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Jan 6, 2013 by: Viji Roberts| Series: Romans

 

Romans 8:14-17

We have been doing a series from Romans 8.
Last week we saw the difference between those in the flesh and those in the Spirit.
·Mind of the flesh vs. the Mind of the Spirit
·Flesh is enemies with God
·Flesh can never please God
We also saw that we have the Holy Spirit residing in us and through Him we have victory over the flesh. Therefore we are to mortify the flesh. Our chant was “Flesh must die”.
That was a half-sermon, which we will continue this week.

The verse for this week:
Romans 8:15 - For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

We have seen that Romans 8 is the chapter of the Holy Spirit. In that context we read “Spirit of Adoption”. That raises a question, “Are we are born into the family of God, or are we adopted into the family?” We know Bible speaks about being born again. Jesus speaking to Nicodemus says you must be “born again”. Later in his epistle, Apostle John marvels at the astounding truth:

1 John 3:1 - “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:”

Seven times in this letter, the Apostle John uses the phrase “born of God”.
To understand the perceived confusion, there are certain concepts we need to understand: the concepts of birth and adoption.

1.Maturity
Picture of a child being picked up by one of her parent from school.
She gives her school bag and begins to skip back home. Just like little girls do. When they come to a crossing, the child holds the parents hand and holding the hand crosses the road. That’s a beautiful and cute picture.

Now imagine you are going to visit that daughter all grown up at University. As soon as she sees you, she gives her backpack and begins to skip as she heads home. And as she gets to a crossing, she holds out her hand for you to take her across the road.
Now there is something wrong with the picture. What was once beautiful and cute is now a matter of concern.

You would have expected the child to be mature enough to cross the road. The operative word here is “mature”.

Paul is saying that is exactly what happens when those in the Spirit- sons and daughters of God behave like those in the flesh. They are acting immature.

2.Nature through birth
i.Similar nature: Birth into the family ensures the same nature.

A newborn baby reveals the nature of the parents. If she or he does something wrong or cries all night, the husband is bound to say, “This baby is just like her mother”.

ii.Similar feature: When a new baby is born, fathers are the first to say, “Oh! The baby looks just like me” while the others are going, “really”!

Nature through adoption
The person being adopted has a differing nature and feature.
We read:
2 Peter 1:4 - “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature,…”

We are made partakers of God’s nature because of Jesus Christ.

3.Awareness through growth
In a new birth, the baby has no idea who he or she looks like or whose nature he or she has. A new born baby doesn’t even recognize the Father. It is sometimes a year before the child is able to say “Abba” or “Dada” or “Mama”.

There is a growth phase that brings awareness. It is only over time that the child becomes aware of himself or herself, his or her surroundings and who his or her parents really are. This is not the case of adoption, since Roman adoption was for adults.

4.Privileges reserved for later
Galatians 4:1-7 talks about how the child is under a tutor and does not have the full birthright privileges. They have to come of age. Being a child doesn’t automatically mean privileges. (Even Paris Hilton had to behave till she turned of age and the inheritance was hers for sure).

In Roman adoption the person being adopted comes into the family and enjoys the privileges from Day One.

5.Permanence
Romans understood sons could be disowned, but adoption was permanent.
In the Roman society it was difficult to adopt and once done it was irrevocable. We understand that birth in a family cannot be revoked; Romans understood that adoption was unbreakable and both together point to the security of the believer in Christ. The work is permanent

Unique features of Adoption
Three quick things about adoption in general.

·Adoption is a choice:
Unlike a baby born in the family and we have no choice.

·Adoption has a cost:
These costs in the Roman system was high and we know what it meant for us to be adopted into God’s Kingdom.

·Adoption brings about a change in rights and responsibilities:
Romans understood that with adoption comes with not just privileges, but also responsibilities.

These truths are applicable to us Christians.

Adopted or Born? What are we?

The truth is that you are both, born into God’s family and adopted.
They differ in the application, not in the process of inclusion.

·New Birth talks to us about the change in nature
·New Birth talks to us about growth
·New Birth talks to us about future privileges
·Adoption talks to us about our full rights Christ Jesus.
·Adoption talks to us about maturity.
·Adoption talks to us what we have in Christ today.

Spirit of Adoption
Those living under law are like minor children, bossed around as if they were servants, and shadowed by the fear of punishment. But when a person is born again, he is placed in God’s family as a mature son or a daughter. Therefore, as soon as we are born into His family we are able to call God, “Abba, Father”

The Spirit of adoption removes the need to act like newborn babies, who act out their flesh.

Flesh is the cry baby.

You know what is being a baby – “a perfect example of minority is a baby in the home”. In fact people who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one. (Zuck, 2009)

·It is the flesh that gets hurt
·It is the flesh that cannot forgive
·It is the flesh that wants to be pampered
·It is the flesh that cries for attention.
·It is the flesh that wants to have its own way.
·Flesh will revel in ego

Maturity puts a check on the flesh.
·When the nails grow long, we are supposed to cut the nails not the fingers. Flesh will cut the fingers to cause hurt, pain, and damage. It is willing to spite at any cost.

Spirit of adoption says we are not born as babes, but God brings us as adults into His Kingdom.

Spirit of adoption says act your age.

Spirit of Adoption allows us to call God Abba Father on the very first day

Three things about Abba Father.

i.”Abba” means father.
The word that Jesus used when He prayed in the garden.
Jews would never allow servants to use this term, or have the servants call them “Abba”.
And yet that’s the name we are allowed to call by.
Jn 17:26. “And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it]:”

ii.Dual use — Abba and Father.
This denotes the vehemency of affection.
Abba is in Aramaic, and the other in Greek. It shows us that there is one Father of both the Jews and the Gentiles.

iii.Intimate form — papa or daddy.
William MacDonald says it so well: “While we may hesitate to use such familiar English words in addressing God, the truth remains that He who is infinitely high is also intimately nigh”. – Believer’s Bible Commentary.

The reason why we have both the imagery of the new birth and the adoption is because neither are unable to fully recreate what we have gained in Jesus Christ.

Look at some of the instances when the example of adoption breaks down.

·Adoption was to guarantee succession
Wealthy Romans wanted to keep their family line going and when there was a threat to the male lineage, they adopted. God did not adopt us with this in view.

·Adoption was done for the best of health and mind
Only the best were adopted. We know that isn’t true when we were adopted into God’s family.

·Adoption did not require breaking down of natural ties.
Though the person adopted lost the rights to the old family. Relations could be maintained and sometimes enjoy the benefits of both families. We have already seen that the flesh and Spirit are enemies and a child of God cannot keep old ties alive.

·Adoption was used to benefit the father politically, economically or socially
Similar to marriages, alliances were forged to further their agendas. We know we did not add anything to God; nor can we ever.

Lesson from Birth and Adoption
The warning through this passage has been not to walk in the flesh but to walk in the Spirit.

We read in:
1 Cor 3:1 - Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life.

When we don’t realize our roles and responsibility as a mature sons and daughters of God, walking in the Spirit, enabled and indwelt by God Himself, we will be like little babes.
Unable to discern the weightier things of God.

There will be no difference between those that belong to the world and you. That’s a sad state of affairs. We look like a duck, quack like a duck, but we are NOT ducks.

Isn’t that sad how flesh puts us back into bondage? We allow that, and we think that’s the way I can teach someone else a lesson. Meanwhile, it is the person who is held in bondage by the flesh.

“We have not received the bondage of the flesh but Spirit of adoption” The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

Paul ups the ante to reveal why what we have is out of this world, literally.

Son Consciousness
Spirit brings the consciousness of sonship in the life of the believer.
Holy Spirit is the one who makes us aware of our sonship in God.
Both in Galatians 4:5 and Ephesians 1:5, the word means “son-placing”.
It is the act of placing all believers as mature, adult sons with all the privileges and responsibilities of the sons.

Two-step process
Roman adoption involved a two step process. First was the confirmation. All rights of sonship was given at this point. The second was the coming home, when the adopted son actually moves in.
We read both these phases:
a.Rom 8:15: The confirmation
b.Rom 8:23: The coming-home. This is the time when our bodies will be regenerated and we will be home.

Benefits of Sonship (Rom 8:17)
Membership in God’s family brings privileges that is beyond imagination.

All God’s children are heirs of God.
That means all that the Father has is ours. Not like the prodigal son who got a bit of what the Father owned as his inheritance.

We are joint heirs with Christ.
Not just what the Father has, but all that He is, is ours in Christ Jesus.
This is not to mean we will become God, but that we receive is not an earthly portion or a heavenly portion but God Himself.

Book of Romans systematically teaches about the gospel, but mentions heaven just once in Romans 1:18. The lesson is that gospel is not getting to heaven. It is about being with God, through the work of the Son.

Sonship takes the Scare Out
What we have in the sonship of Christ is that fear is not of condemnation but of acceptance. However, badly I may have messed up, I now have access to God.

I want you to imagine with me an Israelite woman during the Old Testament times, who is about to lose her child. Desperate for help, she turns to the Temple of the Lord. Clutching her baby she runs to the magnificent Temple that Solomon has built for Jehovah, the Great I am. She is willing to bring any sacrifice, do anything, but is stopped at the outer courts beyond which women could not pass. Her husband who was with her takes the child and goes up further within the outer courts, beyond which he couldn’t get past. In fact, this barrier was God ordained for sure, but also something they wanted (remember Sinai). For they feared the awesome wrath of God. But as a child of God, I can come boldly to the throne of Grace to receive mercy and find grace to help at a time of need.

Take Away
So what’s our take away?
There’s too much at stake here. Paul first reveals the depravity of the flesh and hopefully we get sick and dead serious dealing with the flesh. He then soars us to heavens to reveal the grandeur of being the Children of God.

The contrast is mind-baffling. No wonder, Paul is appalled at the amount of flesh that is showing and he cries out “who will deliver me from this body of death”. For good reason Churches talk about modesty and dress codes during meetings, but what may be more
important is for us to be reminded about how much FLESH we reveal in our behavior.

I want to ask you a question, as I ask this to myself.
“How much of the dirty flesh did you reveal last week?”
Did you live in the Spirit of Adoption or in the spirit of bondage in the flesh?
Paul says he found his answer in the God alone. Through the indwelling Spirit, and as he sought to kill flesh daily and by all means.

“Flesh must die”.
There is no point in listening to this message if you don’t take action on the flesh.
God holds us to a stewardship responsibility to what He reveals to us from His Word. It is not for us to come hear and forget. We must not just be hearers of the Word but doers of the Word. We need to give up living in the flesh.

There is a story about a native American and a white man who hear the gospel; and the native turns to the Lord but the white man only much later. The white man asks the native, why was it that he took so long to come to Christ? The native replied, “Imagine someone is giving us two coats. You look at the one you have and say what I have is good enough, but I look at my blanket that is falling apart and I am thankful for the gift of the coat.

If we do not on a daily basis realize the depravity of the flesh, we will still hold on to it.

Conclusion
I will end by sharing my experience on Mumbai’s transit system. Mumbai transit carries more than 7 million people each day, making it the second busiest transit network in the world. (Tokyo is the largest) Getting in the trains is an experience by itself. It gets so crowded that sometimes it is impossible even to lift your hand up. Getting off the train is the worst. You must be strategic to avoid almost getting killed by the crowd. When it is time to get out, the crowd will push you out. However, watch out for the pole in the middle of the exit door. To be strategic, you have to position yourself and get out either from the right or the left of the pole. If you don’t, you will be squished against the pole. Only those who have experienced this fully understand what I shared. And the others who will understand this, are the ones who are believers and yet live like those in the world. Squished in the middle and facing troubles that are brought upon themselves by their choices in the flesh. Don’t get caught in the indecision.

Walk in the Spirit. And remember, “flesh must die”.