Abba Father
Romans 8:15. "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs––heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."
What an amazing truth: God has adopted us as his sons and daughters. If you are justified through the blood of Jesus, he is your Father. If you are not a Christian, God is your Creator, but he is not your Father. God is not the Father of all mankind. He is the Creator of all, but he is the Father of only those who have been justified, those he has adopted. There are a lot of kids in my life, but I only have one daughter.
"What does it mean for God to adopt us?" The first thing Paul says in Romans is that we no longer have a spirit of slavery where we fall back into fear, but rather we've received the spirit of adoption by which we call, "Abba, Father!" Because we have been adopted, we have been given new hearts, and those hearts are no longer locked into the enslavement of self, others, world, and religion. When God adopts you, the spirit of slavery is taken from you so you don't fall back into fear, because you've been given a new spirit, a spirit by which we call out, "Abba, Father!"
At times, I may be tempted to try to find the solution inside of myself, and because I have been granted a new spirit and a new heart by God by the Word of God and serious about a pursuit of the Lord, I am able to spot what I am doing, repent of it, and throw myself on the mercies of God. A lost person can't do that.
Verse 16 says "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…" The first way the Spirit testifies to our spirit that we are children of God is there is an acknowledgement in the lordship of Christ. You allow Christ to dictate the course of your life. The Spirit testifies to your spirit that you are a child of God because we have a desire for obedience, even though we aren’t perfect at it, and a desire to pursue the things of God.
Some of you are crawling, some of you are running, but it's there. Some of you have a busted leg and are hobbling, others of you are running full speed, but without pursuit, the Spirit is not testifying to your spirit that you're children of God.
The Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we're children of God. "…and if children, then heirs––heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…"The Bible says the sons and daughters of God, you and me, coheirs with Christ, will reign and rule in the new heavens and new earth alongside of him. As part of our inheritance, we get unfettered, unbroken, complete access to our Creator and what our souls were designed to experience. In my ministry, I have discovered that people sometimes don't want God, they want what God brings. I want a good marriage. I want my business to be successful. I'd like to be blessed. What you're trying to do in that moment is use God to get what you really want.
In verse 16 "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs––heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." You're going to be an heir with unrestricted access to the King of glory, an imperishable body, ruling and reigning with God forever in his presence on a remade, recreated new heaven and new earth, provided that you suffer with him so you might also be glorified with him.
The call to follow Jesus Christ is also a call to suffering. It is not a ticket away from it, but actually a doorway into it. Don't despise difficult days. God is at work in the mess. That's the message of the Bible and why some passages in the Bible are not pretty. God is working in the tears. You have a loving Father and a rich inheritance, and he will never lay on you what he will not bear up with you. It is in the sorrow that God does his best work in us. He is not the author of evil and suffering, but he is the sovereign King who will use the dark nights to tie our souls to him more and more.
In Him,
Pastor Boyd
What an amazing truth: God has adopted us as his sons and daughters. If you are justified through the blood of Jesus, he is your Father. If you are not a Christian, God is your Creator, but he is not your Father. God is not the Father of all mankind. He is the Creator of all, but he is the Father of only those who have been justified, those he has adopted. There are a lot of kids in my life, but I only have one daughter.
"What does it mean for God to adopt us?" The first thing Paul says in Romans is that we no longer have a spirit of slavery where we fall back into fear, but rather we've received the spirit of adoption by which we call, "Abba, Father!" Because we have been adopted, we have been given new hearts, and those hearts are no longer locked into the enslavement of self, others, world, and religion. When God adopts you, the spirit of slavery is taken from you so you don't fall back into fear, because you've been given a new spirit, a spirit by which we call out, "Abba, Father!"
At times, I may be tempted to try to find the solution inside of myself, and because I have been granted a new spirit and a new heart by God by the Word of God and serious about a pursuit of the Lord, I am able to spot what I am doing, repent of it, and throw myself on the mercies of God. A lost person can't do that.
Verse 16 says "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…" The first way the Spirit testifies to our spirit that we are children of God is there is an acknowledgement in the lordship of Christ. You allow Christ to dictate the course of your life. The Spirit testifies to your spirit that you are a child of God because we have a desire for obedience, even though we aren’t perfect at it, and a desire to pursue the things of God.
Some of you are crawling, some of you are running, but it's there. Some of you have a busted leg and are hobbling, others of you are running full speed, but without pursuit, the Spirit is not testifying to your spirit that you're children of God.
The Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we're children of God. "…and if children, then heirs––heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…"The Bible says the sons and daughters of God, you and me, coheirs with Christ, will reign and rule in the new heavens and new earth alongside of him. As part of our inheritance, we get unfettered, unbroken, complete access to our Creator and what our souls were designed to experience. In my ministry, I have discovered that people sometimes don't want God, they want what God brings. I want a good marriage. I want my business to be successful. I'd like to be blessed. What you're trying to do in that moment is use God to get what you really want.
In verse 16 "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs––heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." You're going to be an heir with unrestricted access to the King of glory, an imperishable body, ruling and reigning with God forever in his presence on a remade, recreated new heaven and new earth, provided that you suffer with him so you might also be glorified with him.
The call to follow Jesus Christ is also a call to suffering. It is not a ticket away from it, but actually a doorway into it. Don't despise difficult days. God is at work in the mess. That's the message of the Bible and why some passages in the Bible are not pretty. God is working in the tears. You have a loving Father and a rich inheritance, and he will never lay on you what he will not bear up with you. It is in the sorrow that God does his best work in us. He is not the author of evil and suffering, but he is the sovereign King who will use the dark nights to tie our souls to him more and more.
In Him,
Pastor Boyd
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