Our Adoption (Ephesians 1:5-6)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.520 If you're able to remain standing, please do and let's turn our attention to 2 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:14.070 Ephesians chapter one. So Fusians one, I'm going to read verses three through 3 00:00:15.750 --> 00:00:21.620 fourteen, but a sermon this evening will focus particularly on some words in verses 4 00:00:21.820 --> 00:00:27.539 for through six. Let's give our attention to God's word here. Effusions one, 5 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:34.020 chapter three. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord, Jesus 6 00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:38.649 Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly 7 00:00:38.729 --> 00:00:43.530 places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, 8 00:00:43.929 --> 00:00:47.689 that we should be holly and blameless before him. In love, he 9 00:00:47.810 --> 00:00:52.479 predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of 10 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:56.799 his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed 11 00:00:56.840 --> 00:01:00.359 us in the beloved in Him, we have redemption through his blood, the 12 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:06.469 forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace which he lavished upon 13 00:01:06.549 --> 00:01:08.870 us, and all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of 14 00:01:08.950 --> 00:01:14.230 his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as 15 00:01:14.310 --> 00:01:18.069 a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things 16 00:01:18.150 --> 00:01:23.019 in heaven and things on earth. In Him we have obtained in an inheritance 17 00:01:23.739 --> 00:01:29.260 having been predestined and according to the purpose of him who works all things according 18 00:01:29.260 --> 00:01:32.700 to the counsel of his will, so that we, who were the first 19 00:01:32.700 --> 00:01:36.329 to hope in Christ, might be to the praise of his glory. In 20 00:01:36.450 --> 00:01:40.450 Him. You also, when you heard the word of truth, the Gospel 21 00:01:40.489 --> 00:01:45.890 of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 22 00:01:46.689 --> 00:01:51.079 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, 23 00:01:51.760 --> 00:02:01.430 to the praise of his glory. Amen, he may be seated. So 24 00:02:01.590 --> 00:02:07.789 why do we praise God? Why do we praise God? Why? Why 25 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:13.509 aren't we to be thankful to God? That everyone is right. Not everyone 26 00:02:13.509 --> 00:02:16.539 who is thankful. Not everyone praises him back. Many, many people don't. 27 00:02:17.659 --> 00:02:23.740 Many people don't give God a second thought. And yet here the Apostle 28 00:02:23.099 --> 00:02:29.939 Paul, begins this passage, this section of his letter to the church in 29 00:02:30.009 --> 00:02:36.569 ephesis by saying this word of praise, blessed be the God and father of 30 00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:40.650 our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus 31 00:02:40.689 --> 00:02:45.879 Christ. Why? Well, because he is blessed us in Christ with every 32 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:51.120 spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And he goes on from there, from 33 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:55.599 verse to verse, to verse to verse, opening up these treasures for us, 34 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:01.990 helping us to understand what it is that we have been given as Christians 35 00:03:02.949 --> 00:03:08.590 and therefore why we ought to praise God, why we ought to be thankful, 36 00:03:08.629 --> 00:03:13.460 why we ought to bless his name, why we ought to walk in 37 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:16.460 love, many other things. That lots and lots of implications. Of these 38 00:03:16.539 --> 00:03:23.219 things. He's opening up our hearts, and one reason is to be a 39 00:03:23.340 --> 00:03:30.610 more thankful and more Praiseworthy People. If you ever find yourself with ingratitude and 40 00:03:30.849 --> 00:03:37.129 a kind of ungrateful slump, this is a good passage to read, effusions 41 00:03:37.289 --> 00:03:44.319 one three through fourteen, because here he reminds us, God reminds us of 42 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:51.719 what he has done for us, what he has done for us. Now. 43 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:55.750 The thought begins in verse three, where he says, even as he 44 00:03:57.150 --> 00:04:00.110 chose us, rather a verse four, even as he chose us in him 45 00:04:00.870 --> 00:04:05.870 before the foundation of the world, that we should be holly and blameless before 46 00:04:05.909 --> 00:04:13.099 him. Tonight we focus on this next passage and where he continues this where 47 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:17.339 he says in love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus is Christ 48 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:21.660 according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace 49 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:30.769 with which he has blessed us in the beloved he chose us before the foundation 50 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:39.319 of the world. He picked us out. He put his purposes on us, 51 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:43.519 is what he is saying. And that happened before we were even born, 52 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:49.800 before the world was even born. God did something, God chose something. 53 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:57.629 He he chose, he chose us. Now he expresses a similar thought 54 00:04:57.670 --> 00:05:02.949 when he says he now predestined us. Some people hear this word and immediately 55 00:05:03.870 --> 00:05:10.220 get chills a little bit. But is there anything in this passage? Is 56 00:05:11.060 --> 00:05:15.819 there anything in the word of God which should make you feel nervous about the 57 00:05:15.899 --> 00:05:21.089 word predestined? Is there anything cold or unloving here? That's just the opposite. 58 00:05:21.129 --> 00:05:30.089 It says in love he predestined us. There's nothing cold or callous, 59 00:05:30.209 --> 00:05:36.639 there's nothing cruel here, it says. God says in love he predestined us, 60 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:43.279 and then he has six different phrases to help us understand this. Paul 61 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:46.439 slow goes down on this gift a little bit. Before he says he chose 62 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:50.949 us in order that we might be wholly and blameless before him. Now he 63 00:05:51.110 --> 00:05:57.670 says he predestined us for something else, and he explains what what that thing 64 00:05:57.829 --> 00:06:01.589 is. The word predestined is similar to chosen. It's a little different. 65 00:06:02.589 --> 00:06:08.500 It means in Greek basically what it does in English, which means appointed or 66 00:06:08.980 --> 00:06:14.980 marked for something, marked for a particular purpose, but here it means marked 67 00:06:15.100 --> 00:06:21.730 beforehand, right, predestined for something. It is probably related to a noun 68 00:06:21.769 --> 00:06:28.490 which means a marker. Dr Steve Bab points this out in his commentary where 69 00:06:28.490 --> 00:06:31.649 he says this. It's probably related to like a boundary marker. That what 70 00:06:31.769 --> 00:06:35.959 you would have for a land right, as a way to mark your property 71 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:42.680 off. You would use this thing to market, you would appoint this line 72 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:47.110 in a way, as a way to designate and and show that this thing 73 00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:53.709 belongs to you. Well, the word predestined is is similar to this word 74 00:06:53.870 --> 00:07:00.790 marker. It's you are being marked. The Bible says appointed and, more 75 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:09.819 than that, pre appointed or predestined for for something. That's something. What 76 00:07:09.899 --> 00:07:16.250 we're going to focus on tonight. What is the something? This predestination is 77 00:07:16.610 --> 00:07:20.610 broken up, we might say into two halves. First, the thing we 78 00:07:20.649 --> 00:07:28.850 are predestined for, namely adoption as sons through Christ or through Jesus Christ. 79 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:33.639 The second three things describe of the ground of it, according to the purpose 80 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:42.399 of his will, or, I'm sorry, yes, according to the purpose 81 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.389 of his will, and then the reason, to the praise of his glorious 82 00:07:46.110 --> 00:07:51.870 grace. Want to focus on that first part, adoption, adoption to himself, 83 00:07:51.949 --> 00:08:00.259 adoption to himself as sons through Jesus, through Jesus Christ. What is 84 00:08:00.259 --> 00:08:03.779 adoption? Well, we probably know what adoption is. Some of you in 85 00:08:03.860 --> 00:08:09.819 this room have been adopted, some of you have adopted or you know people 86 00:08:09.819 --> 00:08:16.490 who have been adopted, and adoption in the Greek Roman world of Ephesus is 87 00:08:16.569 --> 00:08:24.009 similar in many ways to adoption today. Adoption is when you bring someone into 88 00:08:24.009 --> 00:08:30.439 your family that didn't previously belong. Now they become a part of that family 89 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:37.840 in which they weren't before. But there are also some significant differences between adoption 90 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:43.350 back then and adoption now that are worth pointing out. One because it helps 91 00:08:43.389 --> 00:08:46.990 us to understand what Paul means when he says adoption. Right, we want 92 00:08:46.990 --> 00:08:52.070 to be careful about reading modern things back into earlier things. So what does 93 00:08:52.269 --> 00:08:58.539 Paul mean when he says adoption? Well, there are some significant, Soni. 94 00:08:58.580 --> 00:09:05.580 Significant differences between adoption then an adoption now. One interesting thing is that 95 00:09:05.620 --> 00:09:11.809 adoption to a household was in some ways bigger than we often think of it 96 00:09:11.970 --> 00:09:16.570 now. When we think about adopting someone into our family, for example, 97 00:09:16.690 --> 00:09:22.289 most of us, hopefully none of us, don't own slaves. This wouldn't 98 00:09:22.289 --> 00:09:26.080 be the case in the household of an ancient world. There would likely be 99 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:31.759 slaves and other people who belonged to that household. So to become a part 100 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:39.070 of something meant becoming a part of something bigger, a part of something bigger, 101 00:09:39.389 --> 00:09:43.029 and that's not so much important just in of itself that it's a bigger 102 00:09:43.029 --> 00:09:46.110 thing, but you'll see why it's important a little bit later. One of 103 00:09:46.149 --> 00:09:52.779 the other differences is that adoption was that there are there are these various Greek 104 00:09:52.820 --> 00:09:56.179 words in the ways that you adopt. So, for example, you can 105 00:09:56.580 --> 00:10:01.100 adopt a child. That's a word that we have in Greek. It's one 106 00:10:01.139 --> 00:10:05.220 word, but we also have these other words adopt as a daughter or adopt 107 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:09.049 as a son. There are sort of specific words for these things. You 108 00:10:09.169 --> 00:10:13.129 can speak neutrally about it or you can be specific as to the gender. 109 00:10:13.049 --> 00:10:20.250 Paul is specific here. He says you are adopted as sons, and that's 110 00:10:20.289 --> 00:10:26.240 important because in our society, and American Society, we have inheritance still, 111 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:31.120 but not to the same degree that they did back then and not with the 112 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:35.990 same structure and same rules and ways in which inheritance and households, in the 113 00:10:37.070 --> 00:10:41.309 passing down of things, was really locked into the law and to society and 114 00:10:41.429 --> 00:10:46.269 very deep ways. And the way that worked is that when a father who 115 00:10:46.429 --> 00:10:50.980 was the ruler of the household, the women, the children, the slaves, 116 00:10:50.340 --> 00:10:54.340 the property, everything, and was the decision maker and the owner of 117 00:10:54.539 --> 00:11:01.059 those things, when the father died, he would pass that household and all 118 00:11:01.179 --> 00:11:05.769 of that. That was on too and an air. Now, in some 119 00:11:05.970 --> 00:11:09.409 cases you would not have an error, as you might imagine, how you 120 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:15.009 might be a father who, for whatever reason, doesn't have a son and 121 00:11:15.090 --> 00:11:18.159 so you wouldn't pass on, you wouldn't be able to pass on that household. 122 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:22.679 Well, the household wasn't just the right to rule, it wasn't just 123 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:26.759 the people and property that belonged to that household, but it was even more 124 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:33.789 than that. It also included things like titles, honor and society, perhaps 125 00:11:33.830 --> 00:11:37.710 even citizenship and things like that. So if you didn't have a son, 126 00:11:37.870 --> 00:11:41.909 this would be a sad thing in a way. You would not be able 127 00:11:41.990 --> 00:11:46.750 to pass on your household and all of it had been earned and grown over 128 00:11:46.870 --> 00:11:50.299 the years would perhaps disappear. So what do you do? Well, what 129 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:56.220 they often did is they would go and look for someone to adopt. They 130 00:11:56.259 --> 00:12:01.610 would go often to their extended family members and find a nephew over here or 131 00:12:01.649 --> 00:12:05.210 an uncle over there, or some probably not an uncle, but someone below 132 00:12:05.210 --> 00:12:11.370 you that you could adopt into the household as a son, right, so 133 00:12:11.570 --> 00:12:16.399 that you could then pass everything down to. Now I want you to imagine 134 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:22.440 yourself as the powder Familius, the family right. Imagine that you don't have 135 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:26.159 a son, don't have an air to pass down, and now you are 136 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:31.309 going to look for someone to give a to pass down, to give this 137 00:12:31.509 --> 00:12:37.149 inheritance to. Who would you look for? That's my question. Who are 138 00:12:37.190 --> 00:12:41.190 you going to look for? I know what I would do if I had 139 00:12:41.269 --> 00:12:46.980 worked hard and I had myself been granted various privileges and wealth and whatever, 140 00:12:48.220 --> 00:12:50.860 no matter how poor I was or how rich I was, no matter how 141 00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:56.659 honorable I was or not, whatever I had, I would pat want to 142 00:12:56.740 --> 00:13:03.970 pass on to the best possible person, right, somebody honorable, somebody with 143 00:13:03.090 --> 00:13:07.970 integrity, somebody who's not going to squander everything that he had been given. 144 00:13:09.009 --> 00:13:13.320 I would want to pass on my household to someone who would take care of 145 00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:16.799 my family, who take care of his brothers and his sisters, who would 146 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:22.799 take care of the people and maybe even the slaves in the household, somebody 147 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:26.470 who would do a good job. Maybe I would even try to find somebody 148 00:13:26.470 --> 00:13:31.029 who could help lift my household up a little bit, if I could find 149 00:13:31.070 --> 00:13:35.149 somebody who's maybe a slightly higher status than me or who had money himself or 150 00:13:35.470 --> 00:13:41.259 could bring something into the family. Even better. Right, this is who 151 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:50.700 I would pick and no doubt who you would pick. Two. So who 152 00:13:50.779 --> 00:13:58.970 did God pick? Who did God pick when he predestined us for adoption as 153 00:14:00.169 --> 00:14:05.409 sons through Jesus Christ? Now, it's significant that he says as sons, 154 00:14:05.490 --> 00:14:09.080 that they we are adopted as sons, because it's only the son that receives 155 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:16.080 the air. This is significant to you if you're a woman. What he's 156 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:24.080 saying is that women and children and slaves and Jews and gentiles and everyone. 157 00:14:24.470 --> 00:14:28.750 People that were often excluded are now being brought in, and not just being 158 00:14:28.870 --> 00:14:33.070 brought in as a freed person, not just being brought in as a general 159 00:14:33.309 --> 00:14:39.500 family member, but are being brought in as sons, and not just sons 160 00:14:39.620 --> 00:14:46.100 in general but, as we read elsewhere, coairs with his natural born son, 161 00:14:46.220 --> 00:14:54.250 Jesus Christ. That's an extremely significant thing. Who of US would go 162 00:14:54.929 --> 00:15:00.409 outside of our family if we had one son that was to receive everything and 163 00:15:01.090 --> 00:15:03.769 bring someone else in so that he they could share it with that son, 164 00:15:05.649 --> 00:15:16.279 especially when that son is God himself, to be co heirs with God of 165 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:22.750 everything, as he says in verse ten. This was all as a plan 166 00:15:22.950 --> 00:15:26.110 for the fullness of time to unite all things in himself, things in heaven 167 00:15:26.149 --> 00:15:31.509 and things on earth. We are given and, as we will continue to 168 00:15:31.590 --> 00:15:35.700 see in Ephesians, this great gift through Christ, through whom we are made 169 00:15:35.899 --> 00:15:43.299 co heirs with as sons, whether you are male or female, honorable or 170 00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:50.809 dishonorable. In fact, we read throughout the scriptures that God did not pick 171 00:15:50.570 --> 00:15:56.889 what was honorable and well bred and wealthy to be adopted as sons in his 172 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:06.399 family. Who did he draw? I'm drawing again from Dr Ba he summarizes 173 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:11.960 these things from various parts in scripture. Romans seven, he did not draw 174 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:17.600 those who deserved anything good. From First Corinthians one hundred and twenty six through 175 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:21.070 thirty, he did not draw the wellborn, the powerful or the wise. 176 00:16:21.549 --> 00:16:25.350 Instead, we read it in Ephesians two three that he drew people who were 177 00:16:26.629 --> 00:16:33.059 not just not natural born, but who were children of Wrath. Orphesians five, 178 00:16:33.179 --> 00:16:40.139 six and eight, sons of disobedience, Romans five, six through ten, 179 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:45.659 helpless, wicked, sinful enemies, people who were captured by darkness, 180 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:52.690 who walked in evil, who followed the passions of their flesh. To quote 181 00:16:55.929 --> 00:17:00.799 our professor, he says it surpasses even the unthinkable idea of a Roman emperor 182 00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:08.480 adopting a slave from the most barbaric hinterlands to be the next emperor. It's 183 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:17.789 beyond that. Imagine being the Great Emperor of an entire Roman Empire, with 184 00:17:17.910 --> 00:17:22.750 a natural born son and maybe even several in your household, extended family and 185 00:17:22.750 --> 00:17:25.269 all the rest. And he says, you know what I think I'll do? 186 00:17:26.309 --> 00:17:30.299 I'll go away, far away to the edges of the empire and even 187 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:37.339 beyond to some non citizens, some grubby non Roman and I'm gonna pick that 188 00:17:37.619 --> 00:17:42.019 person who is my enemy, who hates me, who isn't honorable, who 189 00:17:42.140 --> 00:17:47.089 is lowest in Societe, and I'm going to make him the next emperor. 190 00:17:48.089 --> 00:17:52.130 How do you think that would go over? But that is exactly what God 191 00:17:52.289 --> 00:17:59.160 does with us. He doesn't pick loving, loyal citizens of his kingdom. 192 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:04.039 He picks children of Wrath, sons of disobedience, people that are messed up 193 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:08.640 and in all kinds of trouble and constantly commit treason against him as the Lord 194 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:14.190 and King of the universe. And he then says, I am going to 195 00:18:14.750 --> 00:18:26.539 predestine you for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. Why? Not because of 196 00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:30.099 anything good in us, but according to the purpose of his will, to 197 00:18:30.140 --> 00:18:37.539 the praise of what his glorious grace. How else could you explain it? 198 00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:44.049 There's no other explanation. But he doesn't just take these wild, vile people 199 00:18:44.250 --> 00:18:48.609 and bring them into his household and the say have fun, I'm done here. 200 00:18:48.529 --> 00:18:52.369 No, he changes US IN A way. What does it say? 201 00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:57.880 He chooses us to be holy and blameless. He makes us as if we 202 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:06.519 were natural born sons. He changes us, he causes us to be born 203 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:12.509 again. He does what no human father could ever do. He predestines us 204 00:19:12.630 --> 00:19:18.470 for this thing and then he makes it happen. He causes us to die 205 00:19:18.710 --> 00:19:26.140 a death to our sins in Christ and to raise again by the power of 206 00:19:26.299 --> 00:19:33.980 his love and his righteousness. This is what God has given to you. 207 00:19:36.059 --> 00:19:41.130 He's taken you and adopted you as his son, to give you, as 208 00:19:41.170 --> 00:19:47.049 he says in Verse Fourteen, and inheritance, even his holy spirit, as 209 00:19:47.130 --> 00:19:52.240 the promise of that inheritance, until we require acquire the possession of it. 210 00:19:55.839 --> 00:20:00.400 This is what the Lord has given to everyone who has heard this good news 211 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:04.759 and believed it, who has heard about his son, Jesus Christ, who 212 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:11.750 is come into the world to secure this position for us, who is done 213 00:20:11.950 --> 00:20:21.029 this great work of salvation, to adopt us as his son's, capable and 214 00:20:21.150 --> 00:20:30.539 worthy of inheritance. Let this testimony, this word of God about what he 215 00:20:30.579 --> 00:20:38.410 has done in the world, entice you. If you are yet living on 216 00:20:38.529 --> 00:20:49.200 the hinterlands of and among the barbarians, spiritually speaking, and you are seeing 217 00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:53.559 people around you, friends and family members of yours, zipped off into the 218 00:20:53.640 --> 00:21:00.160 Kingdom of light, being adopted into the household of God, are you going 219 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:06.230 to stand there and not even ask a few questions. What's going on? 220 00:21:07.349 --> 00:21:11.750 How can this be? Who is this God? Who is this Jesus? 221 00:21:11.829 --> 00:21:17.670 Jerry Farnick, one of our missionaries in the Czech Republic, tells the story 222 00:21:17.789 --> 00:21:22.500 that I always remembered. He said that when he was in the Czech Republic 223 00:21:22.579 --> 00:21:26.539 during the communist days, there was this common experience that everyone had, which 224 00:21:26.539 --> 00:21:30.740 is if you saw a long line, no matter what, you would go 225 00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:36.569 get in that line because you knew at the end of it would be strawberries 226 00:21:36.769 --> 00:21:41.690 or linen's or something that would be there for a few weeks and then would 227 00:21:41.690 --> 00:21:48.000 disappear. Resources and commodities and things were very unpredictable and very hard to come 228 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:51.200 by, and so if you saw a big line at people, you would 229 00:21:51.240 --> 00:21:59.519 just go get in it. When we hear not only that there's a line, 230 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.349 so to speak, that there's interest and things are happening among us in 231 00:22:03.390 --> 00:22:07.750 the world, the people are being adopted into the family of God, and 232 00:22:08.829 --> 00:22:12.269 when we hear that there's not even a line, you don't even have to 233 00:22:12.509 --> 00:22:18.460 wait, but that God freely accepts us at any moment when we put our 234 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:22.140 faith in him, that he draws us into his family, that he makes 235 00:22:22.180 --> 00:22:23.980 us as his own and gives us all the things that we've heard about. 236 00:22:25.019 --> 00:22:29.900 Are we going to pass by that opportunity? Are we going to walk by 237 00:22:30.130 --> 00:22:36.130 and say, well, I'm busy today. How can we when this is 238 00:22:36.210 --> 00:22:41.849 what is being promised to us? Will you not at least be intrigued? 239 00:22:41.529 --> 00:22:48.200 Will you not at least ask a few questions and find out more, because 240 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:55.519 the invitation to become sons of God is open to all? And if you 241 00:22:55.680 --> 00:23:02.430 have already arrived in the heavenly city, if you already belong to the household 242 00:23:02.470 --> 00:23:07.589 of God, will you not bless your heavenly father? Will you not rejoice 243 00:23:07.750 --> 00:23:12.500 in him and walk in his ways? Will you not wait in the hope 244 00:23:12.579 --> 00:23:18.019 of the revelation of all of these things? Will you not live your life 245 00:23:18.099 --> 00:23:22.259 on the basis of these promises and let the Good News of the Gospel be 246 00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:30.730 precious to you? If it is, if they are, it will change 247 00:23:30.730 --> 00:23:34.329 you. The Gospel of God, this good news that we've been hearing, 248 00:23:34.369 --> 00:23:38.890 is the power of God and to salvation to all who believe, to the 249 00:23:38.930 --> 00:23:42.680 Jew first and also to the gentile, to the slave and to the free, 250 00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:47.160 to men and to women, to young and to old, to honorable 251 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:52.240 and dishonorable to every one. Jesus Christ came into the world to save the 252 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:59.390 world. No classes, no distinctions. All of us have open access into 253 00:23:59.430 --> 00:24:03.549 the family and household of God, in which he promises to give us all 254 00:24:03.630 --> 00:24:10.819 things and every spiritual blessing. There's so many more implications of these things. 255 00:24:10.900 --> 00:24:15.660 When we think about our self worth, do not these kinds of things apply? 256 00:24:15.900 --> 00:24:18.819 When we think about the worth of other people, people that may be 257 00:24:18.980 --> 00:24:26.529 were struggling to love, do not these things apply? It's one thing to 258 00:24:26.569 --> 00:24:30.970 be born in the image of God, which all mankind is. It's another 259 00:24:30.089 --> 00:24:36.650 thing to be born after the spirit and to be brought into the household of 260 00:24:36.769 --> 00:24:41.079 God. There are people that we are cohers with, that we may not 261 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:45.119 necessarily like, that we struggle to get along with, that we struggle to 262 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:51.279 deal with. Will Not it help to remember who they are in Jesus, 263 00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:56.549 to remember that they have been given this gift even as we have? We 264 00:24:56.630 --> 00:25:00.869 could go on all night, but I want to encourage you to meditate on 265 00:25:00.910 --> 00:25:06.950 these things, meditate on these truths, think about the ways in which they 266 00:25:06.950 --> 00:25:15.099 apply in your life. What does it mean to you to be a son 267 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:22.569 of God? What does it mean to you that you have received an inheritance 268 00:25:22.690 --> 00:25:30.569 that is undefiled, unfading. I'm kept in heaven for you. What does 269 00:25:30.609 --> 00:25:36.319 that mean to you? How will that affect the way you live, the 270 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:41.640 way you walk, the way you believe? Let's think about those things. 271 00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:45.559 Let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask for his blessing.