Skip to content The Spirit of Sonship | Ephesians Part 4 | Rev Paul Jeyachandran Aug 9 · 44 min ...more
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:00 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? Hallelujah. What a joy and a privilege for us to worship our heavenly father and to study the word of God together.0:12 Today, I'm gonna continue in our sermon series on the book of Ephesians. Today is the second part of the word that I gave the previous week on adoption,0:25 but this is part 4 of the Ephesians series. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 5, that 1 verse, that 1 particular text, that 10:36 word, is what we're gonna examine today. I'm gonna title today's sermon, the spirit of sonship. Let's look to the Lord in prayer.0:49 Thank you, Jesus. Father, give us the grace to learn about the privileges of our adoption that you have given us, the1:01 supreme delight of being your children. So today, we ask that you open our eyes and give us listening ears and a heart that is willing to apply the word. We thank1:12 you. Let the Holy Spirit be our teacher in Jesus' name. And the people of God said, amen and amen. We're continuing in our sermon series on the book of1:24 Ephesians. This is part 4. I'm tackling today's sermon, the spirit of sonship. I'm gonna take you to 1 verse. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 5.1:36 Ephesians 1 verse 5 says, in love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will.1:48 I want you to listen to me carefully. This verse we already examined in our previous message, But I wanna give you a better understanding of the word1:59 adoption because your theology determines your biography. Your theology determines your biography. In other words,2:11 what you believe will affect how you live. That is why when Paul was penning this letter in the prison, he burst forth into a praise in verse 3.2:23 He says, blessed be God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And then he goes on to explain that2:35 the first blessing that you and I experience is the blessing of adoption. And J. I. Packer, he wrote this, adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel2:47 offers. Higher even than justification. In other words, justification means you are becoming right with God. So that's why he says to be right with God the judge is a great thing,2:59 but to be loved and cared for by God the father is much greater. Hallelujah. I want you to listen to me carefully when you and I truly understand our adoption, our life will3:10 never be the same. I want to take you to 1 passage of scripture where Paul uses this word, and I wanna use that because it's a theologically3:22 rich passage and I wanna unpack this for us today. Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4 to verse 7. Galatians chapter 4 and verse 43:33 to verse 7. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, under the law to redeem those who were3:45 under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts3:57 crying Abba Father. And so you are no longer a slave but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God.4:09 I love this passage. See, I love the writings of Apostle Paul. And 1 of my favorite books in the New Testament is the book of Romans, it's the book of Galatians, the book of4:21 Ephesians. And in all these 3 books Paul uses the word the adoption. But in Galatians he introduces some deep theological terms.4:33 I want you to catch this. See Paul is a brilliant writer and he wants us to rehearse the gospel. He wants to give us the the glorious gospel of Christ. And so in Galatians, he's4:45 examining who we were and who we are now. We were slaves but now we are sons and these sons have the spirit of God living inside of them. They cry out to him,4:56 Abba Father. They are transformed by the work of that spirit and they now bear fruit for the glory of God and for the good of his kingdom. So Paul uses the book of Galatians in and5:08 he introduces some deep theological truths. In chapter 2, he talks about the term justification to be made right with God by faith. Only through5:20 faith and faith alone. Then in chapter 3, he introduces the term redemption. In other words, now Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. How? By becoming a curse5:31 himself. Cursed is he who hangs on a tree so that the blessing of God that God promised Abraham can be ours. Hallelujah. And then in chapter 4, Paul introduces5:43 the term adoption. I love this because adoption that only 5 times in the New Testament in the writings of Paul in the book of Romans and Ephesians and Galatians, this5:55 term is used and this term only means place a son to adopt to place a son. Hallelujah. But the word even though Paul uses6:07 in chapter 4, Paul actually uses the word sonship previous chapter in Galatians chapter 3. Let me take you there. That's the first time Paul mentions6:19 this term sonship. In Galatians 3 verse 26 he says, for in Christ Jesus you're all sons of God through faith. See again he establishes that you're redeemed by6:30 faith, you're justified by faith. Now you're becoming sons of God through faith. For in Christ Jesus, you're all sons of God. I want you to think about6:42 this. By faith, you're moved from a courtroom before a judge to a family room before a father. Hallelujah. In other words, you are now moved from being a6:54 sons of disobedience to now becoming the sons of the father. Hallelujah. You are now moved from being slaves to sons and therefore you now have inheritance. But pastor,7:06 does it only apply to men? Because it keeps saying sons. I want you to listen to me. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 28, Paul writes and says, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither7:18 slave nor free, there is no male and female for you are all 1 in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah. You are 1 in Christ. In other words, you can7:30 now enjoy that sonship that applies to both men and women in the kingdom of God. Hallelujah. So I want to take this time to talk about 8 significant7:41 things about our adoption. I said to you in my previous message that I want to do 1 more because I want to lay the groundwork to help you understand understand and apply7:53 adoption in your life. Why? Do you know that adoption is not a term that is popular in the Christian circle? You know, you can read a lot of books about8:04 redemption, justification, but not many about adoption. Why is that? Because it's something that is such a foreign concept. That's why for us, I established in the first sermon why8:16 this was a cultural significance, why it had spiritual significance, and what are the practical implications. But today I want to establish some more. I want you to understand the 8 key8:28 things about our adoption. Let me take you to the first 1. Number 1, Trinity is involved in our adoption. Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4 and 5, it says, God8:40 sent forth his son. In the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law. I want you to listen to me. God sent forth his son. Then it8:52 says, Jesus when he came to redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And then in verse 6 it says, and because you are sons, God has sent the spirit9:04 of his son into your hearts crying Abba Father. This is 1 of those beautiful passages where the gospel becomes alive. The gospel helps you understand that God the9:16 father, God the son, God the Holy Spirit has been involved in your adoption. The Trinity, the Trinitarian view. I want you to listen to me. In other words, this is9:28 the 3 things I want you to capture. Number 1, God administered your adoption. How? Look at that passage. It says 2 things, double sending. God sent forth his son and God9:39 sent the spirit of his son into our hearts by which we cry, Abba Father. In other words, God gave us Jesus and God gave us the spirit of God. The second 1, not only God9:51 administered our adoption, the son accomplished our adoption. How? He came to redeem us. You know, in that 1 verse in verse 5, there is 2 purpose clauses.10:04 Why did Jesus come? To redeem us. So that, again another 1, we can be adopted. Hallelujah. In other words, we can receive that adoption as10:15 sons. The father administered it, the son accomplished it, now the spirit applies your adoption. The Bible says the spirit of God has come inside of us, into our hearts10:27 and helps us to cry, Abba Father. In other words, you have a dynamic relationship with God. Today, can walk into that throne room. That throne room of judgment has become a throne room of grace and mercy for you. So you10:39 can come boldly to that and you can cry, Abba, Father. Hallelujah. Paul uses that word twice, cry. In Galatians and in Romans chapter 8 he uses that10:50 term to cry Abba Father. In other words you can come to him crying aloud earnestly coming getting his attention to say daddy I need you hallelujah. I pray that11:02 you would often go to him to enjoy his presence. The second thing about our adoption is, adoption involves purposeful planning. In other words, it is carefully11:14 planned by God. See, sometimes when we think of the adoption, we think of creation of the world, we think of creation of mankind, but then adoption becomes like a secondary thought or11:26 because of the fall of man, God had to adopt them. No no no. Adoption was always plan a, it was not plan b. Listen, the Bible says in Galatians, when the fullness of11:38 time had come, God sent forth his son to adopt us. In the fullness of time, we already established in our previous sermon in Ephesians11:49 chapter 1 and verse 4 it says, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. In other words, God chose you even before the foundation of the world, But in time,12:02 when the fullness of time, historically when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son. You know, can you see how much God had planned this? He planned your adoption12:13 even before the foundation of the world. And he planned it that in time Christ will come in the fullness of time. You know, when I think of that word fullness of time, it you can think of it12:25 in couple of ways. Fullness of time theologically. Fullness of time culturally. You know, fullness of time theologically means that the world was being prepared for the coming of the Lord12:37 Jesus. The whole of the Old Testament when the people of God were under the old covenant, they were practicing the law of Moses. And the law the Bible says is a tutor to point12:49 us to Christ because the law you can never keep the law perfectly but the law was given to us so that it would point to us the need for a savior. It will keep revealing to us our13:01 sinful condition and our need for a savior therefore we will run to Christ. And the Bible says, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son to redeem13:12 us. Hallelujah. Not only that, the fullness of time can also be applied to the culture. You know, God waited for the Roman, rule to come in and when the Romans came into13:24 power, they laid new roads, they made a common Greek language, and they, allowed the gospel to spread everywhere. Listen, when the fullness of time had13:36 come. Now you might think, but if Jesus had come during this time, he could have a Twitter account. And in the Twitter account, if he publishes his sermons, people will follow him everywhere. You could record him and put13:47 him on YouTube and everyone will watch him all over the world. Listen, God knew the fullness of time when Jesus should come, and Jesus came in the fullness of time. Only 1 thing you and I need to know, he will come13:59 again in the fullness of time. Hallelujah. I want you to listen to me carefully. In other words, this adoption was carefully, purposefully planned by God. Number14:11 3, adoption requires right qualifications. You know, even in the natural, if you want to go and adopt a child, you go to an orphanage and you pick up a child, You can. Not everyone can adopt. Why? They would have to14:23 scrutinize your background, your your your everything. And you have to have the right qualifications to adopt a child. The same manner the Bible says God had to send his son. His son14:35 and the Bible says in verse 4, God sent forth his son born of woman, born under the law. There are 2 things that it says about Jesus. 1, he was God sent forth his son.14:47 This speaks about the divine nature. Oh, hallelujah. That means he's fully God. Number 2, born of woman. In other words, this speaks of his human nature. That he's14:59 fully human. Now how can he be fully God and fully human? That's a mystery. But this is the doctrine of the hypostatic union that the Christians talk about. What is the doctrine of the hypostatic15:10 union? That Jesus in him there was he dwelt in that in 2 natures dwelt within him. He's the he's Jesus is fully divine, and Jesus is fully human.15:22 Hallelujah. In other words, when Jesus was probably playing with his friends, and if his friends asked him, how old are you? He would say, in my mother's side, I'm 12 years old. In my father's side,15:34 I'm eternal. I want you to listen to me. You would see this duality all the time. In other words, he was sleeping on the board and there was a storm. He was sleeping in perfect peace. He was sleeping like like15:46 any human will do. But at the same time, got up and he declared, stop. And the wind ceased, the Bible says. The winds and the waves obeyed him. I want you to listen to me. Why? Because you can see that15:58 that doctrine of the hypostatic union together. The same thing. The Bible says, he came fully God so that he can pay for16:09 your sin and my sin. But he came fully man because he wanted to be sympathetic to us. He wanted to know he can sympathize with us. He was afflicted.16:21 He went through hunger, pain, betrayal. All those things he went through he experienced the same pain you and I go through so that he can be a high priest the Bible says. Hallelujah. And yet he16:33 remained without sin. I want you to listen to me carefully. It was c s Lewis who said this, the Son of God became a man to enable men to become16:45 sons of God. The eternal Son became an incarnate Son, so we who are slaves can now become children of God. Hallelujah. What a glorious16:56 gospel we believe in. Number 4, adoption is costly. Anyone who has adopted a child would know the the what how much it cost them, not17:08 only financially because it's a long process, it's a long drawn process. It can may take number of years for people to work through the application, to submit the application, go through the scrutiny, do all that stuff.17:20 But at the same time, it's an emotional cost they have to pay because they could they could go through all that process and yet they may not qualify to be adoptive parent.17:33 Want you to listen to me carefully. The reason why this is important is because the Bible says in verse 5, to redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. The Bible says Jesus came to17:43 redeem us. You know the word redeem, to redeem, to redeem us. You know the price that Jesus had to pay was his own life. In Galatians chapter 3 and verse 13,17:55 Paul writes and says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Can you imagine this? Jesus, the eternal son who has18:07 fellowship with the father from the beginning for eternity. I want you to listen to me. This Jesus became cursed on the cross. Why? Because cursed18:19 is everyone who hangs on a tree. That's why the Jewish people even today cannot understand how a messiah can be cursed. Because anyone who hangs on a tree is cursed and Jesus was cursed on the cross.18:31 And the Bible says he was not cursed because of his own doing, he was cursed on our behalf. It was our sin. It was our rebellion against the law of God that18:43 caused him to carry that curse. And the Bible says Christ redeemed us by becoming a curse so that we can now walk in the blessing18:55 of God. What a glorious gospel we have. I want you to listen to me carefully. He freed us from the penalty of sin. He continues to free us from the power of sin and he will19:07 1 day completely free us from the presence of sin. Christ has redeemed us and it cost him his life. So when you enjoy the privilege of adoption,19:19 always remember it cost Jesus his life. God delivered Jesus even unto death. That's why you and I can have the privilege of walking into the presence of God and calling him Abba Father.19:31 Hallelujah. Number 5, adoption saves the children from terrible situations. I want you to think about this. Many children19:43 who are orphans, they may end up in very difficult and bad situations. You know, according to the UNICEF, there are over hundred and19:55 60000000 orphans in the world today. Let that number sink in. Hundred and 60000000 orphans. You know, that is more than the20:07 population of many countries. In other words, even the population of Russia is only about hundred and 40000000 something. That means this is so many. If if they if they were a20:18 nation, just the orphans alone, if they were a nation, they will be the seventh or eighth largest nation in the world. Can you imagine that? There's so many orphans in the world.20:30 Today, there are about every minute there are about 5 orphans orphans being made because of war, because of famine, because of sickness. Listen.20:42 In recent times, what happened in Turkey and Syria has caused even more orphans, babies with who have lost their family members. Listen carefully. This is a real cry in20:53 our day and time. And when you don't hear this cry, many of these young people, these children, orphans will 1 day end up in sex trafficking or they get become21:05 prostitutes or they get become abused and beaten in life. Listen. In other words, people in the natural, the orphans go through bad situations.21:18 That's why in the olden days, you know, I grew up in India where our church ran about 8 orphanage homes in the state of Tamil Nadu. So I I knew that the the the way an21:29 orphanage actually helps blossom the life of many orphan children. In other words, I want you to listen to me carefully that that that the orphans need a home. They need21:41 a family to embrace them. And that's the picture God gives us here. God says, I'm gonna send you a savior. And he comes to save you from the terrible situation you're in.21:53 And Paul takes time to write what that terrible situation in the book of Galatians. In Galatians chapter 3 and verse 23, he says, we were held captive under the law. In other words, law, the22:05 religion enslaved us. The law, we could never fulfill the law. Listen carefully. If you fail in 1 of the law, you have failed in all of the law. In other22:17 words, you can never measure up before a holy God based on the merits of your law keeping. That's why the Bible says the law was kept. It it it it it enslaved22:28 us. And then in chapter 4, Paul goes on to write that not only the law kept you enslaved, some people who did not come from the background of the law, that means they are not Jews, they are Gentiles.22:40 They were formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those by nature that are not gods. In other words, there are times as a Gentile, you might have22:52 worshipped other idols as gods. And he says you were enslaved by that religious idolatry. So 1 is the law was enslaving you and the other 1 is the idolatry23:04 that is enslaving you. And Paul says Jesus came to set us free. He came to redeem us. How? He became 1 of us. He who knew no sin23:16 became sin. He who knew no sin became sin. He did no sin. He knew no sin. He spoke no sin and yet the Bible says he became sin for your sake.23:27 So that you who do not know righteousness can become the righteousness of God. Hallelujah. What a glorious gospel we have and God has saved us from ourselves. God23:39 has saved us from the terrible situation of being enslaved by the law. Being enslaved in idolatry, God has saved us. Listen carefully. God has saved us from23:51 his wrath. Hallelujah. Number 6, adoption involves legal transfer. I want you to pay attention to this. 3 times24:03 in this passage in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4 to 7, Paul actually mentions 3 times that you are a son. Why is this24:15 so important? Can you see that when you read that in verse 5 it says, so that we might receive the adoption as sons. Verse 6, because you are sons. Then in24:27 verse 7, you are no longer a slave but a son. 3 times he mentions you are son and you are no longer a slave, you are a son. Why? Because you are24:39 no longer legally an orphan. You're no longer legally a slave. There has been a legal transfer. See, when a family goes through that adoption process,24:52 after they have spent hours and hours going through the process of application and and going through the interview process, and when they come to that final day,25:04 they enter into that courtroom where they plead their case before the judge, and the judge makes a final decision. And he says, today, you have now25:16 become the adopted parents. And the moment that hammer hits the gavel, that legal transfer is complete. That child who was an orphan, that child could have been a25:27 slave, where a slave today is now transferred to become a son. That orphan will no longer be an orphan. It's now a legitimate son fully enjoying the25:39 privileges of a son. Listen carefully. In other words, now there can be a new birth certificate that places the adopted parents as the rightful25:51 parents legally. In other words, that legal status has changed forever. Legal ownership has changed forever. The children now have a new identity. They have a new family.26:03 I want you to listen to me. When parents go to another country, say from here you go to Asia to adopt an Asian child and you bring them to Australia.26:16 What happens is that child now has not only a new family but embraces a new language, embraces a new culture, embraces new things of life.26:28 The same thing happens the moment you have been adopted into the family of God. You have moved from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his son. You have now moved from being condemned to now being justified,26:40 moved from cursed to being blessed. Now you have the privileges of being a child of God. Hallelujah. Let that sink in. And why this is so important? We're especially when you're going through26:52 certain things. You know, some people will always think that I never qualify. I can't qualify the blessing of God. Can I humbly say this? None of us qualify for the blessing of God. If God would come and27:04 and and point to us our sins, the Bible says, who can stand? If God will keep keep track of our transgressions, who can stand? But you know in the old testament David writes and says27:15 and Paul quotes this in Romans chapter 4 he says blessed is the 1 to whom the Lord does not impute sin. Blessed is the 1 to whom the Lord imputes righteousness apart from27:27 his works. In other words, the Lord does not impute sin to the 1 who sins. Why? And Paul calls it blessed. Why? Because all your sin was imputed on27:39 Jesus. He who knew no sin became sin and that sin that he became, he paid the penalty for your sin once and for all. And having been sacrificed once and for all, you have now27:51 been redeemed, you have now been translated, you are now become a child of God. Once you are born into the family of God, you can never be unborn. Listen carefully. You are a child of God. You are28:03 the family of God. You have a heavenly father and an elder brother in Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. I want you to listen to me carefully. You are now adopted28:15 into the family of God and it's a legal transfer. Number 7, adoption involves the spirit of sonship. Look at this in verse 6, it says28:26 because you are sons God has sent the spirit of his son into his into our hearts crying Abba Father. Adoption involves spirit of sonship. In other words,28:38 Jesus has now become our elder brother and God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. And because the Holy Spirit resides within28:50 us, today we now are family of God. And I want you to listen to me carefully. You have received the spirit of God.29:02 You have received the Holy Spirit, the spirit of his son. In Romans chapter 8 and verse 15 it says, you have received the spirit of adoption. Now Jesus promised us the spirit. He29:14 said in John chapter 14 and from verse 16 to 18, I will ask the father and he will give you another helper. Jesus said, will not leave you as orphans but I will send29:26 you a helper. The father will send you the helper and this helper will do what? The helper, he will dwell with you and he will be in you.29:38 Can you see this picture? The Holy Spirit, the helper, the comforter, he comes inside of you. He dwells with you and he will be in you. He dwells with you. He's he29:50 will be in you. In other words, He's with you. He is in you. He is for you. I want you to listen carefully. This is the glorious gospel we believe in. The moment you're born30:02 again, the Holy Spirit takes residence in your soul. And as he takes residence in your heart, this is what happens. He continues the work of sanctification. The work of sanctification, being30:13 sanctified. You know, you have saved, you are being saved, you will be saved. In other words, you are being saved. How? He comes and transforms your nature. He transforms you into the likeness30:25 of your family. He converts He transforms you into the family likeness. Can you see the picture? If a child is born into a family, everyone goes to the child and looks at the child and say,30:37 hey, he has the mother's eyes, he has the father's nose and all those stuff. Why? Because there's a family resemblance, there's a family likeness. The moment you're born again into the family of God, you now become like30:47 him. You become like your elder brother. You're more and more becoming Christ like and how it is accomplished in you, it is through the Holy Spirit. The Bible says in Galatians30:59 chapter 4 and verse 19, Paul says, I labor, I'm in anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. That spiritual formation has to31:11 take place. And once it happens, the Bible says in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 22 to 23, the fruit of the spirit that is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,31:23 gentleness, self control. These things are the characteristics of Jesus. These are found in Jesus and that same characteristics God will bring into our lives. We become part of the31:34 family of God. We become like Him. We share in His likeness. Hallelujah. I want you to listen to me carefully. Let me ask you this question.31:48 The Bible says if the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, he's doing this work of redemption, he's doing this work of sanctification in your life. Are you letting him do that work?32:00 Are you going back to being a slave under the law, trusting in your own works and in your own merits? Or do you really allow the Holy Spirit to do the transformative work in your life? I32:11 want you to ask yourself this question. Why? Because a legalist will be led by rules. A materialist will be led by money. A centralist will be32:23 led by lust, but an adopted child of God will be led by the Holy Spirit. That's what the Bible says isn't it? In Romans chapter 8 and verse 14 onwards that you are32:35 sons of God if you are led by the Holy Spirit. In other words, you become that adopted child and the Holy Spirit takes residence inside of you and now he leads you from within. Hallelujah.32:48 And lastly, adoption gives the child the right to be an heir. I love this. Adoption doesn't just make you a son and daughter in the kingdom of God, in32:59 the family of God. Adoption actually gives you the glorious riches that are glorious inheritance in the saints. You are now richer than you think. Listen carefully.33:11 Why? Because verse 7 says, so you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son then an heir through God. In other words, you are now inheriting33:23 all that the father has. It's 1 thing for a orphan to be adopted into the royal family and become the next Caesar, but you and I have now been adopted into the king of33:35 kings and the lord of lord in his family. And therefore, the bible says you are now heirs. And most specifically in the book of Galatians, Paul talks about being an33:47 heir. And he says in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 29, and if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. Listen33:59 carefully to that verse. If you are in Christ, in other words Christ has redeemed you, you have now received Christ, therefore you are now adopted into Christ's family and the moment you adopted34:10 into Christ's family you are also adopted into Abraham's family. Why this is important? Because it all started when God made a promise to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12.34:23 I will bless those who I will curse those who curse you. In you the nations of the earth will be blessed. In other words, God promised him so many things and the promises that God made34:34 to him applies to us. Why this is important? Because the covenant that God made with Abraham today applies to us because we have joined into that family.34:47 And the Bible says the promise that God made to Abraham, Abraham received it by faith. He became an heir to the promise by faith, by grace. He didn't qualify it.34:58 He wasn't blessed because of his attractive merits. He was blessed because of the amazing mercy of God. In the same way, today you and I inherit that promise. Christ has redeemed us from every35:10 curse by becoming a curse himself. As it is written, cursed is he who hangs on a tree so that the blessing that God promised Abraham can become35:22 ours. I want you to listen to me carefully. You are more blessed than you can ever imagine. That's why as people of God we go we don't go to him and say Lord bless me bless me.35:34 Why? You are already blessed. That's why the attitude that we should have is what Paul has in the book of Ephesians. He says, blessed be God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with35:46 every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Hallelujah. I'm already blessed. And when you and I walk around with that35:57 mindset that I'm already blessed because the greatest inheritance that God can ever give you, The greatest riches that God can ever give you is himself. And that36:09 inheritance that God has given himself to us is more than enough. If Jesus is everything then Jesus is enough. If God is everything then God the father is enough.36:21 No wonder the psalmist said, whom have I in heaven but you and there is nothing on earth I desire besides you. In other words, there's nothing in the earth that can satisfy me. You alone36:33 satisfy me Lord. Why? Because God has given himself as an inheritance to us. Today we are, we have a father in heaven who loves us and36:45 lavishes his blessing upon our lives. That's what adoption means, that you will now become an heir, heir to all that father has, heir to all that the father has given to the elder brother Jesus36:57 because you're co heirs with Christ. Hallelujah. So in conclusion, can I humbly say this church, I want you to capture this whole doctrine of37:08 adoption? Not only to appreciate it, but to truly apply it into your life. When John the Apostle thinks of this, he says, see what37:19 kind of love the Father has given to us. See what manner of love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called the children37:31 of God. What a great privilege that is. The reason why this is so important in this last leg of the last days is because our elder brother is coming.37:43 He's coming for us. And when he comes, we're going to be transformed into his likeness, and we're going to reunite with our heavenly Father, and we're going to enter and37:55 spend eternity with Him. And when we spend eternity with Him, we will forever be singing His praise. Why? Because blessed be God, the Father of our Lord38:06 Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So how do we live in light of this?38:19 Let me give you 5 applications on how you apply this into your life. I gave this in my previous sermon, but let me reiterate again. Number 1, salvation. Truly receive38:31 this adoption. You cannot come into the kingdom of God. You cannot belong to the family of God. You cannot say God is my father unless you have received Jesus Christ as your savior and38:42 Lord. But when you have received him, the Bible says in John 1 12, God gives you the power to become children of God. Hallelujah. That salvation is free,38:54 but it cost God the son's life. Number 2, adoration. Rejoice in your adoption. In other words, don't just think of this as just 139:06 of those doctrines that you need to know, but you don't do use it every day. But learn to apply this every single day. Let it fill your heart with thanksgiving. The39:18 more I think about the word adoption, the more I think of my adoption, the more I burst out into praise. Now I understand why Paul praised and says, blessed be God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ.Show more
Paul Jeyachandran
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