In the last two years I have begun to understand the word father. My wife and I became foster parents in October of 2011 and are on our way to adopting two kids. A girl named Elisabeth and a boy named Israel.
This being Father’s today, a day to take time to thank our dads for the role they play in our lives. I called my dad this year to thank him for all he’s done for me. I’ve been pretty lucky, my dad learned from his father’s mistakes and worked very hard to not only guide and direct me, but to also be there for me. He was a construction worker and would take off work earlier to watch me play baseball, but of course to pay the bills he would have to work extra hours to make up for the hours he gave up. As he gets older, his body is paying for all that hard labor.
I was blessed because I had a father in my life that I wanted to be like, but not all of us are lucky to have that. Growing up I had friends who’s dads were drunks, abusive, unloving or uncaring about their lives. Our fathers play a huge role in how we develop in our lives. Did you know that 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes? 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from homes without fathers. 71% of all high school dropouts don’t have a father around. And finally 71% of all teenage births are from girls that don’t have a father. Fathers have a huge impact on our lives, whether it be for good or bad.
I think that it’s for this reason that God is so strongly looked at as a father figure throughout Scripture. I mean think about it, with all the statistics I just gave you, the need of a father is very real. Maybe this is why the Psalmist in Psalm 68:5 tells us that, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”
We are all in need of God as our father, no matter if we have had a great dad, or horrible dad. Our dads are humans, they’re sinners and they mess up. For the father’s that try their best, we can get a glimpse of what a father should be, but it’s like having an off brand wrench instead of a craftsman. God shows us what a true father is and he calls us all to be his children.
If you have your Bibles, would you open up to the Book of Romans in the New Testament to chapter 8 verse 14?
As we read Romans 8:14-17 together, let’s ask God to reveal himself through his word.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
This is such a great passage because starting off in verse 14, we can understand who are the children of God. Paul's teaching here, compliments John the apostle who teaches us in the Gospel of John chapter 1, “Yet to all who did receive Jesus, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” If we have received Jesus as our Savior, that means that we have put our faith and trust into his death and resurrection and his free gift of eternal life, then we are his children. But here Paul takes it to the next step. See, in the biblical understanding of salvation, faith is nothing unless acted upon. So by being led by the Spirit, means to let God direct our lives, we are now showing that we are his children and we show that we have indeed put our faith and trust in Jesus.
In verses 15 and 16, we are given a glimpse into the inner workings of the Trinity. Here we see that it’s the Holy Spirit’s role to adopt us into the family of God. By each of us gaining sonship, Paul is telling us, not that we will all become male, but rather since in ancient times only the male sons were allowed to be the inheritors of the estate, both male and female inherit the kingdom of God, because they receive sonship.
Paul continues to tell us that it’s also by the Holy Spirit that we are able to call God Father and that it’s the Spirit who stands in the courtroom of God to speak on our side that we are God’s children. You see in the grand scheme of things our lives are a giant court room. God the Father sits in the judgment seat, Satan, sits as the prosecutor. We sit in the defendant seat as Satan lists all our sins. Jesus shows the court that the penalty for sin has been paid for through the cross and finally, we have been granted sonship in God’s kingdom. Then the Spirit testifies that we have truly become children of God. Which is pretty cool knowing that the God of the universe is on our side.
Finally, In verse 17 Paul let’s us know what being a child of God means. We will inherit all the things that Christ as the Son inherits. What are those things? Defeat of Satan, life eternally with God, true freedom, not only in eternity to come, but in our life right now. But Paul gives us a little disclaimer, we also inherit suffering, because as Jesus states in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” But with the bad also comes the good and millions of Christians around the world have found that in their suffering they are experiencing the greatness of their Father.
The problem is that we in here today can sometimes forget that we are children of God. Yet God wants us to live our lives in the reality that we are his children.
This week I heard a song that really speaks to this and how when we’re sitting in that court room being called all sorts of things, we can know that we are children of God. The songs called “Hello My Name Is” and it’s by Matthew West. Today, I would like to share with you this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuJWQzjfU3o
When we’re in a building, surrounded by other people that are singing and praising God, it’s easy for us to know and understand that we are children of God and that He is our Father. It’s easy to know in there that he will be there for us, but what about when we leave that place? How will we have that constant reminder?
For my self I am reminded every time I see children running around. I see them and think to myself, “God sees me as I see them.” God sees me as his child running around.
I don’t know if you have your trust into Jesus. You might not know what that means or how to do it. Know that from before this world was created, God saw you and knew everything about you. He made all the inner workings of who you are at your core. He saw all the good and bad you would do. And it’s that bad that keeps you away from God, but God didn’t want you to be away, so he sent Jesus to die on the cross to take the penalty of your bad actions. All you have to do is accept what God has done for you, repent or tell him that you have wronged him and you need him. Then accept that you can do nothing to earn his love or the gift of salvation or his saving you from the consequence of you bad actions, which is eternal separation from Him. Accept God’s work through Jesus’ cross on your behalf, thank him and move forward seeking him and following him.
As we end are time together, I’d like to pray over you, that you may walk as a child of the One True King.
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