Children of God
Romans 8:12 – 17
Pastor Fred Craddock tells a story about a little village, not unlike many little villages, the school bell rang at 8:30 a.m. to call the children to class. The boys and girls reluctantly left their homes and toys, creeping like snails into the school, not late but not a second early. The bell would ring again at 3:30 p.m., releasing the children to their homes and toys, to which they rushed at the very moment of the tolling of the bell. This is how it was every day, for all the children, except for one.
One little girl would always come early to help the new teacher prepare the room and materials for the day. She stayed late to help the teacher clean the board, dust erasers, and put away materials. During the day she sat close to the teacher, all eyes and ears for the lessons being taught. One day when noise and inattention were worse than usual, the frustrated teacher called the class to order.
Pointing to the little girl in the front row, the teacher said, “Why can’t you all be as she is? She comes early to help, she stays late to help, and all day long she is attentive and courteous.” “It isn’t fair to ask us to be as she is” said one boy from the rear of the room. “Why?” she asked “Because she has an advantage” he replied. “I don’t understand. What is her advantage?” asked the puzzled teacher. “She is adopted, she is a chosen child. She is different” he muttered almost jealously, as he sat down. (from Fred B. Craddock, Craddock Stories [St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2001], p. 16)
Last week as we started our month-long series in the book of Romans 8, Paul told us that the Spirit of God has been given to the people of God so that the people of God might rightfully praise and worship God by becoming the person that He has always planned us to be. We were told that if we have Jesus Christ in our lives and Live by the Spirit that we no longer have condemnation over our souls because of our old sinful nature. There is no condemnation on you anymore.
What a hopeful and empowering thought from last week, despite all the selfish and disobedient things that we have done in our lives, with the acceptance of Jesus Christ into our lives we no longer have the penalty of sinfulness hanging over our heads. That is great news These week Paul comes to tell us that not only do we no longer have a penalty to pay for our past sins, but we are also “adopted”, “chosen” to be part of a new family, the family of God. Paul writes today:
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, you are the sons of God. You have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which you can now call out to God, “Abba! Father!” Even the Spirit Himself will bear witness along with our spirit that we are children of God,
It is important for us to understand why this adoption metaphor was so important in the time in which Paul wrote this letter to the Romans. According to Roman law in that day “adoption” did not carry with it the idea of “second-class status” in the family, as it did in some cultures. In Roman culture, an adopted son frequently had greater prestige and privilege than the natural children; Paul’s contemporaries understood adoption as that which signified a great honor and privilege.
My friends, Paul tells us that since we have successfully fought the battle of disobedience in our lives, we have been adopted by God into his holy family. Can there be a more beautiful image of God’s love for us than the image of His adoption of us? Like the little girl in our opening story, Paul tells us today that we too are special enough to God to be chosen and claimed as God’s very own child. We may not have been born into His righteous family, but we were adopted into it by God’s choice through our belief in Jesus Christ. A person who is truly experiencing the leading of God at work in his life can be certain he is God’s child.
It is through our faithful obedience to Christ that we experience the gracious inworking of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is the Holy Spirit’s divine work of sanctification in our lives that gives us assurance that we truly are sons and daughters of God. Furthermore, Paul tells us the Holy Spirit confirms our adoption as God’s children by freeing us from the “spirit of slavery”. We can know we are children of God by the testimony of the Holy Spirit within us.
No one else—not our parents, our spouse, or even our best friends—can tell us if we have truly been born again. That is something only we and God know, and over time our lives will bear fruit of transformation. Through the justifying work of the Holy Spirit, God’s children are given a “spirit of adoption.”
As God’s adopted children, He gives us the full right and privilege to call out in the most intimate way, “Abba!” to God as our heavenly Father, just as every child does to his earthly father. The Aramaic term “Abba” carries relational intimacy, tenderness, dependence, and a complete lack of fear or anxiety. So, in Christ we are given a new divine nature to become a true child of God, with all the blessings, privileges, and inheritance. Paul goes on the write:
Since we are children of God, then we are also heirs of God, and also fellow heirs with Christ, So we too must suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. However I consider that these sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Since we are indeed children of God, we are also “co-heirs” of God. An heir eventually inherits his father’s estate, and that is what Paul intends to tell us here. All that the Father has is “ours!” We have not yet come into the possession and enjoyment of all of it, but nothing can prevent our doing so in the future. But if we share in the good things with Christ then we must also share in the hard things, the difficult things, the painful times for our salvation just like Jesus did in order to save us.
We have no greater privilege and no greater guarantee of glory than to suffer for Christ’s sake. The sufferings of this present time are “not worthy” to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Just as suffering was essential to Christ’s obedience to His Father, so it is essential to our obedience to Christ. Our suffering is short, whereas our glory is forever; our suffering is trivial, whereas our glory is limitless.
Paul acknowledges that there will be pains and troubles, but through the spirit of adoption we have hope in the inheritance of Christ because being a part of the family of God opens up the future glory of God’s kingdom to us. When the pains of this life seem to be overwhelming, Paul tells us that we cannot even compare those pains to the future we have promised in God through Christ Jesus.
You see when you give your life to Christ and become a Christian you receive all the benefits He has to offer. We need to recognize all the beauty of God’s revolutionary promise that raises us all to the highest honor by adopting us as his sons and daughters. Our adoption means we are loved by our Father like Christ is loved. We are honored like he is honored—every one of us—no matter what. Your circumstances cannot hinder or threaten that promise. In fact, our bad circumstances will only help us understand the significance of that promise.
Hear the Good News my friends……….
Even after all the disobedient things that we have done, despite our difficulty in subduing our dual nature, God has chosen each and every one of us to be adopted into His family as a child of His own, because he sees the good that is in every one of us. He sees us as washed clean by the righteousness of Christ himself and to share with our spiritual half-brother, Jesus, all the good things in heaven and earth which are under the sovereign domain of our Father.
The writers of the worship song “No Longer Slaves,” David and Melissa Helser, share the story behind the song’s meaning, drawing from this passage in Romans 8. Melissa shares, “This is actually my story. This is my testimony of the Father reaching in and opening up seasons of suffering and sorrow and just meeting me and drowning my fear.” The power behind this anthem is its declaration straight from Romans 8: “I’m no longer a slave to fear; I am a child of God.” When we are born again, we are adopted as sons and daughters into God’s family, transforming our identity and our lives.
Dear ones, we are sons and daughters of God. The Spirit makes us this. The Spirit creates a whole new relationship with God. The Spirit gives us an assurance of being loved and accepted by God as children, not based on who we are or what they have done or not done but based solely on the free grace and love of God.
This is what Christ desires for us to have with God. It is our birthright. We were created for such a relationship, but sin broke it. Christ restores it through the power of the Spirit. Then, working in us, the Spirit enables us to call upon God as a heavenly parent, really knowing and feeling that God loves us like a parent, even more so — like the most loving parent we could ever have. The Spirit keeps working to assure us that we are Children of God. Welcome to the Family! Amen.