The Christian Handbook - Who's Yo Daddy

All right, let's get into it. We are continuing our series called the

Christian Handbook, where we're going over the fundamentals of the Christian faith. As

a reminder, our goal is to have a better understanding of what we as

Christians believe, why we believe it, and how to apply it. Last

week I spoke about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and why his sacrificial and substitutionary

death had to happen to atone for the sins of believers, and that through

his death and resurrection we now share in his righteousness. But the perfect atoning

work of Jesus death on the cross didn't stop there. Yeah, there's more.

There was another aspect of Christ's atonement that was at work on the day

he died for us my sermons. My sermon today is titled Who's Your Daddy?

Thank you for laughing, it's Who's Your Daddy? Because we're talking about

adoption by God the Father. Today we're going to look at in God's word,

looking at how we as sinners were once enemies of God, but by

faith in jesus saving work on the cross, we are now adopted as sons

and daughters of God. Almighty. Amen. All right, So let's first

get an idea of the salvific adoption that the Bible speaks of. I made

a brief definition of what this is, and then we're gonna get into the

scripture for today. Adoption is the gracious act of God to take sinful,

rebellious people, enemies who were once separated from Him and embrace them as His

beloved children forever. If you have a Bible turned to John chapter one,

Versus nine through thirteen. If you need a Bible, we have some.

In the back behind Kirk. Kirk is the man with the glorious beard.

I was in first place before Kirk came along, and then he dethroned me.

I'm working on catching up one day. All right, Let's look at

the text. In verse nine, John writes, the true light is Jesus,

that gives light to everyone. Was coming into the world. He was

in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world

did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but

his own did not receive him. If remember from last week, his own

the Jews that this is talking about, this is speaking of. They denied

him, many denied him, and many demanded his crucifixion for claiming to be

their king. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed

in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children

born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will,

but born of God. So a few things we see from this text,

starting in inverse nine and ten, what we see is it affirms the deity

of Jesus as God and that he is eternal. If we look at the

beginning of John chapter one, we go back a little bit, we see

that these verses only further emphasize this truth. In verse one, John writes,

in the beginning was the word as Jesus, and the word was with

God speaks to the eternality of Jesus. And the word was God that speaks

to Jesus deity as a second person of the Trinity. He was with God

in the beginning. Through him, all things were made. Without him,

nothing was made that has been made. Secondly, verses nine and ten of

Chalon chapter one affirmed that Jesus was a man, and if we look ahead,

in verse fourteen says, the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among

us. We have seen his glory. They of the one and only son

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. So why are

these two affirmations in verses nine through thirteen important? Why does it matter that

Jesus was fully God and fully man? In the Heidelberg Catechism Question sixteen,

it explains the importance of jesus divine nature and his human nature. He must

be a true man because the justice of God requires that the same human nature

which has sinned, should pay for sin. He must be a righteous man

because one who himself is a sinner, he cannot pay for others. I

spoke about in the Old Testament how God demanded sacrificial sacrifices from animals without blemish,

without spot or blemish. This is what it speaks to here. He

had to be a righteous man, and no one on earth could be righteous

to atone for our sins. It had to be God. To put it

more plainly, a true and perfect saving act of grace could only come from

one being, the God man, Jesus. He is the only one that

could save us and forgive us of our sins. He is the only one

that could save us and forgive us of our sins. All right, let's

go back to our original text in John chapter one. We're gonna resume in

verse twelve. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed

in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children

born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will,

but born of God. Praise God again. This is a selvific adoption that

John is speaking about. It's an adoption of those that put their faith in

Jesus Us as Lord and savior of their lives. Now, I'm going to

beat up on all of us just a little bit, because it's important to

remind ourselves of who we were before Jesus saved us, to give us a

better understanding of God's grace and our adoption as its children. Let's look at

Ephesians chapter two. Correct. Oh yeah, Versus, my notes are You're

awesome, Trevor. I'm confusing myself as for you. You were dead in

your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways

of this world and of the ruler of the Kingdom of the air. The

spirit who is now at work and those who are disobedient. All of us

also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and

following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving

of wrath. Now Here Paul speaking to the Jews and the Gentiles and Ephesus

about who they were under the law before Jesus saved them and set them free.

What else can we deduce from this text? This before Jesus saves,

we're the worst. Before Jesus saves, we're the worst. Now I know

you're thinking, Jordan. Paul was speaking to the Jews and Gentiles and Ephesis

in those verses. Yeah, and these verses perfectly capture the fallen state of

all humanity before Jesus brings us to repentance. We all qualify. Let's look

at that verse again. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions

and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this

world. All of us, also in verse three, lived among them at

one time, ratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.

Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. We were

dead in our transgressions and sins, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following

its desires and thoughts, and most importantly, by nature deserving of wrath.

We certainly all qualify of those we are the worst. We were the worst,

and clarify that. And what's more, before Jesus saves, not only

were we the worst, we were also enemies of God. And Colossians chapter

one, Paul writes, once you were alienated from God and were enemies in

your minds because of your evil behavior. We were alienated from God. We

were separated from him. We were enemies in our minds and our evil behavior.

Before Jesus saves, we were the worst. But even at our worst,

God gave his best. Jesus, even at our worst, God gave

his best, and his best is found in Jesus Christ in Ephesians two,

verse fourth through five. He did this because of his great love for us.

God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even

when we were dead in our transgressions. It is by grace you have been

saved. Hallelujah. I'd like you to pause, just for a handful of

seconds, read these verses and really think about that think about the richness of

God's mercy, About who you were deserving of wrath, who you were before

Jesus saved you? All right, you guys feel bad enough now, all

right? So to recap God gave his best, his only son, Jesus,

who, being fully God and fully man, saved us at our worst.

Let's go back into our original text and John again in a resume in

verse twelve. Again, but bear with me, here's a reason. Yet

to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name,

he gave the right to become children of God. Stop right? There?

Would that say? Yet, to all who did receive him, to those

who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

That speaks to another important peace I need to address, because there are

misunderstandings among Christians and really most of the world about what it means to be

a child of God. How many of you grew up hearing or speaking the

phrase we're all God's children. We're all God's children. Man, I don't

know. I'm not seeing you all said it that way, but I've certainly

heard it throughout my life, and I've definitely said those exact words on more

than one occasion. But is it true? Is it true? Are we

all God's children? Let's examine the question by looking at two truths. It

should be the next slide. Sorry I skipped ahead, Trevor again my fault.

Two truths. All human beings are children of God by creation, only

some are His children by redemption. All human beings are children of God by

creation, only some are His children by redemption. That it's an incredibly important

distinction here, because for some individuals or groups there's a major error that mankind

has made, where there's a confusion or joining of these two truths in which

they're made applicable to everyone. This youth falls under the false doctrine of universalism,

in which all people will be saved. Universalism conflates these two truths and

extends them to everyone, regardless of one's faith in Jesus. But that's the

opposite of what the Bible teaches. If you look in Matthew, Jesus again

teaching the crowds around him gives a parable to explain the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus spoke to them again, imparable, saying the Kingdom of Heaven is like

a king, who prepared a wedding banquet for his son is describing God the

Father preparing a wedding banquet. Or everything was made through and for Jesus.

This is describing God the Father preparing everything for Jesus. He sent his servants

to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come,

but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said,

tell those who have been invited that I prepared my dinner, my oxen and

fattened cattle had been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding

banquet. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his field,

another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and

killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those

murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, the wedding

banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So

go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So

the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find,

the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled

with guests. But when the king came to see the guests, he noticed

a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, how did

you get in here without wedding clothes? Friend? The man was speechless.

Then the King told the attendants tie him hand and foot and throw him outside

into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For

many are invited, but few are chosen. With this parable, Jesus says

that many are invited, but few are chosen. Few are chosen, not

all. It's the opposite of what universalism chiefes. In Ephesians one three through

six, Paul makes this a little bit more clear, kind of, and

then it gets more confusing. Bear with me, Praise be to the God

and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the

heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him

before the creation of the world, to be holy and blameless in his sight

and love. He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in

accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of His glorious grace which

he has freely given us in the one he loves. But with that perse

in mind, who is chosen? If we go back to verse five,

can you go back a slide? Thank you? He predestined us for adoption,

So who's chosen? Those he predestined for adoption? But who is predestined?

Those who put their faith in Jesus? How do we know who will

do that? We don't. He always said it. Paul kind of clarifies

us a little more, and then it gets more confusing. Who is chosen

those he predestined, those who put their Who is predestined those who put their

faith in Jesus? How do we know who will do that? We don't.

But that doesn't mean it gives us a pass not to share jesus gospel

with everyone. What did Jesus say in the parable in Matthew he should go

out to the streets and invite everybody. It does not give us a pass

not to share Christ's gospel, because, as we'll see in Matthew this next

verse, Jesus commands his disciples and us too by extension, to invite everyone.

Then Jesus came to them and said all authority in heaven and on earth

has been given to me. I love this because Jesus, before speaking,

before giving this command, he reminds them I have authority. He affirms his

deity. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in

the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely I am

with you always to the very end of the age. Praise God. So

to reiterate, we don't know who is chosen, but we do know we're

commanded to share the Gospel and make disciples of all people. Who God brings

to faith in his Son is completely up to him. Who God brings to

faith and in his Son is completely up to him. Now, if you

still feel unsettled about this, which I certainly don't blame me for, and

I pray that God will bring you through it, just remember this. Listen.

We do not know the mind of God, but we do know that

God's word is truth, and he is sovereign. God's word is truth,

and he is sovereign. This, all this I've just said, is a

mystery that we may never fully understand or comprehend. All we can do is

pray, be obedient to scripture, and continue putting our hope in Jesus.

Now, all that being said, the next question this will often lead a

believer to, is how do I know if I'm a true child of God?

How do I know if I'm chosen? This is how we rely on

and trusting God's word, not our feelings. We rely on and trust in

God's word, not our feelings. We put our trust in this. What

does his word tell us? This is what we should always look to.

It assures This assures us of our salvation in Him. In Romans chapter ten,

if you declare with your mouth Jesus his Lord, and believe in your

heart that God raises him from the dead, you will be saved. The

Bible assures us that we are saved by putting our faith in Him trust in

this. In first John, I write these things to you. I love

this verse. I write these things to you who believe in the name of

the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

It was written for us to know, to assure us of our faith.

Hallelujah. And then lastly, in John three sixteen, you all know

this one, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and

only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal

life. I certainly grew up memorizing this verse at first, just because I

was told to, and I'm i become well betting that most of you probably

memorize that verse those same means, which is good to know scripture, but

sometimes we forget what we're memorizing. This is an assurance of our faith in

Jesus. It's an assurance that we have eternal life in Him and with Him.

So we rely on and trusting God's words, not our feelings. And

will you still sin? You better believe it? Will you have doubts?

Yes? But God isn't finished with you yet. We still exist in this

fleshy, sinful husk, and we're being sanctified to be more like Him every

day. He's not finished with you yet, and that work isn't complete.

It doesn't the work is complete. Our sanctification doesn't come to full fruition until

He comes back. So we've established that believers, former aliens, and enemies

of God are adopted into God's eternal family by the sacrifice of his son Jesus.

But there's one final thing that this means for us. In Romans eight,

verse fourteen, for those who are led by the Spirit of God are

the children of God. The spirit you received does not make you slaves so

that you live in fear again. Rather, the spirit you received brought about

your adoption to sonship, and by him we cry Abba Father. Translated the

modern English, this is saying that we can call God the creator of the

universe, and we have such a close relationship with him as his children,

we can call him daddy. How many kings in history have ever allowed a

servant to approach them and say, Daddy, you'd probably lose your head.

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now,

if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co

errs with Christ. If indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we

may also share in his glory. So what this means for God's children is

this, if adopted, we are heirs, and if heirs, we have

an inheritance a future hope. Can I get the band to come up?

I'm going to end things as I did last week I'm going to talk about

our response time that we're going to go into, and I'm going to give

a final point and read one closing scripture. So our response time that we

do every week, the purpose is to praise God, to give him praise

by our giving. The Bible commands us to give with a cheerful heart.

If you came prepared to give today, we have the offering envelopes available and

they can be dropped off in the white box beyond those doors. Another way

we praise God is with our connect card. Connect card allows us to do

a great many things. The mark that I've committed my life to Jesus today,

praise God. Please let us know we want to celebrate with you.

We want to connect with you. Hey, connect card, we want to

connect with you on next steps. You're ready to get baptized today. I'll

talk more about that in a minute. Heck, we're going to do it

in a minute. So, yeah, you'd like to join a community group,

you'd like to serve on a team like the Kids Ministry. Yeah,

this is everyone cheering was on the Kids Ministry already. I love it.

The next way we praise God, the next way we worship Him is through

praise of song. We're gonna close with one more song. So I'm gonna

close with reading through to the end of Romans chapter eight. What the apostle

Paul wrote here. Firstly, it affirms that there's no denying that our present

suffering and the pain we endure, there's no denying that, and it will

endure to the end of this world. But it also shows us that this

present suffering does not compare to the glory that will be revealed in us.

As co ers with Christ Jesus and as co airs, these verses are going

to show us that we have the first fruits of the spirit who dwells within

us, the Holy Spirit, the same spirit that helps us in our weakness,

the same spirit that intercedes for us with wordless groans when we don't know

what to pray, the same spirit that innercedes for us God's adopted children and

glorifies us in Christ Jesus. And nothing will ever separate us. So let's

look at these verses. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing

with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits an

eager expectation for the children of God. To be revealed for the creation who

was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will

of the one who subjected it. In hope that the creation itself will be

liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the

children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning, as

in the pains of childbirth, right up to the present time. Not only

so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit,

grown inwardly, as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption

of our bodies. For in this we have hope, we were safe soothing.

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is

no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have. But if

we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do

not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for

us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of

the Spirit. Because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will

of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good

of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

God loves his children, and he will take care of us. He does

take care of us for those God for new He also predestined to be conformed

to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many

brothers and sisters. And those he predestined he also called. Those he called,

He also justified. Those he justified, He also glorified. What then,

shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us,

who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son,

but gave him up for us all, How will he not also,

along with him graciously give us all things. Who will bring any charge against

those whom God has chosen. It is God who justifies, who then is

the one who condemns no one. Christ Jesus, who died more than that,

who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and

is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ,

shall trouble or hardship or persecution, or famine or nakedness or danger or

sword to be clear of this all rhetorical question. Nothing, no one,

as it is written. For your sake. We face death all day long.

We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these

things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I'm

convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present

nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor death, nor anything

else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God

that is in Christ, Jesus, our Lord, Hallelujah. That is our

future hope, be glorified right along with Jesus. It's also our present promise.

As God's chosen people, we have nothing to be afraid of. We

have no need as long as we have Him. I'm gonna pray, We're

gonna worship God with one more song, and then we're going to have baptism.

So during the song, if you have kids that are getting baptized and

can go to the Kids Ministry down the hallway, that they're right. If

you yourself are getting baptized during this song, now's your time to get prepared.

So let's pray or God, thank you for the promises we find in

your word, the promises of those who put our faith in your son's death

and resurrection, are eternally saved. Thank you for the promises of your word,

that you will take care of us, that you love us, and

that nothing could ever separate us. Thank you, Lord, for even while

we were at our worst, while we were separated from you, while we

were enemies, you still die for us. You adopted us. God,

nothing we could ever do could be thanks enough. It is the greatest gift

that will ever be given. Lord. I ask you would humble our spirits,

give us zeal for your word, give us energy and compassion and conviction

to obey it. Remind us through your Holy Spirit that it is all to

your glory, not our own. Morden, as we baptize new believers to

you, help us to celebrate, to match the celebration that's going on in

heaven for these people. We love you and thank you for all these things.

In your Son's name. Amen.