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Waiting for the Adoption
Presenter: Larry Kirkpatrick
Location: Mentone Seventh-day Adventist Church, California, USA
Delivery: 2007-05-19 23:10Z
Publication: GreatControversy.org 2007-05-19 23:10Z
Type: Sermon
URL: http://www.greatcontroversy.org/gco/ser/kir-adopt2.php
Father Wants to Fill His House
In the Bible, the phase, “I will blot out their names” (Deuteronomy 9:14; 29:20; Revelation 3:5), to erase their identity, to make them as though they had never existed, is a more powerful threat even than physical death. One’s name stands for that very person. To blot out their name is to take away his very identity.
God did not make men robots, to be satisfied with mere mindless operation. There is a difference between men and machines. Machines are very much like other machines—but each person is unique. Even when we are given a name, perhaps one passed down from an ancestor, we are still uniquely ourselves. Our name stands for who we are, for our identity. Although God is prepared, if He has too, to blot out names, He so much more desires to add them. He wants to fill His house (Luke 14:23). He designed us to want to have our own identity; we feel incomplete without it. We are made in God’s image, and so we are so constituted to want to embrace a distinct identity.
Who are you? Who do you belong to? Who is your father? We are embarked on a study of what the Bible says about adoption. No one will enter God’s kingdom on the basis of birth connection, but all who are saved will have been adopted into the family of God.
God will respect the choice of those who reject Him. He will blot out those names, but with indescribable sadness. He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Jesus offers His promise. “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels” (Revelation 3:5). He is basically saying that all who want to be adopted into God’s kingdom, will be. Not only is that person’s name not blotted out, but Jesus Himself will confess his name before the Father. He isn’t just going down a list of social security numbers, He confesses that person’s name, his very identity, before the Father. He will confirm the adoption!
With Christ
Our study began last week with an exploration of much of Romans chapter eight. We finally paused at Joint-heirs with Christ in Romans 8:17. As the Holy Spirit works in our hearts, we belong to God and we become His children. As with last week’s study, we will especially focus on Scripture. But first, a brief statement from Steps to Christ that will also profit us:
“Through transgression the sons of man become subjects of Satan. Through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ the sons of Adam may become the sons of God” (Steps to Christ, p. 15). We are not born the subjects of Satan, but through our own transgression we become his sons. Men become Satan’s by choosing his spirit, his behavior. Or, we can choose to become a son of God. We begin as sons of Adam, not sons of Satan. If we choose transgression, then we become sons of Satan, but if we choose faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, we become the sons of God. We choose our parent. We choose who “adopts” us. All this, mind you, only after God has initiated the plan of redemption. As soon as there was sin there was a Savior. God gives us the choice. It is grace that He extends. It is faith that He grants us that we extend. Then you have a family.
So there is a with-ness to all this which Paul began to discuss earlier in Romans 8:17. Now he continues. “If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” We are joint-heirs with Jesus if we suffer with Him.
Did Jesus suffer completely differently than ourselves? Was He was pure, and we filthy, and the suffering is very different. But Romans 8:3, 4 says that Jesus defeated sin in our kind of flesh, so that the righteousness of the law could be fulfilled in our kind of flesh. And here the text says that we suffer with Him. Romans two also insists that He took flesh and blood like our own (Hebrews 2:9, 11, 14, 16-18). In the garden of Gethsemene Jesus pled with His Father, “not My will but Thine be done” (Luke 22:42). His humanity trembled in that trying hour. Jesus suffering with us is not an alien, opposite kind of suffering from our own. He, as do we, fought the clamoring, bleating, laboring, pressing pull of the body toward illegitimate self-indulgence. But Jesus always said no. It was a fight very much like our own. He is our example in suffering and He could not be that unless He was capable of suffering as we suffer in terms of the clamorings of the disordered human organism.
How did He suffer? He endured these clamors, resisted. They were not His own clamors, but part of the human inheritance from Adam. He was faithful unto death. We must suffer with Him too, we must resist the clamors that would pull us down. We are urged to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:1-5). This means that, while we have the same fallen flesh as Christ, it is possible to resist as did Christ, it is possible to be led of the Holy Spirit. We suffer with Him, we follow our Master, we endure in His strength, and the text says that the end of this is that with Him we will be glorified together.
Jesus’ death becomes our death, and His resurrection becomes our resurrection. We suffer together, we are glorified together. We do not redeem ourselves, we cannot, there is no redeeming value in our suffering. We sinned. Jesus, on the other hand, was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He never sinned. His suffering is redemptive. He has a character to offer that is equal to the character of God. It is His character. But He became a man and He can offer that character for us, on behalf of our fallen race.
So this “with Christ” should not confuse us to make us think that we have any role in redeeming ourselves. Far from it! It is because we accept His work that we become joint-heirs with Him, that we then suffer with Him, we resist as He resisted, and in the end we are glorified with Him, not on the basis of our righteousness, but of His.
The Sufferings of This Present Time
Paul had more to say. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). Some want to limit what Paul means by “sufferings” in this verse to suffering and death upon the cross, with resurrection following. And, while in part that may be in view, we have to hear more than that. Paul said that he reckoned that the sufferings “of this present time” could not be compared with the glory that would be revealed “in us.”
The formula is, suffering now, glory in us later. That’s how you build something. Suffering now, glory later; endurance now, ripeness later; cooking now, culinary triumph after the cooking is over. God is laboring over us. But when He has finished, we reap the benefits for eternity.
It is a benefit for us that God is so interested in us. Now there is suffering in all varieties. Many things entered the human experience 6,000 years ago via Adam and Eve that need not have been part of it. But God works with us. He adjusts His approach to meet us in our current situation.
We sing, “to God be the glory,” but in His word, He speaks of “the glory that will be revealed in us.” How difficult it seems to us to think that God is painting a picture for our fellow creatures, and that He chooses to show His glory through our little lives. But the glory will be revealed “in us”—the glory of His working.
The whole creation, says Paul, is waiting. Angels uncounted then, are waiting. “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19). How can the creation have an earnest expectation?
Certainly, the angels are part of God’s creation. So are dolphins, whales, parrots, primates and other intelligent living species. But how much does a whale understand? We don’t know for sure. But you do not have to be intelligent to suffer and to experience pain. Regardless of how well the creatures that comprise the creation understand it, they experience the bentness, the distortion in the creation.
The Bible says that a time comes when God destroys “them which destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18). Clearly, God does not plan to let the impacts of sin remain indefinitely. At the same time, clearly He has allowed them to be felt, if but temporarily. The creation is waiting to be set right again. The rose doesn’t know that it isn’t supposed to have thorns. But we do, the angels do, the intelligent beings of the universe do.
The Creation is Waiting
The creation is waiting for something. The “manifestation” of the sons of God. It is waiting for men to be men as God designed them to be. Sin is what has blighted the earth. I don’t mean littering and throwing away a paper cup. It is wrong to pollute, but the earth has been reshaped as a consequence of sin. That is where the negative environmental impacts began. Sin bends everything. God will set His creation in order again, but first, there is a goal. The manifestation of the sons of God is the trigger.
“For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20). God did not allow the impacts of sin to deface His creation completely or without a purpose. When rebellion spread to humankind, He had a plan. He would restore. All is not empty occurrence, random chance, inexplicable die rolls and chaos. He has permitted what He has permitted while pursuing a long term plan to change it.
“Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). The creation shall be delivered. Here again we find the idea of bondage that we found last time (Romans 7:23; 8:15). Captivity and bondage are to be ended. Bondage ends in corruption. Jesus came to release from bondage. We must get out. Man is connected to this planet. Human, not angelic sin, brought the curse. The earth was cursed for man’s sake (Genesis 3:17). The curse, among other things, helps us to understand the destructiveness of sin, and helps occupy us with appropriate activities rather than idleness (Ezekiel 16:49).
Glorious Liberty
We are delivered from the bondage of corruption into “the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Not just liberty but glorious liberty. God’s plan is to make us free but free within the moral context. God’s glory is His character. Our glory will be in our character too. The only thing that we can “take with us” in the end, is our character.
“Liberty” is an interesting word. Its meaning is distinct.
While independence is usually associated with countries or nations, freedom and liberty more often apply to people. But unlike freedom, which implies an absence of restraint or compulsion, liberty implies the power to choose among alternatives rather than merely being unrestrained (Apple Incorporated, Dictionary, entry “liberty”).
We are not delivered into independence or mere freedom, but into liberty. It is in choosing whether or not we will follow God that we choose adoption by Him or not. The liberty of the children of God is the opportunity to choose among alternatives. Here, the choice is between the bondage of corruption, or a glorious liberty, a moral liberty. In the exercise of this liberty is the manifestation of the sons of God.
All who enter into a covenant with Jesus Christ become by adoption the children of God. They are cleansed by the regenerating power of the Word, and angels are commissioned to minister unto them. They are baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. They pledge themselves to become active members of His church in the earth. They are to be dead to all the allurements of worldly desires; but in conversation and godliness, they are, through sanctification of the Spirit to exert a living influence for God (Ellen G. White, Sons and Daughters of God, p. 15).
Adopted, cleansed, regenerated, what else can we do but become active members of His church, exerting a living influence? The Father’s house needs its workers; it needs them badly. It is not right for some to be burnt out while others are embarked on distant projects. If we have entered the covenant with Jesus Christ, let us offer to Him part of our energies at least, and help in serving in His church.
Until Now
Paul continued, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22). Man sinned, but the whole creation travails. But only “until now.” The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It will change us. The travailing has lasted a long time, but with the arrival of the gospel in full splendor, now that will stop. A time comes for change, restoration, redemption. The suffering produces maturity. Good is brought out of evil.
This world has lain in the shadows of gloom a long time. But Jesus is come. He represented the Father and His truth to us. He lived a life persuasively demonstrating the gospel in front of us. He offered His life for ours at calvary. He went to heaven to serve as our faithful high Priest. We are far down the tracks of time. We stand at the edge of eternity. Will we permit God to produce in us the firstfruits of the Spirit?
“And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23). We are waiting. We have the presence of the Holy Spirit but we are waiting. Even the Christian groans within himself. Even having the Holy Spirit, we groan within ourselves. There is a battle.
We are waiting for something, and here we are now at our theme. “Waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” The word for adoption means “placement as a son.” But it is interesting here that Paul places it in parallel with “the redemption of our body.” The ideas go together.
We are waiting for the redemption, the buying back, of our bodies. But isn’t it true that Christ has already bought them back? We are redeemed through the sacrifice on calvary but the redemption is not complete until we have received our glorified bodies. There is a sense in which redemption, salvation, adoption, is already accomplished and yet it remains future. Our reward, in its fullness, we will not have until the Second Coming. Glorified bodies will then be given us. But for now we are still here, the Great Controversy War is not fully completed. God’s character is not fully vindicated. The Investigative Judgment is still underway.
Of course. We are still in the sealing time, the time when God is making up the total number of His jewels (Revelation 7:1-3; 14:1-5). The great Mount Carmel showdown we read about in Revelation 13 is not past, but approaches.
Adoption—Restored Identity
Adoption means a restored identity. Pause for a moment and consider what it would mean to be a child but without a family. Your very identity would be a confusion. Your past? Perhaps a blank. Your future? Mystery. In your life there would be a gaping hole. Many of the kinds of connections that most people take for granted would be missing. Even your name is a mystery. Why would your parents abandon you? What are you worth? Who would have a child and just abandon him?
We are designed to be social creatures, every child is designed to have parents. Although Adam was created from the dust of the ground, he was called the son of God. In another place Jesus tells his adversaries that their father is the devil. They had chosen that, but Jesus offered them a better way.
And yet, none are Fatherless. “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up” (Psalm 27:10). “A Father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in His holy habitation” (Psalm 68:5). God says, “I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, saith the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:5).
We belong to our Father in heaven twice over. We are His by creation and His by redemption. The life we start with comes from neither Satan nor ourselves; it comes from God. We are made in His image, that is, with the noble, God-given attributes of intellect, conscience, volition (choice). But, as we noticed in our last message, we grow up into rebels. The gospel is about undoing what we have done. That can be accomplished in only one way: it takes time. God does not accept a forced worship. Were we forced, any true development of character would be prevented. And, the free development of character is much of the point. Yes, the gospel is all about the God’s goodness, but He has chosen to put that goodness to the test. He has chosen how and who He wishes to present the evidence in His case.
He has chosen us to represent Him.
You say, No, He has chosen Jesus to represent Him. You are mistaken. He chose Jesus to represent Him, the Father, to us. But our Father chooses us to represent Him to the watching universe. He chose. Not us. Our choice is to accept His method or reject it, but never to modify it or improve it. He is God. We are His creatures. We are made joint-heirs with Christ, but not instructors of Christ, not consultants to Him. He is the Master, we the disciples; He is the Redeemer, we are the redeemed. When we become blurry on these things, we begin to instruct God in His business, which is definitely not appropriate.
Keep the next two verses in mind. “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” (Romans 8:24, 25). We must have endurance. We must see beyond the apparent. We must trust and we must wait. It helps us to grow. Hope is part of God’s formula for growth. It is extraordinary that Paul says we are saved by hope! What is it that we often say? That we are saved by Christ. It is true that we are saved by Christ. But God does not want us to neglect the patience part, the endurance part, the growth part. So, we are also reminded that we are saved by hope. That is, there is a part for us, a striving, a hoping, a longing for, a follow-through, a reshaping, a waiting. God gives “glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good” (Romans 2:10). As we keep in mind our hope of heaven through Christ we live differently. We are adopted. Now our adoptive Father’s reputation is at stake.
Our Adoption Hearing
I should describe for you our adoption hearing. We were escorted into the courtroom. The judge walked in immediately after we did. There was no abundance of formality, we weren’t asked to rise to give him honor. Our hands were full of little kids. He came in immediately and walked over near where we were seated. Names were read, and we were sworn in. In the room was the judge, a man who transcribed everything that was said, the bailiff, and two other persons beside ourselves.
The judge sought to make small talk with Seamus (we pronounce it like “Thomas” but with the “sh” sound at the beginning). Seamus’ birth name was read and also his new name. The judge read from our application for adoption and asked us if we knew all that this meant, that the boy would become our heir, that he would have all the rights of a son, that we would have all the responsibilities of His parents.
The judge seemed to quite enjoy the whole process. In none of this was he seated on the other side of the room, but he stood near us. Soon, he made the required pronouncement. It reminded me of so many marriages, where you finally come to the legally binding statement, “And now, according to the powers vested in me by the state of ______, I pronounce you husband and wife.” The judge brought over a toy bear and gave it to our boy on behalf of San Bernardino County. It was over. He was ours! We were able to have a photograph taken of us with our boy and the judge to commemorate the event. As we were leaving, I spoke with the bailiff, who told us that these hearings were the best part of the day and that the workers in the court preferred these positive events to other kinds of cases they deal with the rest of the afternoon.
We had been waiting a long time for this day. For years we have been wanting to adopt. We were waiting for the adoption. In order to get to this place, we had to take foster care and adoption parent classes, have our backgrounds checked, have our home made safe, inspected and licensed, have the county do a home study of our family, and care for nine foster children. We would have adopted any of them. You here at church have seen them, a parade of special, unique, precious, often challenging tiny people. But we wouldn’t change that. The tears that came as each child left us, were worth it. We have seen families reunited, and it has always been a blessing to work for their restoration. But we were always determined that when a child came along where the restoration process did not work out, we would seek to adopt him. All the waiting was worth it. All the reduced-sleep nights were worth it. God is filling our house.
Conclusion
Our main study today was from Romans. There is for us a suffering with Christ, but there is also release from bondage. The whole creation awaits the manifestation of the sons of God—the adopted children of the heavenly Father. His creation will be delivered. Christ’s death on the cross will not be in vain. The ultimate redemption of our body awaits. Far from blotting out names, our Father in heaven is seeking to fill His house with the fatherless. To each person of the human race the offer is extended by God: I want to adopt you. I want you to take my name, to become my child, and I will be your Father. All His long efforts to heal and help us will be worth it to Him. May we and many we help persuade, fill the Father’s house. GCO
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