Our Adoption as Sons and Daughters of God Part 2 October 25, 2015

Our Adoption as Sons and Daughters of God Part 2 October 25, 2015 Last week, I spoke concerning "Our Adoption as Sons and Daughters of God." I would like to continue this theme this morning. If you did not hear that message, I would encourage you to download a copy from our website, for much of what I share this morning will be in its context. Let us begin by standing and reading together these verses as displayed on the screen. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; 30 and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Rom 8:28-30 Let's pray. "Father, only as You illumine these truths concerning our adoption as Your sons and daughters can we come to really understand the greatness of our salvation and inheritance in Christ. Would you please speak into our minds and hearts with a clarity that will deepen our passion to pursue Christ? We ask that you will do far more than we can even imagine or think by virtue of Your power at work within us. In Christ we pray." In verse 29, Paul writes: For [those] whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.... The apostle Peter exhorts us that "like newborn babes, we are to long for the pure milk of the word, that by it we may grow in respect to our salvation..." (1 Peter 2:2). That is, as we grow in the Lord, we also grow in our understanding that our salvation is far greater than we first imagined. In this verse, we see that we are saved not merely that we may go to heaven, but, more profoundly, God has predestined -- ordained -- to transform us into organic likeness with Jesus Christ. Eugene Peterson paraphrases it thusly: God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity He restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in Him. Romans 8:29 The Message This places salvation in the context of a radical change in our human nature. If we are sinners because our nature is one of self-centeredness as a result of the Fall, then salvation is a fundamental deliverance from that old nature and transformation into a new nature in the organic likeness of Christ. I use the phrase "organic likeness" deliberately. As I quoted him last week, Robert Leighton observes: A new being, a spiritual life, is communicated to [redeemed individuals]; they have in them of their Father's Spirit; and this is derived to them through Christ.... They are not only accounted of the family of God by adoption, but by this new birth they are indeed His children, parkers of the Divine nature. Robert Leighton (1611-1684) The fundamental of our salvation is this organic

transaction that takes place in our inner person as we are born again by the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit as He imparts His life within us. By this same power, as we submit our lives to Him, we are to become transformed into the likeness of Christ. Salvation is many things, but it is certainly no less than this radical, inner transformation. Now, I want to work backwards to verse 28 by pointing out that the first word in verse 29 is "for" -- For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.... Rom 8:29 Let me emphasize that "for" is a conjunction; the translators could just as easily have used the word "because" -- because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.... By Paul's use of this conjunction, he is tying his thought in verse 29 into what he has just stated in verse 28:... God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Rom 8:28 That is, verses 28 and 29 cannot be taken as stand-alone statements. When Paul states in 28 that God causes all things to work together for good for those called according to His purpose, that purpose is no less than that we might be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ, as stated in verse 29. As Peterson states: The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. Romans 8:29 The Message In our fallen state, we were a sin-twisted, self-centered distortion of what God originally intended us to be. But true Biblical salvation is fundamentally God working to actually restore us to His original ideal of whole and healthy personhood. And so, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God... in order to conform us to the likeness of Christ... Romans 8:28-29 Let us make sure that we keep these two verses and their flow of thought connected! Now, as we think more specifically about this wonderfully reassuring verse 28, we could say that while it is one of the most encouraging verses in the entire Bible, yet, at the same time, it is one of the most difficult verses in the Bible. Let me explain why I say this. First, that God causes all things to work together for our ultimate good is deeply encouraging, because it means, as Paul states, that "He who began a good work in me is able," in His sovereign grace, "to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6). Romans 8:28 says to us, quite literally, that God is sovereign over all our affairs and circumstances. Nothing can touch us that is outside the scope of His being able to cause it to work according to His will and our best interests. The Bible is full of examples that illustrate the sovereign grace of God over the lives of His children. One of my favorite accounts is the life of Joseph, who was torn away from home and family and sold into slavery by his brothers, framed and thrown into an Egyptian jail by the unjust accusations of Potiphar's wife, and then left to languish in that same jail as Pharaoh's wine taster failed to speak on his behalf after Joseph had interpreted his dream. Yet, we know how God ultimately delivered him, and when confronting his brothers at the end of the story, he stated: And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present

result, to preserve many people alive. Gen 50:20 That is, God did not cause this evil thing that was done to Joseph by his brothers and others, but in the greatness of His sovereignty, was able to take these hard circumstances caused by others and use them ultimately for Joseph's good while, at the same time, accomplishing God's even greater purposes for Israel. Let us particularly note that not only was there an ultimately happy ending to the story, but also that through Joseph's many trials, he was refined from begin a conceited, condescending, self-centered young man into a person of godly and gracious character at the end of the story. As illustrated by Joseph, "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purposes." We find many similar Biblical stories that illustrate the truth of Romans 28. But, on the other side of the coin, it is one thing to read such stories as they apply to others; it is entirely another thing to experience them directly as God's refining fire comes to bear upon us! In the larger context of Romans 8, we see this reality actually promised to each one of us in verses 15-19:... you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Rom 8:15-19 Please carefully note in the context of Paul's referring to us as those who cry out to God as our "Abba! Father," in the same breath he says that we are children and fellow heirs of Christ "if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may be glorified with Him." Suffering and glory are vitally linked. What does Paul mean by "suffering," and how does He use it for our ultimate good? We could define suffering simply as the experience of trouble, affliction, hardship, difficulty, perplexity, etc. We might also ask, "What kind of suffering qualifies for what Paul is talking about in these verses?" Some have equated this suffering with the concept of persecution from the world because we are followers of Christ. But I believe we must expand our understanding of suffering by seeing it as any difficulty or trial that God can use to make us less self-centered and, at the same time, more Christ-centered. The writer of Hebrews makes this fundamental point: God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Heb 12:7-11 As a matter of first priority, God is intent upon transforming our character to the likeness of His firstborn Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, any refining experience which potentially

can accomplish this goal qualifies as the kind of suffering God can constructively use. In 1 Peter 2 and 3, we read about believers suffering under the rule of the secular government, suffering in the context of working for unreasonable employers and in difficult working environments, and even suffering in the home in the context of being married to an insensitive and perhaps unreasonable spouse. In the context of such suffering, Peter writes: For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. 21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH ; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 1 Peter 2:20-24 Indeed, we can suffer because of our own foolishness and poor attitudes, as Peter states in the first verse. However, at least in the context of this passage, the kind of suffering that God uses to refine us is when we do what is right -- when we seek to have godly attitudes because we are following Christ -- yet we suffer at the hands of unreasonable people or even circumstances. In this context, Peter writes in verse 21 that "we have been called for this purpose --literally, this purpose of suffering -- and that Christ also suffered thusly and has called us to follow in His example. This, I believe, is the meaning of Paul's words in Romans 8:... if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory. Rom 8:17 AMP Based upon both Paul and Peter, we can say that God calls us to suffer because of our identify with and commitment to Christ. Sadly, in our culture of gratification, this fundamental aspect of discipleship is rarely emphasized. Now, let me ask this further question: If, as Paul states, we are to follow Christ in His suffering in order that we may share His glory, what does this glory look like, at least in terms that we can understand? I think Peter gives us a fundamental answer with the last verse in this passage: He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24 The nature of sin is not merely that we do bad stuff -- stuff that is contrary to God's will. More profoundly, the essence of sin is the deeper root that we have described repeatedly over the years as being characterized by self-centeredness. The essence of the fall was Adam and Eve buying into Satan's lie that if they ate of the fruit from the forbidden tree, they could become like God -- self-sufficient and lord over their own lives. The essence of this attitude and nature is self-centeredness. Now, here is vital point: we are not merely sometimes self-centered. We are not fairly self-centered or, at times, even very self-centered. Rather, we are utterly and totally selfcentered. That is, a cardinal belief of our Christian faith is the doctrine of our total depravity. Whether you and I fully comprehend it or not, we are self-centered through and through in our natural state apart from Christ. If you don't believe this, sincerely ask Christ to make it clear to you, and He will, painful though it may be!

And it is just here that these words from Peter come in to play. "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." Yes, salvation gains us heaven; but salvation is more profound in that Christ died to heal us -- to reclaim us -- from our totally depraved selfcenteredness in order to recreate us in His own likeness -- For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren.... Rom 8:29 Our salvation is ultimately about our becoming more and more conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ, and God, in His sovereign grace, will spare no experience of suffering or refining that He knows potentially can purge away the self-centered ugliness in our lives and refine us to become more and more in the image of health and wholeness represented by His firstborn Son. Thus, our salvation is as much about our healing as whole persons as it is our attaining heaven! "By His stripes we are healed!" Aren't you glad that our salvation goes to the root of our sin problem, that ultimately we might participate in God's glory, whatever this may mean?!!!! One of the best ways to illustrate this principle of the refiner's fire that burns away our sinful depravity is represented by the marriage relationship. Indeed, marriage is the joining of two self-centered people in the most intimate human relationship that can be experienced. Yet, the reality is that their self-centeredness will inevitably collide and conflict. Unless they become more and more Christ-centered, the marriage will reach an impasse and end either in divorce or in merely co-existing together. But it is in this context that God refines us and deals with our radical self-centeredness. I believe this is what Jesus meant when He commanded His disciples: If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's shall save it. 36 "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 "For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Mark 8:34-37 The title of a marriage counseling book sums this up succinctly: How to Act Right When Your Spouse Acts Wrong. These words of Jesus are not about making life miserable for us; rather, He knows that true life is found in our being Christ-centered rather than self-centered. And if we are truly to experience this reality, the old self needs to die; thus, we need to passionately cry out to Jesus to fill us with the dynamic power of His own life and to transform us away from the old to the new. So, God allows "suffering," whether in marriage or other circumstances, where we have the opportunity to either default back into our old nature's self-centeredness, or to learn Christ-likeness, by faith, by dying to that old self in the enabling power of the Spirit. In this context, we are seeing many marriages in the larger body of Christ hitting the wall. With rare exception, it is because one or both spouses want to cling to their old, selfcentered manner of living rather than dying to self and trusting God with their ultimate happiness. But whether in the context of marriage or other challenging situations, the fundamental goal of our salvation is that we might die to this sin principle of self-centeredness and

become conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. If we do not understand this, then we at best have a shallow understanding of the true nature of our salvation. So, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? Hebrews 12:7 In this context, Fred Sanders writes: Discipline always looks to the future. God is a farmer who ploughs up our hearts in preparation for the harvest; but he also is a sports coach who sees our potential fitness in his service... while discipline may be painful (suffering), it is also temporary. It also serves as a reminder that discipline belongs to this life only, as John Owen wisely wrote: "There is no chastisement in heaven, nor in hell. Not in heaven, because there is no sin; not in hell, because there is no amendment." Indeed, this mortal life is profoundly important, in that it is our preparation for all of eternity. This life is where the fundamental question is answered: Will we bow to the Lordship of Christ, or will we cling to control of our self-centered lives? Another way to ask this same question is this: "Will we, by faith, trust that God is Love, and that He is sovereign over our circumstances and is able to cause all things to work ultimately for our good?" Job, who suffered perhaps more than any person in the Bible, asked: "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" Not once through all this did Job sin. He said nothing against God. Job 2:10 NAS/Message If we cannot trust that God is sovereign over our circumstances and has our best interests at heart, then we will be unwilling to lay down our lives and die to self. We must be convinced, like Job, that... momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor 4:17-18 That is, what we let go of in terms of our self-centered grip on our lives is not even worthy of comparison with what Christ has for us in all of eternity. This has been the common experience of the saints down through the ages, and God is not going to exempt our generation of Christians from this necessary, refining aspect of our salvation process. The eternal weight of glory is related to our son-ship as joint heirs with Christ. Suffering is the refiner's fire that burns away the dross and forms us more and more into the likeness of Christ. So Peter writes: Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. 1 Peter 4:19 This suffering is a primary dynamic of God's school of faith that purges away our selfcenteredness and progressively conforms us to the likeness of Christ, if we cooperate with Him by faith. This is suffering which is according to the will of God. But, we might ask, how much of our suffering is because of our own foolish choices and failures to obey the Lord as we should have? Maybe we suffer in our marriage because of our stubborn selfishness. Maybe because of our failure as parents, at least in part, our children are wayward and causing us grief. Maybe because of our financial irresponsibility we are in trouble. Maybe because of our poor attitude on the job, we are in a difficult relationship with our employer. The list could go on. But even when we "suffer" because of our own self-centered stubbornness and poor decisions, if we repent and submit ourselves to His discipline, God can use it for good. So Peter writes: Humble

yourselves (repent), therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you... knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. 10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 11 To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:6-7, 9-11 As many among us are experiencing various difficult trials and situations, let us have the same attitude as Joseph and Job, understanding that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God... for whom He foreknew He also predestined in order to conform us to the likeness of Christ, that He might become the firstborn among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Rom 8:28-30 As sons and daughters of God, we cannot conceive of the amazing inheritance that we are to experience as "joint heirs with Christ." Will we be like Esau in settling for a measly bowl of the stew of this world in exchange for our heavenly birthright, or will we join the great cloud of witnesses listed in Hebrews 11 who... desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. Heb 11:16 Pray with me. "Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can call you Father as your adopted sons and daughters. And we thank You that we can trust You as our loving and sovereign Father to literally cause all things to work together for the ultimate good of our becoming conformed to the likeness of our elder brother, Jesus Christ. Help each of us to become so caught up in this vision of our being Your sons and daughters who are to share in what, for now, is an incomprehensible glory, that our love and affection for the things of this world will simply melt away. And, Lord, the hardest thing for each of us, without exception, is to let go of our self-centered grip upon our own lives. Indeed, may we increasingly learn to humbles ourselves under Your might hand, trusting that You always have our best interests at heart, and trusting you to perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish us in all Your will for our lives. We cannot accomplish this in our own strength; we cry out for Your sovereign grace in the power of Your Spirit to accomplish these things within us. We pray in Christ Jesus. Amen."