The Miracle of Adoption October 24th, 2010 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. - Romans 8:15 Huiothesia - [Hwē-o-the-sē'-ä] The legal process by which a man might bring into his family, and endow with the status and privileges of a son, one who was not by nature his son or of his kindred. Pictures of Adoption in the Old Testament Among oriental nations it was extended to slaves (as Moses) who thereby gained their freedom Moses And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. - Exodus 2:10 Esther And he (Mordecai) brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. - Esther 2:7 The Adoption Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; - Romans 9:4 1
What do the Israelites have in their possession? 1. The Adoption 2. The Glory 3. The Covenants 4. The Giving of the Law 5. The Service of God 6. The Promises 7. The Fathers 8. The Race of The Incarnation The Adoption Key References in the Old Testament Exodus 4:22; Numbers 6:27, Deuteronomy 14:1; Deuteronomy 26:18; Deuteronomy 26:19; Deuteronomy 27:9; Deuteronomy 32:6; 2nd Samuel 7:14; 1 Chronicles 22:10; Proverbs 14:26; Isaiah 8:18; Isaiah 43:6; Isaiah 63:18; Jeremiah 3:19; Jeremiah 31:9 The 7 Graces of Adoption 1. Recipients of God's Amazing Love Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. - John 17:20-23 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us... God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:5,8 2
2. Deliverance from Bondage Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ... Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. - Galatians 4:3-7; 5:1 3. Recipients of the Great and Precious Promises Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. - 2 Peter 1:2-4 4. Indwelt by the Spirit For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. - Romans 8:15-21 5. Preserved, Protected, and Provided for 3
Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. - Luke 12:27-32 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. - Jhn 14:18 KJV Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 6. The Privilege to be Disciplined and Trained in Righteousness And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye are illegitimate, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? - Hebrews 12:5-9 7. Heirs of the Kingdom And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. - Rom 8:17 KJV 4
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? - Jam 2:5 KJV Roman Custom (Adoptio) In Rome, at the time of Paul, there was unique understanding to the idea of fatherly authority, called Patria Potestas, by which a son was held in his father s power, almost as a slave was owned by his master. This, thusly, gave a peculiar character to the process of adoption, which was transacted as a person was transferred from his natural father s power into that of his adoptive father, and it consisted in a fictitious sale of the son, and his surrender by the natural father to the adoptive father. From Natural Father to Adoptive Father Your Father the Devil Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin... Ye do the deeds of your father... If God were your Father, you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but He sent me... You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. - John 8:34,41a,42,44 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. - Galatians 4:3-7 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. - Romans 8:15 5
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. - Romans 7:1-6 Proofs of our Kinship They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of His children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. - Deuteronomy 32:5 The Gilmore Baronetcy and the Great Estate of Dulwich Seal with the armorial bearings A Looking Glass An Amati Violin Certificate of Baptism Certified testimony of human witness What is the Proof of our Kinship? The Blood of Jesus Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus... Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith - Hebrews 10:19,22a 6
The Seal of the Spirit [Christ Jesus] In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. - Ephesians 1:13-14 The Amazing Gospel (Ephesians 2:11-22) 1. The Adoption (The Adoption of sons - Galatians 4:5) 2. The Glory (The Hope of Glory - Colossians 1:27) 3. The Covenants (The New Covenant in His Blood - 1 Corinthians 11:25) 4. The Giving of the Law (the Giving of the Spirit - Luke 11:13) 5. The Service of God (The Great Commission - Matthew 28:18-20) 6. The Promises (Exceeding Great and Precious Promises - 2 Peter 1:4) 7. The Fathers (Access by one Spirit unto the Father - Ephesians 2:18) 8. The Race of The Incarnation (The Incarnation of Christ Within - Ephesians 2:22) The Eagle and the Nest He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee? Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; Butter of kine, and milk of 7
sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. - Deuteronomy 32:4-14 8