes into

His enemy territory

Those who

Have no business

In receiving

Any kind of goodness

From God

And he goes

Right into enemy territory

And says

Now you're mine

And he brings us

Right into

The family

I mean

That

Is amazing

And then he continues

And because

You are sons

God has sent

The spirit

Of his son

Into our hearts

Crying

Abba

Father

And many have pointed out

That that word

Abba

Is this term

Of endurance

Like a

Like a daddy

Daddy

Father

Now

Some believe

That this

Even kind of

Stating it this way

When there was an adoption

In the Roman world

You had to have a witness

Someone to confirm

The adoption

So it's very possible

That's what Paul

Is putting this together

Like this

Now who's the witness

Of this adoption?

The spirit

Who's been given to you

The Holy Spirit

Who cries out

Yes you actually are

There has been an adoption

Crying Abba

Father

And so you are

No longer a slave

But a son

And if a son

Then an heir

Through God

So J.I. Packer

In his chapter

He further says this

To raise the distinction

Between adoption

And justification

He says adoption

Adoption is a family idea

It's conceived in terms of

Love

And viewing God as father

See in adoption

God takes us

Into his family

And fellowship

He establishes us

As his children

And heirs

Closeness

Affection

Generosity

Are at the heart

Of the relationship

To be right with God

The judge

Is a great thing

But to be loved

And cared for

By God the father

Is a greater thing

Now I think that's

An important point

To consider

To be right

With God the judge

That is great

Is it not?

I mean that's the picture

You're in the courtroom

And you are

You are guilty

As all get out

And the judge

Looks at you

And says

Not guilty

Righteous

But adoption

Then is the picture

Of the judge

Coming off the bench

Coming down

To his enemy

With his arms out

Says

And you're coming

Home with me

You're coming

In my living room

We're gonna

Sup together

You're mine

Full inheritance

Never fear again

Never alone again

Because you're mine

You see this

The doctrine of adoption

Is meant to spark

Thoughts of generosity

And God's kindness

And God's care

And love

And support

You see

In theory

In theory at least

You could just be

Forgiven by God

But not actually

Cared for by him

Right?

And that would still

Be wonderful

I mean to go through life

And know that you're

You're not gonna be

Judged by God

That would be fantastic

Now that in a sense

Would be enough

Right?

But oh

Much better it is

To be loved for

And cared for

By the living God

Now there's

Something interesting

That happens

When you come

Into the New Testament

As well

Because this

Whole idea

About God

Being father

It's there

In the Old Testament

It's 15 times

Is the numbers

That I have

That God is father

Israel is

God's children

God's people

Are his children

15 times

In the Gospels alone

Matthew, Mark, Luke

And John

165 times

This whole idea

Really comes flying forward

That we are children of God

And the way it really flows

Jesus starts going around

And he starts

Doing his teaching

And the language

He starts using

Is

I say what my father says

I'm teaching

What my father is teaching

And he starts calling

God his father

And the people

Don't like it

Because they're not

Used to that

Right?

I mean how do you pray

In the Old Testament?

How are the people

Thought to pray?

What are the psalms?

How do they pray?

Oh, Yahweh

Our Lord

Our Master

Oh, Yahweh

Oh, Lord

Our Lord

Right?

Now when Jesus says

This is how I want you to pray

What does he say?

What's the very first words?

Our Father

And the people

Don't like that

Because that's so intimate

And then Jesus

Not only goes around saying

He's my father

But then he says

That almighty God

Sovereign

Sovereign

All wise

All grace

All grace

Full of grace

All knowing

He's not only my father

But he's your father

If you would come

Through me

What an amazing picture

That almighty God

Comes after rebels like us

And says

I want you in my family

And I'm going to give you

All of me

The question we have to ask ourselves

Is that the way I live my life?

When you woke up this morning

Is it more likely

That you feel like

You're entering into the world

As a precious son

Or daughter of God

Or as maybe one that God is

He's kind of putting up with you

Sometimes gets sick of you

Wouldn't mind sometimes

If you kept your distance

Truth be told

We're all like that at times

Right?

We think that God

Views us like that

So what do we do with this?

This is where we'll pull out

The sheet here

I want to give you

A couple tools

That you can take

To try to reflect on this

So there's some wonderful material

Called the Sonship material

Started by Jack Miller

Who's now with the Lord

World Harvest Mission

Puts this out

It's called Sonship

This is where I get

This worksheet from

A portion of it

And then I kind of

Just made it a lot bigger

And such

But the whole idea of that

Is that Jesus

In John 14

Looks at his disciples

And he says

He promises them

I will not leave you

As orphans

Right?

But I'm going to send

My spirit to you

And so this

They kind of have this

Comparison of whether or not

You're viewing life

As if God has actually

Orphaned you

You know

Orphan is one

That their parents

Have left them

Or if we're actually

Entering into the world

Today

As people who really

Believe that God

Is our father

And we are children

Of God

So the way

The document is set up

Is that

There's obviously

You know

A statement

On one side

That is

This is how children

That believe

And live in the good

Of being children of God

Think

Then the other side

Is these are

These are the way

People think

Of when they

When they act

As if they're

Orphaned by God

Now

The hard part

About doing the sheet

Sometimes

Is it feels like

It's either

A or B

Right?

It's like being

At that eye doctor

A, B

I don't know

I think they're

Kind of still

I don't know

Somewhere in the middle

And that's what

You feel like

When you do it

And that's okay

It's just

Trying to set up

Two different sides

And say

Do you lean

One way or the other

Now

You have to know

Ahead of time

You are going to be

On the orphan side

Quite a bit

If you're honest

With your heart

And that's

This part of the point

Of doing this

Is to expose

The areas

In your heart

So you can go

Before God

And say

God

There are areas

Of my life

That I actually

Act

In my heart

That you aren't

A good father

And so I need you

To teach me

And instruct me

And I want to live

In the good

Of who you are

So if you go

Through this whole sheet

And you are always

On the left side

It's

Probably worth

Talking with the people

Around you

And saying

Do I live like this

Because they'll

Probably tell you

That you don't

Okay

So you will

End up on the orphan side

Quite a bit

And that's okay

That's good

Like we want God

To expose that

So let me just

Walk you through

A couple ways

You can do this

Because one of the ways

I like to do it

Is when I find areas

That I'm more living

Like an orphan

I want to think

About the natural

Family

And say

God help me

To think about

The family

And give me

An illustration

Of what a good

Father would be like

Or a negative

Illustration

What a bad

Father does

Because you're

Not like that

And help me

To learn that way

So I'll walk

Through a couple

Examples for you

So I'm going to

First I'll read it

And kind of give you

Some illustrations

So let's take a look

At the first one there

People who are living

As if they're children

Of God

Are confident

And hopeful

In the unknown

Tomorrow

Knowing their wise

And gracious father

He's going to be there

With complete control

But those who are living

As if orphaned by God

Are generally fearful

And they're sidelined

By the unknown tomorrow

Doubting God

Is going to be there

In wisdom

In grace

In power

And look at number six

Those living as children

Of God

They regularly take risks

For the kingdom

They know the outcome

Is not ultimately up to them

And they're not afraid

But those living as if orphaned

They rarely take risks

For the kingdom

Because the weight

Of the unknown outcome

It's overbearing

It's too fearful

Now I don't know

If you're here

And you generally

Are anxious over the future

Where you don't really like

To take risks

For the kingdom

I would put myself

In the camp

I am generally anxious

About the unknown tomorrow

This is one where I tend to

Camp out

And so my illustration

That has helped me

Over the years

Comes from one of my oldest

Tali

She was just two

And we were

My wife and I

We were reading with Tali

Through the story of Joseph

And how he gets

You know

Shipped down to Egypt

And such

And he never knows

What's going to happen

And obviously

You know the end of the story

And what those

Who meant it for evil

God meant for good

Right

There's this whole sense

Of trusting God

God was with him

So we were trying

To illustrate this

To our daughter

And so we put blindfolds

On one another

And did that

Kind of

You know

I don't know

Maybe you call it

A trust walk

Or whatever

So first we put

A blindfold

On my wife

And my daughter

Grabs one hand

And I grab the other hand

And we're walking

And my wife

Around the apartment

And of course

You'd think

My wife is kind of

Like this

Right

And I mean

I've been married

To the woman for years

And she still doesn't

Trust me to walk

Around the apartment

But whatever

I did the same thing

When they put the blindfold

On me

Because it's scary

Right

We're old

If I run into something

I might not recover

For a couple weeks

Right

But the amazing thing

Happened

We took the blindfold off

She was now ready

For her turn

She puts the blindfold on

We each grab her hand

And the little girl

Without

She can't see anything

Just

She has

She doesn't have

A hesitation

In her step

What so ever

And why is that?

Because she is

Absolutely confident

Without any hesitation

That mom and dad

Will take care of it

I don't have to fear

What's in front of me

They're not going to

Run me into something

I can't handle

They have this together

Because that's her

Whole world

Right

I mean when Jesus

Says to kind of

Become like children

There's something like that

Right

Kids trust their parents

Of course

When it's safe to

Right

If they're in a safe home

And it's those moments

That I just want to say

God whisper that

In my ear

Constantly

Every day

That's what you're like

That's what you want

From me

And I can do that

I can trust you like that

Wouldn't that be freedom

If you could enter

Into tomorrow like that

With that sense of freedom

I don't have to worry

About tomorrow

I don't have to worry

About what's going to

Happen this week

Or next month

Or that thing

That's on your mind

That you're a little bit

Nervous about

Or about your kids

You say

God

Take me

I'll

Whatever you want

I will do whatever

You call me to do

Now truth be told

Part of the problem

Is we think

God is pretty stingy

We think our fathers

Is kind of lazy

Or maybe

He doesn't have

The kind of power

That actually says

He does

Right

I mean that's what

We think about God

We don't want to say

That out loud

But that's what

We think in our heart

Right

I mean

One of my

Favorite meals

Is like a pasta bake

Or lasagna

Or something

Right

Too lazy to make

Lasagna

So I make pasta bake

It's a little bit easier

So I make a pasta bake

And I love pasta bake

When it first comes out

Of the oven

I mean it is

Fantastic

Now very few things

Are better than pasta bake

Right out of the oven

But you know what's better

Than pasta bake

Right out of the oven

Pasta bake on day two

I love leftover pasta bake

Always have

Now this is what

Typically happens

We're having leftovers

Of pasta bake

And my wife gives me

The bigger portion

Because I'm the

Biggest in the family

And one of the kids

Looks over at my plate

They're done with theirs

And they ask me

If I can have some of mine

Do you know what I do

As a dad?

You would want me

To say that I give it to him

But I don't

I say no

That's daddy's portion

Daddy's bigger

He needs that

I need energy

Because I'm

I'm kind of stingy

And selfish

That's what Jesus says

Right

You even though

You're evil

You still know

How to give

Some good gifts

To your kids

How much more

If God is perfect

And God's not stingy

And God is all powerful

Will he not give you

Everything you possibly need

Because that is the type

Of father you have

He's not like Dan

He is so much better

You see how practical

Of a doctrine this is

If we can really let this

Say God

Just put this deeper in me

I want to live free

As a child of God

Alright well let's do

Another one quickly

Let's go down to

Number 12

It says

If you're living

As a child of God

Those people are

They're free

To try at a task

And fail

Knowing their significance

It's not in their performance

Their father loves

To just watch them try

They don't have to

Perform anything

Those living as orphans

They're generally

Terribly embarrassed

When they fail in a task

They fear that people

And or God

Will be embarrassed

To be associated with them

I'm going to

Number 27

It's linked to this one

Those living as

Children of God

They rejoice

In the accomplishments

Of others

They genuinely

Encourage anyone

Less successful

As they are

But people living

As orphaned

They live ranking

Themselves with other people

Which produces

Either pride

Or depression

When they're outdone

They are miserable

But when they're

Better than other people

Life is good

I don't know if you

Ever walk into a room

And you kind of

Rank yourself

Pretty quick

Judge how you stand

Before other people

I don't know

If you care about

The opinion of other people

I do

I mean

Embarrassingly

I play a lot of softball

I play every day

If I could

I'm generally

Super nervous

If my family

Comes to a game

Now this is sad

I just turned 40

This summer

And

I'm embarrassed

If I hit a weak

Like ground ball

And my kids see it

Because

I've

I've gotten

In my

In my default mode

Is to

To think that

Maybe my kids

Would think less of me

If they saw my performance

And I want them

To be proud of me

So I want to shine

For them

Now that

That is sad

Is it not

I mean to be 40

And still like that

I don't want to be like that

Now I'm standing up here

And like

I look out here

And I

I look at expressions

And I'm like

I hope these people

Like this

Because I want them

To like me

And I hope that

They tell me

That they like

My sermon

And

And it's sad

And now I've kind of

Made it an awkward moment

Right

For afterwards

You don't want to say anything

But this is how we live

Right

We

We

We want people to like us

So we're thinking

Do you like me

Is this good

Are you okay

And

That

Is it not that enslaving

The things that you will do

To get people to like you

Or the things you won't do

Just so people like you

That is enslaving

And I think

One of the greatest cures

Is to really rest

And

Almighty God

Actually views me

As his precious child

Then that is enough

Oh

If I could really

Just hold on to that

This is a couple weeks ago

My kid

My older

Girls are in volleyball

My youngest is in soccer

I was over watching

The girls play volleyball

And

They're

Learning how to

Hit the ball

Like

Serve

The ball over the net

So they do this

Underhand thing

So my

My youngest

Or my

My youngest

Girl

So

She's eight

She

She actually is right handed

But

I don't know

They were teaching her

To hit left

Lefty

So she's

She's serving the ball

Trying to get it over the net

Right

And I'm watching this

From

You have to stand in the hallway

And this

She

She would take the ball

And

Right into the net

Right into the net

Right into the net

You get the picture

Right in the net

Right

And I'm sitting there

Watching this

My heart is just

I mean I'm loving this

This is beautiful

I love it

And I thought to myself

Man

I wonder if

If somebody

Like leaned over to me

Right now

And said

Something like

You see that girl

Hitting that ball

Into the net

That is

That's embarrassing

You know what I

I thought

You know what I'd say

At that time

I'd say

There is nobody

That hits the ball

Into the net

Like that girl

Isn't that awesome

I love it

She

I could watch this

All day

I love it

Right

Because I don't care

If she's successful

Or not

It doesn't matter to me

She's my girl

And I love it

I don't care

If she's great

Like does accomplishments

Or not

That's not going to

Earn my favor

At all

And so one of the ways

We try to teach our kids

The youngest almost has this

So this is the pattern

I'll do with them

I'll say

Dupree

Do you know

Do you know

That dad loves you

He says yes

Good

Good

Dupree

What could you do today

That would make daddy

Love you less

As a four year old

He generally thinks

Well maybe

If I'm naughty

You're going to love me

And I say

No no no

There's nothing you could do

That would make me love you less

Nothing at all

But Dupree

What could you do today

That would make me love you more

Again

He's four

He thinks

Well if I obey

If I do good

No no no

There's nothing you could do

That would make me love you more

So Dupree

Why do I love you

What's the answer

Because

Period

Because

That's it

I love you

Because I love you

And that's exactly how God speaks to his people

In Deuteronomy

I love you

Because I love you

There's nothing else

I love you

Because you are in Christ

And you are my son

Or my daughter

That's it

Don't try to add to that

There's nothing more to put into that bucket

I love you

Because I love you

And I'm crazy about you

And I love to watch you

Like you like to watch your grandparents

Or

I guess you could love to watch your grandparents

Your grandchildren

Or your kids

You just

You just delight in them

Because they are

They are yours

Do you know

That if you are in Christ

That's the way God views you this morning

You

With all your flaws

God is not disappointed

That he called you into the family of God

He's not wishing

That he would have chose somebody else

Yes

He knows about your flaws

You are beautiful in his sight

Wouldn't it be freeing

If you could really hear that from God

Wouldn't it be freeing

To walk into a room

And not have to rank yourself with people

Oh I think this doctrine can help

Move us in that direction

Now I got to start wrapping up here

So I just got to close with this

If you take the time

And have you know

Over the next week

Or couple weeks

To work yourself through this sheet

I do have to point you to one

Because this can be dangerous

If you kind of

Mishear some of this stuff

I want to show you number 34

There's a reason why that one is

At the end there

People living as children of God

They move toward God

After they sin

Knowing that their father's arms

Though God may be grieved by our sin

His arms are open wide

With forgiveness

And grace

And power to help

But those orphaned by God

They keep distant from God

After they sin

They hope that their self-pity

Will pacify God

Afraid that running to God

That might be abusing God's grace

Or he must be annoyed by them

Now this one is worth reflecting

One of my children lied to me

It was so painful

To realize

That this precious little girl

Could lie to me

And I remember

When she

You know I didn't

Force her to

To tell me the truth

I just knew that she lied

And she wasn't confessing yet

And she went up to her room

And you know

I was hoping that she was

Sulking up there

Of course not

Right

But that's the way we treat adults

Right

We want adults to pay like that

But you don't to your kids

As a parent

There's a longing in the heart

That says

Come on honey

Come back

Come confess

I am waiting

And I am willing

And I am longing

For that restoration

Of relationship

Don't think my arms

Are giving you the stiff arm

No

They're wide open

Come to me

I'm your daddy

I have love for you

Only love for you

Restore it

Come on

Come on

Now you go through this sheet

I hope you hear that

To be free

That it's okay

If you're on the orphan side

God is saying

Come

It's okay

I know who you are

I'm mindful of your frame

That you're but dust

Bring it to me

I can handle it

Let us walk this road together

Imagine

Your world

Tomorrow

This week

If you could just enter into it

Say God is my father

He's crazy about me

Crazy about me

There's things coming up

That I'm a little bit nervous about

But God can handle that

There's situations

That make me deeply sad

But God is with me

And I can handle

He can handle this

Imagine your church

Filled with people

Like that

And growing in that

And ministering this truth

To one another

Saying

No, no, no

No

God can help us through that

What would God do

In our life

In this pilgrimage

If we could just

Each day

Get more and more

May God do that

For us

By his grace

And kindness

Let us pray

Together

God what mercy

You give us

In the doctrine of adoption

Just a few moments

We had to kind of

Meditate over that

God

And I ask that you

Would allow it

To bear fruit

In our hearts

God would you

In kindness

Give each of us

Just one step forward

Even

To say

Okay

I think I hear you

And I want to embrace

That more

God

That you really are

A father to me

You really care

And you can really

Hold me

And you really

Run after me

Even when I go

Astray

I pray for anyone

Here who

Who actually

Doesn't know you

As father

Who has never been

Brought into the

Family of God

Would you now

Open up their eyes

To see that

There is

Hope

There is a love

That you provide

As father

That nothing

In the world

Can provide

Nothing we want

To chase

Can provide

The love

And care

That you give

Would you bring

Them redemption

Open their eyes

To the gospel

Of Jesus

And bring them

Into the family

And for us

God

Prepare us

For the week

Ahead

That today

And tomorrow

We would walk

As children

Of the living

Reigning

God

In Christ's name

Amen