https://www.angelfire.com/mi2/robhenderson/
robnaomi@oceana.net
Ephesians 1:3-14
On a country road in Indiana one February Sunday afternoon my family and I were cruising back to Michigan after a visit to Indiana Wesleyan University. As we channel surfed on the radio we come across the song re-popularized by Whitney Houston called “I Will Always Love You.” The song concluded and then the interesting story unfolded. The announcer of the radio program said that this song was requested by “Linda” and dedicated to her son and his new adoptive parents.
My wife and I sat quiet for several moments and let the reality of the situation sink into our hearts. I can only imagine the circumstance: A young woman who found herself pregnant and without hope. How was she going to care for a child when she could scarcely care for herself? Was she someone who was hardly a teenager? Maybe she came from a strict home and had brought shame on the family? Was she violated and could not bear the thought of raising a child that was ill conceived? Somehow and someway she came to the place that some have come: giving her child up for adoption. The decision was not easy and nor would it ever leave her heart and mind the rest of her life. And now all she could really do in the closing chapter of this part of her life was to dedicate a song to her son and his new parents- “I Will Always Love You.”
Tragically, though, the adoption process in our country is not so easy. There are thousands of children each year needing homes to live in and parents to love them. This is not counting the countless children world-wide who suffer the consequences of wars that they did not create. Over the entire world there seems to be a crying need.
A growing segment in our country is the childless couple. Husbands and wives who are physically unable to conceive children have been frustrated over the lack of children available for adoption. The question that begs to be asked is what about the thirty million plus children who have been legally aborted since 1973. What I don’t understand is how can the state of Missouri vote and elect a dead man for U.S. Senator and at the same time deny that the fetus in a woman’s womb is not a human being? On one hand our governement promotes adoption but then out of the other side of its mouth promotes the killing of pre-born children. As Christians we need to work to see that every child, born or unborn, is a loved and wanted child. Don’t abort- adopt!
And then there is another kind of adoption that needs to take place in our world. The adoption that happened when God called each one of us from the masses to be saved.
Folks, we were slaves to sin. We were wanderers in a foreign land. But because of the precious blood of Jesus Christ we have become heirs to an inheritance that we don’t deserve. Each one us were at one time “the least of these.”
One of my favorite Mark Twain books was “The Prince and the Pauper.” In the book, two identical looking boys- one a son of the king and another the son of a beggar family- traded places. What wonderful new experiences for the boy in rags.
But you see the difference. We are not simply trading places with someone else. We have been made royalty by adoption.
I would like to answer three question about your adoption by God:
1. What does it mean to be adopted?
Adoption is an act by God declaring that the one who receives Jesus Christ by faith is now accepted into the family of God.
You see, our faith in Christ changes our staus with God. Now longer am I at war with God but peace has been made. “It is finished! The battle is over!” “I once was lost but now I am found.” My faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has given me the right to be a child of God. My status with God has been changed.
Not only that, but our status with God changes our outlook on life. We have called to live holy and blameless lives. No longer do I feed on the husks of yesterday’s Egypt but I enjoy the fruits of the Spirit in Canaan. No longer am I living a life in darkness but walking in the light as He is in the light. My outlook on life has changed.
And our outlook on life causes us to live by faith. Remember those words that Paul spoke of in Romans? The just shall live by faith. Our righteous living can only happen when we live by faith.
What does it mean to be adopted? I am God’s child and I should never have any reason to fear.
The term Paul uses for adoption is a legal term that describes a legal act that gives the adopted son or daughter all of the rights that blood-born child would receive. God takes adoption seriously. And not only did He choose you He adopted you when you chose Him.
2. What are the Benefits of Adoption?
There are several but let me highlight a couple.
One privilege of adoption by God is that I am a part of the family of God.
Sure, we all belong to the human family, and that’s wonderful and fuzzy feeling. But we have a more serious situation to consider: our adoption out of the human family and into the family of God.
Let’s not blur the lines. There is a distinct difference between being a member of the human race and the family of God. Paul writes that “God predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ.” If you name the name of Jesus Christ and have accepted him as your Lord and Savior you have been adopted by God.
The second privilege is that I can have a childlike confidence in God. I can go to God anytime. Suppose someone really hurts me? I have the right to go to my Heavenly Father.
“When I hurt he is there to pick me up.
When I am dry He fills my cup.
When the world is rushing past
God is there: Only His love will last.”
And a third privilege is that I have a hope for eternal life. God has promised before the beginning of time that I would spend eternity with Him. When we face death or ill-health or trouble we know that one day all of this will be different.
3. How do I know that I am adopted?
How do I know that I am saved? What gives me the confidence so that I can draw nigh unto God?
Look at the last part of verse thirteen. “Having believed, you were marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit...”
What does this seal mean?
The Holy Spirit is Himself the seal. 1) This seal signifies a finished transaction. The price has been paid in full. 2) The Holy Spirit now has ownership and now takes possession. 3) We have security. The Holy Spirit is the “deposit guaranteeing our inheritance...” I don’t need to worry about God backing out of His promise. You might say that this is preposterous but I will tell you that this only further proves God’s desire for us.
And folks, this is eternal security! Why? Because the Holy Spirit has sealed us. And nobody can pluck us from the Father’s hand. In the words of EV Hill: “Satan has to get permission to touch me!” I may try to walk away, I may run away, but God will come after me. Is it possible to pull myself out of God’s hand? Of course. But who would want to?
What does all of this mean?
There was a wayward young man who was sampling what life had to offer. He dabbled here and experimented there. Life at home was hell. No love, no security, no peace. One day he found himself without anywhere to live. He was a runaway child lost in the dark- literally.
And then something happened. God stepped in. Everything around him was confusing and messed-up. He was put into a Christian home. His new family loved him but there was something missing. And then Jesus found him.
And so, twenty-two years ago today I knelt and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I will never forget that moment nor that day nor what happened.
My life was changed. My faith was sealed. My heart transformed.
