Tonight we are finishing
our study of Paul's account of Jesus' birth. In these verses Paul tells
us why the gift of Jesus Christ is such a perfect gift. And the reason
is two-fold. First God gave us the gift of his son to redeem us from
the slavery of sin. Secondly, as we will see tonight, it is to bring
us into God's family.
It is said that there is something special about being adopted. Although
most births are planned, I'm sure some of you were told by your parents
that your birth was an accident. Some of you may have even been told
that your birth was not a welcomed event. But that can never be said
about an adopted baby.
In order to adopt a baby, you have to go through a long process. And
in most cases you have to pay a lot of money. But the time & money it
takes to adopt a child is worth it in order for that child to be given
an identity and love.
Can you imagine the blessing it is for a baby to be raised by parents
who love them just as if they were their own? Can you know imagine the
blessing it is for you to be adopted by our heavenly Father? Because
of our sin nature our spiritual father at birth is Satan. But he doesn't
want to raise us. All he wants to do is to get us trapped in sin, and
then he abandons us and leaves us as spiritual orphans. He throws us
out in the streets to die in our sins.
But God, in his grace, took the necessary steps to adopt us into his
family. He paid the costly adoption price by coming to this earth in
the form of Jesus Christ just so he could go to the cross 33 yrs. later.
Jesus did this because we are in desperate need of a spiritual Father
who loves us unconditionally.
In the beginning, Adam & Eve were created in the image of God. And everything
they did perfectly reflected God's holy character. But the moment they
sinned, sin became a part of our nature. So now God's image in us is
distorted. Every time we sin, we don't give an accurate picture of what
God is really like.
But just because we sin doesn't mean that God no longer loves us. It
just means that instead of being the perfect children God wants us to
be, we are more like the Prodigal son Jesus told a parable about. In
the parable, found in Luke
15:18-24, Jesus tells us about a son who spent all his inheritance
on sinful living. But one day, when he was eating pig slop, he realized
how much better he had it back home. So he decided to go back home.
And on the way home he rehearses what he was going to say: "Father,
I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy
to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men."
The son knew that even his father's servants had it better that he currently
did. Jesus went on to tell us that despite how sinful the son had become,
his father still loved him. The parable continues by telling us that
while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled
with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him
and kissed him. then father said to his servants, "Quick! Bring the
best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on
his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and
celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was
lost and is found."
When you come back to God, no matter how far you've strayed away from
him, he's going to restore you as his child, not one of his hired hands.
He's not going to make you work for the rest of your life to pay back
what he had to pay to adopt you. Jesus gladly paid the price for our
adoption so our heavenly Father can bestow upon us all the benefits
that come with being his child. And Paul tells us what 3 of those benefits
are in our passage.
The first benefit is getting a new spiritual nature that comes from
God sending his Spirit into our hearts. The moment parents find out
they are going to have a baby, they form in their minds ideas of how
they hope their baby will turn out. Though they are happy with whatever
the sex of the baby is, most have a preference about what they hope
it will be. Every parent hopes their baby will grow up to be good looking,
intelligent, and be successful. Some of theses hopes they play a major
part in.
Apart from the babies gender, parents pass on to their children certain
genetic characteristics that will determine how their baby will look,
and how smart the baby will be. Generally speaking, good looking parents
have good looking kids. And smart parents usually have smart kids. And
we also pass on to our kids our values which play a part in determining
how successful they will be in life.
But this isn't true when you adopt a child. The only thing adoptive
parents play a part in is deciding whether or not they want a boy or
a girl. Everything else is a mystery. All babies are cute when they
are little, so you really don't know what they will look like when they
grow up. All babies are dumb as a brick, so you don't know how smart
they are. And even if you raise the child from birth, no one will ever
say, "He looks just like his daddy." Or, "She looks just like you."
The only thing you can pass on to an adopted child that makes them look
like you is your values. You can't make them look like you externally,
but you can make them look like you internally. By imparting into them
your value system, they will act in ways that are consistent with the
ways you would act in similar situations. I love to hear people say
that my son acts just like me.
Years ago, Carol & I tried to adopt a baby. Which we found out rarely
occurs. So we thought about adopting an older child. The process is
really quite amazing. They try to match the child's needs with prospective
parents. Unfortunately, since we were Christians, the state didn't think
highly of us. They viewed us as zealots on a mission to convert lost
souls instead of parents wanting to love kids who had never experience
loved.
The part that broke my heart was reading the biographical information
about the kids. Most of these kids had severe emotional, mental, or
behavioral problems which made them poor candidates to ever be adopted.
It really made me appreciate God's love for me.
Just think about it: God knows everything there is to know about us.
He sees us warts & all. He's seen us at our worse. And yet, he still
chooses to adopt us into his family.
And what makes it even more amazing is that God adopts us so lost people
can see him in us. The apostle Peter tells us that we have "become partakers
of the divine nature." (2
Peter 1:4) This means that although we will never look like God
physically, though our divine nature we can act in ways that will bring
glory unto his name.
As we mature spiritually, our lives will begin to more & more reflect
God's holy characteristics. The characteristics of God that can be seen
in us are what are known as the fruits of the Spirit. As God's Spirit
imparts into our sinful nature God's divine nature, God's image in us
is completely restored. Thus we can become more loving, more gentle,
more peaceful, more patient, more kind-hearted, more good-natured, more
faithful, more gently, and more self-controlled. When people see us
displaying the fruits of the Spirit, when they see our divine nature,
they will be able to say, "We've just seen God!"
Another benefit we have as being adopted by God is the ability to have
such an intimate relationship with God that we can call him Abba! Father!
Abba is an Aramaic word of endearment that a child uses to speak to
his/her father. It literally means Poppa/Daddy.
Sometimes out of respect you call your earthly father, sir. But when
you want to show affection to him, you call him daddy. Jesus told us
that we when pray, out of respect we are to call God, "Our Father."
But there are also times when it is okay to simply call him Daddy.
God is not our employer who demands we call him "the boss." He is not
our owner who demands we call him "master." When Jesus was in public
he called God his father. But when he when he needed his father the
most, on the night before he was crucified, Jesus called out for his
daddy. If you really want to get God's attention, affectionately call
him daddy.
I just got back from spending several days with my son and his family.
And do you know that he never once called me Pastor Bob. Neither did
my grandkids. Every time my son spoke to me, he called me daddy. Every
time my grandkids spoke to me they called me Poppa-Bob. And do you know
that I gave them things that they didn't ask for, and things that never
entered into their minds? They should have called me daddy/Poppa-Bob.
For if they called me anything else, it would indicate that something
is wrong in our relationship.
That's the same way it is in our relationship with God. Yes he is our
Creator. Yes he is the Almighty God. But if you have an intimate relationship
with Jesus Christ, your Creator, the Almighty God is also your spiritual
father. And it blesses his heart when you love him enough to call him
by the intimate, affectionate name of daddy.
Please understand that this is a term of endearment that God has given
not other group of people, not even the Jews, to call him. Even though
the Jews are God's chosen people, he never gave them permission to call
him daddy. This intimate term is reserved exclusively for those who
have trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation.
How do you picture God? Is he this terrible disciplinarian who can't
wait for you to make a mistake so he can zap you with a bolt of lightening?
Or is he a loving father who wants to scoop you up in his arms when
you hurt? Do you picture God as the loving father who wants to kiss
your boo-boos and make them all better? Can you comfortably call him
your daddy?
The 3rd benefit that comes from being adopted by God is that a rich
inheritance-v. 7. This should mean a whole lot to most of us, because,
by the world's standards, we are not part of the rich & famous crowd.
But one day we will be. As sons & daughters of God, one day we will
have everything that people are working so hard for today. Everything
in this world belongs to God. And since we will inherit all that God
owns, one day everything in this world will become ours.
During the 1,000 yrs. we will rule with Jesus Christ on the earth, we
can live anywhere we want to, drive any car we want to, eat at any restaurant
we want to, and even be able to play golf at Augusta National, the home
of the Masters, for free. And it gets even better after that.
For one day God is going to recreate the earth, and the city he going
to build for us to live in has walls made out of the most precious jewels
in the world. The gates to the city are going to be made out of pearl.
And the streets of the city are going to be made out of gold that is
so pure that they are transparent as glass.
But we don't have to wait until we get to heaven to enjoy the riches
of God. For right now we can enjoy the riches of God's grace, the riches
of God's glory, the riches of God's goodness, and the riches of God's
wisdom. We can also experience the 3 things that the heart of every
person longs for: Love, joy, & peace. The riches we now experience make
us richer than even Bill Gates. And the glorious aspect about our inheritance
is that we don't have to do anything to earn it. All of God's riches
are yours if you have a relationship with God through his son, the Lord
Jesus Christ.
The enemy of your soul, Satan, doesn't want us to enjoy the riches of
your inheritance. That's why he whispers, "You don't deserve God's love
& grace. You're not good enough to be a child of God."
Which makes these statements so powerful is that Satan is telling the
truth. None of us deserve God's love, and none of us can ever be good
enough to make God love us. But the message of Christmas is that God,
who is full of grace & compassion, left his home in heaven to live temporarily
on earth as a human being to keep us from having to go to hell after
we die. Because Jesus lived a sinless life, he was able to die for our
sins, take God's wrath we deserve, just so we could experience God's
goodness.
Let me close by saying that the popular saying during Christmas is:
"Jesus is the reason for the season." That's not completely true. You
are the reason for the season. How do I know that? Well, did any of
you buy any gifts for Jesus this year? Isn't tomorrow the day we are
celebrating his birth? How would you like it if your parents bought
your friends presents for your birthday, instead of you? You'd probably
get pretty mad, wouldn't you?
If you think about it, the way we celebrate Christmas is all backwards.
Except for the fact that I think the way we celebrate Christmas is exactly
the way Jesus wants us to celebrate it. I believe it makes Jesus happy
every time we put presents for the people we love. For in doing so,
we perpetuate the truth that God loves us so much that he was willing
to send Jesus to earth, to die so he could pay the price for your adoption.
But there is one present Jesus would like you to give him. It is the
only thing that his father can't own. And that is your heart.
The greatest gift you can give Jesus this Christmas season is the right
to sit on the throne of your life, what the Bible calls your heart,
as your Lord. Jesus wants to sit upon your heart so he can guide you
down the right path of life, so you can enjoy all that God has in store
for you.
If Jesus Christ isn't the Lord of your life, won't you open up your
heart and invite him in right now as lord? If you will do that, then
you will receive the greatest Christmas gift of all: Salvation!
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