Video Transcript: The Spirit of Adoption

Today as we study God's word in the book of Romans, we're going to consider the Holy Spirit's work as the Spirit of adoption or the Spirit of sonship. When we think of being Christians,  oftentimes, we focus quite heavily on the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, it is right that we  should focus on Jesus as our Savior, as our ruler and guide and king. But sometimes we get  skewed in our focus, the great revelation of the Bible, and the central doctrine of the Christian faith is the reality of the Trinity, that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, not just son. And so  we need to realize, again, who God is as Father, Son, and Spirit. And also, we need to realize  that some of our greatest privileges are found in relationship to our Father, and by the Holy  Spirit living in us. It is sometimes a little too easy as Christians to think about the fact that  Jesus rescues us from our sins and pays for them, and gives us a ticket to eternal life. And to  think that that is the sum total of Christianity. But that is just one of the opening privileges.  But it's not nearly the deepest or the greatest wonder of being a Christian, if you were to ask  about the greatest wonders of being a Christian, it is really in this not to be knowing that  you're forgiven by the judge, but knowing that you are loved and treasured as a child of the  Father. And to know that God Himself chooses not just to let you off the hook, but to make you his own and to live in you to love and be loved by God the Father, to be indwelt. And to  experience the life of God, by the Holy Spirit. These are really the things that Jesus came to  do. He came to bring us into relationship with the Father, and to fill us with the life of the  Spirit. And so let's look at what Romans eight verses 14 through 17 say about this. For all who are led by the Spirit of God, are sons of God, For you did not receive the spirit of slavery, to  fall back into fear. But you will receive the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba,  Father, the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if  children, then heirs, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him, in  order that we may also be glorified with Him. This ends the reading of God's word, and God  always blesses His Word, to those who listen. When we hear of this tremendous privilege and  wonder of being children of God, perhaps the first question to ask is, who is a child of God? Is  everybody a child of God? That's a fairly common idea. And there's one sense in which it's  true. God is the Father of all people as Edison is the father of the light bulb, you know, God is  the originator, and the creator of all things. But in another sense, it would not be accurate to  say that all people are children of God, Jesus himself, was very clear about that are all people  are God's children? Well, Jesus said to some people who wouldn't believe in Him, if God were  your Father, you would love me for I came from God, and I am here You are of your father, the devil. The fact that Jesus has come and is here, and that people reject Him is a sign that in  rejecting God's one and only Son, they themselves are not sons of God. Galatians four, verse  26, is in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God, through faith. So it's by being in union with  Christ, through faith in Him, that you're a child of God. And if you don't have faith in Jesus,  and you're not in union with Him, then you're not a part of God's family and you're not a child  of God. Again, it is quite common to say, hey, all roads lead to God. There are many paths to  be right with God. If you go out into the world, you will soon hear that tune played, but it is  not the word of God or the message of Jesus. John one verse 12 says to all who received Him  who believed in his name He gave the right to become children of God. And so that means  that for those who reject Him or do not believe in his name, they're not among the children of  God. So there is a relationship with the father, a trust in Jesus, that marks a child of God, and  marks people who aren't children of God if they do not have that faith. And as we're looking at today, in particular, it's not just faith in Jesus, but it is also the work of the Holy Spirit that  makes you a child of God, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born, the  Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said, You must be born again. Jesus says this, because  unless you're born of the Spirit, you're not born of God, and you're not a child of God. And the  Apostle Paul says that in the passage of Romans, that, that we're studying Romans chapter  eight, and eight, verse nine, he says, Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not  belong to Him, for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. That's the opening  sentence of the text we're looking at today, those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are  the sons of God. And these are the only children of God in the sense of being part of his  family, able to relate to Him as their loving father, the others still need to be born of the Spirit, they need to have the Spirit of Christ. So before we look at what it means to be a child of God,

what a wonderful privilege it is, we need to look first at what are the marks of being a child of  God of being led by the Spirit of God, you can know that you are a child of God, if you're led  by the Spirit of God. And you can know you're not a child of God, if you're not being led by the Spirit of God. So here are just some marks of being led by the Spirit. One thing the spirit  always does when he's leading someone is he leads you to Jesus, he's often called the Spirit  of Christ. And Jesus Himself said, He will take from what is mine, and make it known to you,  and He will bring glory to me. So the spirit is always leading people to know the Lord Jesus  Christ, to trust and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to love the Lord Jesus. And so one  sign of being led by the Spirit is, have you been led to faith in Christ. Another great sign is  have you been led to relate to God as your Father, and to know yourself to be His child as part of his family to be cherished and loved by God, the Spirit leads you into that way of relating to God. The Spirit leads you to understand, and to relish God's truth. The Bible says that those  without the Spirit of God can't understand the things of God. But those who do have the spirit, have the mind of Christ. And the people who have the Spirit of God can understand  something of the mind of God. If you have the spirit if you're led by the Spirit, to some  degree, at least, you will love the truth of the Bible. You will love it. When the Bible is  unfolded, and revealed and explained. If you don't have any taste for scripture, and any taste  for preaching from scripture, it's not a good sign. Because those who are led by the Spirit of  God, they are the sons of God, and they are led into God's truth. The spirit is the one who  inspired that truth, and the one who opens our minds to that truth. Now, this doesn't  necessarily mean that every four year old will delight in a 40 minute sermon. You know, there  are different modes of communication and different levels of maturity in people. But if you  find yourself just going along, and every passage of the Bible makes you yawn, and every  sermon makes you ask, When is this thing going to be over, then it's not a good sign that  you're being led by the Spirit of God. And so when we understand more and more what God is saying, and we relish more and more of what God's saying in the Bible, then the Spirit is  leading us. The spirit is always in conflict with the flesh and fighting against sin. And so when  there is sin in your life, and you're fighting it, and you don't like it, and sometimes even when  you're frustrated by it, but at least you're against it. That's a sign of being led by the Spirit of  God and then when he leads you beyond just hating that sin, to pursuing holiness, he's  leading you into the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,  faithfulness, gentleness, self control, these are all the signs of being led out of sin into  holiness. You have a longing for God, when you're led by the Spirit you wish you knew him  better in this life, the Spirit is given in partial measure and as a downpayment on the future.  And so we get a taste for it an appetite for God, but that appetites not fully satisfied in this  life. And if you say, Oh, I wish I knew God better Lord, I long to know you better I long for that  day when Christ comes again. And it all the scales fall from my eyes and all the coldness falls  away from my heart. And I know God, as I long to know him. Well, that's a sign of being led by the Spirit. The Spirit helps us in prayer, the apostle says, later, in Romans, so if you're a  person who wants to talk to God, and from your heart, you cry out to God, then you're being  led by the Spirit in that. And another way that the Spirit leads us in God's unique purpose. For  us. This is a wonderful aspect of the individualized leading of the Spirit, God created each of  us with purposes in mind. And we need the Holy Spirit and attentiveness to the Holy Spirit  working with our spirit, to understand those purposes and to pursue them and to fulfill them.  So these are just some of the ways that the Holy Spirit leads us some signs that if this is  happening in your life, you're being led by the Spirit and you are indeed, a child of God. So  let's thank God for what the Spirit does in leading, where we see the signs of his leading, we  can give Him thanks that we are children of God, the same time you may look at these and  say why, I'd sure like a stronger hand of leading and and a clearer sense of his work in my life  in those areas. At any rate, when we think about being children of God, we shouldn't just  assume Yeah, ever isn't everybody? Yeah, everybody isn't. And so one of the great signs is  being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, You want to think with you about  this Spirit of sonship, or spirit of adoption, maybe the sermon might have been better titled,  The Spirit of sonship as a bigger umbrella. But when we think about this spirit of who leads us  into knowledge of being God's children, we can think of them as the Spirit of adoption, who 

lets us know our status, as God's children, our official legal status as children of God, a spirit  of rebirth, who actually causes us to be born with a life of God in us. This Spirit of sonship isn't just the spirit that makes us his sons and daughters. But it is also the spirit of his own son  coming to live in us. It is a spirit, of affection, of, of love, of being loved by God and love for  God, and a spirit of inheritance of great wealth that comes are to us as God's children. One of  the things about adoption is it usually doesn't happen, just spur of the moment, oh, this child  showed up, I guess I'll adopt him. Very often, if you've been involved in any kind of adoption  proceedings or know someone who is people have made a choice that they want to adopt,  and a particular child is identified. And then that child is welcomed and adopted after  sometimes considerable legal stuff and other things to bring about the adoption. At any rate,  adoption involves a decision that's made in advance to include somebody in your family. And  the Bible makes it clear that when God adopts us, it's not something that he said one  morning, I think I'll adopt somebody. It says that from all eternity, God made a decision to  adopt in love He predestined us for adoption, as sons through Jesus Christ. And then later in  Romans eight, those whom he foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers, God decided that he was going  to adopt, but he also decided that in adopting these children were going to turn out a certain  way, they were going to turn out like that son, who he didn't adopt that son who's always  been his from all eternity, the second person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ. So adoption  involves this decision of God to adopt. And adoption also involves a legal aspect when you  adopt a child, then you assume legal responsibilities for that child. And when God adopts, he  takes responsibility for us. He deals with our problems, of you throw a baseball through the  window? Well, he's probably gonna have to pay for it. Because you know, when you're a little  kid, and you know, it's you don't have the resources and certainly, when it comes to God's  adoption of us, the things that we have done wrong are things that we cannot pay for, in and  of ourselves, and God takes responsibility to do that. Another thing about adoption is that it  gives us a status that's stable, secure when the Bible speaks of adoption, it is not talking  about taking in children as foster children. I'm not talking bad about against foster parenting.  Some people do wonderful things in, in giving temporary care for children as foster parents.  But those children in foster homes don't know that they belong there for the long term.  They're there for now, as long as this is the arrangement, but who knows where they might  be, and who they might have to answer to and who might care for them in the future. But  when God declares adoption, he's not putting you into foster care and saying, Well, this is my  child until the situation changes. And I'll take care of this child until the situation changes until they become unbearable, and I want to get rid of them, or until I decide that I've had enough.  That's not how God's adoption works. It's not foster parenting, it is permanent adoption that  makes you secure and stable with him. And in adoption, also, then you get a legal standing,  we'll say more about it later, but you become his heirs, you inherit what is God? And think  about that for a little bit. What is God's well, he owns the cattle on 1000 hills, he owns the  universe, he owns everything else. One can't even begin to describe what it means to actually be the legal heir of God who gets to inherit and have authority over some dimensions of what  is his, And it means God puts his name on us, and He grants us authority to act on his behalf.  Sometimes, the Romans would have official adoption ceremonies. And some of that may be  behind the background of some of the verses about adoption in the Bible, where it will  contrast being a slave, and then being adopted as a son. And the Apostle Paul says in another passage, when you were when you're a kid, in some ways, you're not much more than a slave and the kids yeah, that's right, man. But he's not saying you're doing all the work around the  house, when you're four years old, or when you're eleven, he's just say that you're told what  to do. And you're told in great detail what to do. And sometimes you get punished if you don't do it. And as you get older, you actually are starting to find out what your parents are really  thinking, they start to converse with you more. And when you become an adult child, you  might get into the family business. And you understand more and more of that you're not just  a slave anymore, you're a co manager, and you have your own status. And the Romans would have a ceremony where an adopted child would reach a certain stage and he would be  declared to be the adopted heir. Julius Caesar had a nephew, whom he declared by adoption, 

to be his heir. And that was Caesar Augustus, Octavian was his name. And when he was  adopted by Caesar, then suddenly, he's Caesar Augustus, the Great. Because that's what  adoption would do with some of the Roman things. So you could have adoption, if somebody  wasn't actually your son, but you'd make him the legal heir and the person who was in charge of things, you might also just have a son, there are in many cultures, ceremonies, where  you're no longer just the kid, you're the official son, who is now a big shot in the affairs of the  family. So legal adoption, involves these kinds of things when the Bible speaks of it. So the  spirit of adoption has to do with status. It gives us comfort and strength and confidence,  because we're not just foster children, we are God's children permanently. And we are not just slaves, little kids being told what to do and pushed around. But more and more growing into a fuller understanding and a greater responsibility in the affairs of the kingdom of God. There's  another dimension of being God's children, and that is that we receive a spirit of rebirth. And  notice, again, that is the Spirit who is at work doing these things. It's the Spirit who helps us  to know we've been adopted. And it is by the Spirit, that we have the life of God inside us in  the first place. It's a great thing to be an adopted child, loved by good parents. It's also a  great thing, of course, to be born to good parents. And there's a sense of course in which we  are not just adopted as children of God, but we are born into a relationship with God. And  that's what the Bible talks about what it speaks is being born again, or born from above. And  another phrase for being born again or born from above is born of the Spirit. If you're not born of the Spirit, you're not born again. This is the work of God's Holy Spirit. And so it would of  course, be very wrong to just kind of ignore the spirit and think only of what Jesus has done  for us. Now, I must say that, that is actually typical of the Spirit. The spirit always wants to  point to Jesus, somebody has compared it to somebody standing behind you with a spotlight,  and then shining it on someone in front of you. But the one shining, the spotlight, of course, is the one who's helping you to see and appreciate it all. And that is the role of the Holy Spirit.  And the Spirit loves to point to Jesus and draw us into a relation with our father. But in terms  of honoring the spirit, and think of what the Father and the Son did, at one level, if you look at it, Jesus ministry on earth turned out to be kind of a flop. That's a terrible thing to say,  because he did wonderful things. And taught as nobody ever did and did amazing miracles.  But when you really boil it down, Jesus said, Now wait, for something to happen, for somebody to happen. And there were only 120 that were gathered at the beginning of the day of  Pentecost, and there were 3000, by the end of the day of Pentecost. And I think part of that  was because the father and the son really did want to honor fully the work of the Holy Spirit,  the third person, the Trinity, who's loved by the Father and the Son. So we're children, by  rebirth through the Spirit we're born of the Spirit. And when you're born in the Spirit, you're  born of God Himself, in a sense, you have God's life in you. And of course, it's being very  figurative or metaphorical to say that we have God's DNA in us. But in another sense, it's the  kind of language the Bible itself uses. You've been born again, not of perishable seed, but of  imperishable. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning for God's seed remains in him,  he cannot go on sinning because he's been born of God. And at one point, the apostle Peter  goes so far as to say we are partakers of the divine nature. There are some traditions of  Christianity which speak of Theosis, or deification, or divinization. And we might feel that  that's a dangerous language. And in some ways, it is, it would be false to, to think that we are uniquely divine or members of the Trinity as Christ Himself is. But we shouldn't fall short of  the language of the Bible, either, that we're born of God, that we have the seed of in the life  of God in us, and that in some respect, we are fellowshipers with God and partakers of the  divine nature, in a sense, we become natural born children of God, as well as adopted children of God. And when you have God's DNA, the Bible teaches that you have a family likeness,  Jesus himself says be perfect, like your father's perfect. How can he say something like that?  Well, because he knows that God's seed is already in you, when you're one of his disciples.  And you may think it sounds impossible. But the fact of the matter is, if your a child of God,  it's impossible for it not to happen, it's impossible for this not to come true, that you will turn  out to be perfect, like your father is perfect. If you know that Christ is righteous, you know  that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. So there is this family  resemblance. He's righteous, and His righteousness, more and more takes shape in you 

everyone who loves has been born of God, because God is love. That's the simple explanation that's given in I John. And so there's these calls, to be like God, we've got his genes in a sense in us when we're born of him. And so there is the call also to imitate him, little kids will often  imitate their father. And the Bible says, Be imitators of God as beloved children, that's one of  the glories of being a child of God is the opportunity to imitate him. And let's face it, our  imitations are just little teeny, tiny, immature beginnings of imitating him. But nonetheless,  they are beginning. Another thing that's wonderful is when a little kid starts to help his father  and some of you fathers have had help from your children. It's sometimes hard to recover.  Anyway, help from children is still a delight to a father, even when it turns out not to be very  helpful. And over time, that little kid who isn't much help, can turn into a big kid who  Rototilled the garden while I sip lemonade. You know, and who does, who actually is some  use. But God delights in us even when we're just a little kid kind of imitating father. But as the maturity develops, we actually become valuable instruments in God's hand. And that's a  great privilege of being a growing maturing child of God. In a sense, you can think about it as  having the best of both worlds the best of being adopted and the best of being a natural born  child. A child by adoption is a chosen child. You know, some sometimes a child who's just born You know, they were born and their parents weren't exactly planning on them or wanting  them. Or maybe were even a little shocked that the child showed up. And that child may still  be loved and cherished. But an adopted child, you know, the parents chose that child. And  God freely chose to adopt believers as children. And let's face it, if our Heavenly Father wants  us, if he chooses us, Oh, who cares what anybody else says, As the Apostle Paul says, later,  you know, who's gonna speak against God's elect, the ones that God chose. And then there is  the fact of being a child by birth. And some of the good aspects of that are you've got his  DNA, you've got his life, you've got his looks, his resemblance. His DNA makes us like him,  and it puts in us a life. That is like God's life that can't be taken away, that cannot be  destroyed. Jesus says, I give them eternal life, no one can snatch them from my hand, my  father is greater than all, nobody can snatch them from the Father's hand, because the life  that's in us is the same life that's in Christ, and the same life that is in God our Father, and  that life comes to us, again, by the Holy Spirit, whom he sent to live in us. And that brings us  to our next thing, we have this spirit who gives us the status of children, and the life of  children through rebirth. And the Bible makes it very clear that not only is it a Spirit of  sonship, that makes us relate to God as Father, but it is the Spirit of God's own Son, who lives  in a parallel passage to the one we're looking at in Romans eight is found in Galatians,  chapter four, when the fullness of time had come, God sent for his son born of a woman, born  under the law, to redeem those who were 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 hearts, crying,  Abba, Father. So you're no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.  Notice here again, where it all originates with the Father, who sends the Son into the world,  the father does, who sends the spirit into our hearts, the father does, and it is the Spirit of his  Son, Jesus. And so once again, that Jesus said, I don't do anything on my own. I'm trying to  glorify my father. And the Bible says that the spirit isn't doing anything on his own. But he's  pointing to the son who in turn points to the Father, because the father is the one who got it  all Rolling in the first place. The father is the one who sent His Son into the world to save us,  and sit the Spirit of his Son in our hearts so that we would cry out from the depths of our  hearts. Arbor father. This is one of the great realities and privileges of being a Christian that  you have the Spirit of Jesus Christ, living in you, Jesus Himself, put it in his words, when he  was talking to his father, I have given them the glory you gave me so that they may be one  as we are one, I in them, and you in Me, so he's saying, Father, you're in me, and I'm in them.  It's not just an Independent Spirit that God puts in everybody else, you know, in your heart, in your heart, in your heart, in your heart, but it is always the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who's coming into us. And, and this, again, is that great mystery of the Trinity, that wherever the spirit is,  there also is the son. And there also is the father. Paul prays that we will be strengthened with power through a Spirit in the inner being so that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith.  Christ lives in me, Christ in you, the hope of glory. These are the great words of the Bible that  speak of this mysterious indwelling, where God himself is in us the life of God, in the soul of a 

person. So it is the Spirit of Jesus, God's own son who's in us and that's what makes it even  more the Spirit of sonship. That makes us cry out, Abba, Father. It's not just my spirit, crying  that out to God, but it's actually the Spirit of Jesus, talking to the Father as well. And this  spirit, of course, is a spirit of affection, of love, of being loved by God and of loving Him in  return. The very first mention I believe, of the Holy Spirit's coming to us is in Romans chapter  five, that Paul doesn't develop it very far at that point, but here's what it says God's love has  been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. And this is  to experience God's love, to not just hear from the Bible that hearing is God is love that God  loved us and gave His Son for us. But it is to feel that love to sense that love to know right  down to the depths of your toes that you are loved by God. And this, again is something that  may come in varying degrees to varying people. But this is one of the great ministries of the  Holy Spirit is to simply let you know that you are loved, and loved deeply and loved always.  God has sent the Spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father, this is something that  happens in our hearts, and from the very depths of our hearts. You're not just saying, but it  both in Romans eight, and in Galatians, four, it's, it's a cry, that God is doing something in you where you're not just rattling off the Lord's Prayer and say, Our Father who art in heaven,  because you memorize it 100 times, but you're crying, you're my father, and I love you. And I  am so glad to be loved by you. And that's again, that great prayer of Ephesians chapter three, where he speaks of Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith, by the work of the Holy Spirit.  And so that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the  saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this  love that surpasses knowledge. This is, this is something that no sermon can do for you. It is  only something that the Spirit can do in you. But when he does, there is nothing else like it, to know that you are loved. And that you're knowing something that in one sense can't be  known, just with the intellect, but it can be known from the heart and in the heart when the  Holy Spirit comes to you, and treasures you and loves you. And then so many other things  about the Bible will start clicking into place as well, you'll know that's what he was talking  about. One reason the Bible is hard to understand is sometimes because it was written in a  different culture or explaining things of God that are just too great for us, perhaps. But  another reason some parts of the Bible don't either grip us or make a lot of sense to us is well. It hasn't happened to us in a very strong and powerful way yet. And so it is again, my prayer  that each of us can know that God's love has been poured into our hearts and to know this  love that surpasses knowledge, and if that full experience of God's love, and none of us has  had the full experience of God's love. But if we know only a little of what that's speaking  about, in one sense, I'd say Well, that's okay. Paul was praying in Ephesians three, that his  readers who were already Christians would know this, more and more and more and, and  that's really, the goal of Christian faith is to know more and more and more the greatness, the greatness of God's love. And you cannot know that just by looking at words. This is something that the Holy Spirit does in your heart and moves you to cry out to God with love and  affection. And sometimes we have other spirits at work. We have the Holy Spirit, that great  spirit of love and affection, that we are treasured by God, but there are sometimes competing  spirits. And we need to be reminded not to pay too much attention to the competition.  Timothy was a young apprentice of Paul, a minister who was learning more and more. And  there were times when he needed to be reminded to be bolder, and to not be timid and not  be fearful. And the apostle told him, God gave us a spirit, not a fear, but of power and of love, and of self control. Know what kind of Spirit is in you. It's not just automatic, when you have  the Holy Spirit that everything else is unfold. We sometimes need to be reminded not to listen to the competing spirits, or to our own weakness of spirit, but to again, just let God's Holy  Spirit take over with his power in his love and his self control. I John, Chapter Four says there  is no fear in love, that perfect love drives out fear, for fear has to do with punishment, and  whoever fears has not been perfected in love. So if there's a spirit of fear of worry, or terror of God in you, there can be a holy fear of God. But when you've come to know God, don't keep  living in fear and in worry, and in being dragged down by wrong thoughts of your father.  There's nothing more grievous to God, than to love us as a father, and to have us doubt His  love. There's nothing more grievous for any of us fathers than to have our kids think we hate 

them. Or think we're against them. Or think we want something bad for them. We don't but  sometimes children get that impression, or they feel that way and then we need to be  reminded there's there's not fear in this love that the Father has given us perfect love drives  out fear and that's the the core of this passage that we're studying Romans eight, you did not  receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. You received the Spirit of adoption of sons by who we cry all the Father, the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirits that we are God's  children. Now that's a that's a very interesting and and challenging phrase, how in the world  does the spirit bear witness with our spirits? And I hope to talk about that in detail. In a future  message. How do you know that your spirit is hearing from God's Spirit, but let's just take the  fact here. When you cry out from your heart to God as your Father, then something is going  on God's Spirit is testifying with your spirit, that God is your Father, and you're his child, and  you are loved by Him and cherished forever, and you should not start thinking like a slave  again. And the great story to illustrate that is the one Jesus told of the prodigal son, the  prodigal son went far away from his father. And then when he finally ran out of food, and ran  out of resources, he came to his senses and said, Man, the hired men back home, I've got it a  lot better than I do. I'm going to go back and try to become a hired man. I'm going to go and  say, Dad, I sinned against heaven and against you. I'm not worthy to be your son. But please  take me back as one of the hired men. And what does the Bible say that God did? Or that the  father in the story does? Does he say, I guess I'll put up with you. here's a few. Here's a few  bucks to keep you going. I'll pay you the same as hired man. No, the Bible says that when the  son comes home without the hire me as a hired man speach concocted that the father rushes  out to his son, and the son starts the speech. But he doesn't even have time to get to the  hired man part, because the father throws his arms around him, and says, Hey, quick, kill the  fatted calf. Put the good robe on him and put the sit the ring of sonship on him, my son's  back, he was dead, and he's alive. And that was the great heart of the Father that Jesus  revealed. And that's what Romans is talking about to the Spirit reveals to us the heart of the  Father, you say, God, I hope you'll, I hope that you'll accept me your unworthy servant. And I  hope you'll give me a little of this and that to keep me going through life. And the Bible says  God didn't give you that kind of spirit. Sorry, he didn't give you the spirit of kind of slugging it  along as a slave any longer, or of hoping you can get a little morsel here. And there, he gave  you the Spirit of sonship, he gave you the ring on the finger of sonship, he gave you the  inheritance of sonship. And you better just get used to it. And of course, if we're children, then we're heirs, heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him, in order that  we may also be glorified with Him. We'll say more about that in future messages as well.  Suffering on our way to glory, Jesus received great glory, but between that glory was the  cross, and we have our own calling to suffer with him, before we're glorified with Him. But  what I want to emphasize here is the fact that we are heirs. When you are an heir, then what  you receive is everything that's left to you, by your parents. And in this case, of course, Jesus  has died, but he rose again. And God your Father never dies. So when he shares the  inheritance, he shares it while he's still alive. And of course, while you're still alive. In Christ,  we obtained an inheritance and were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the  guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it. The Bible often speaks of the  Holy Spirit as the down payment, or the deposit, or the earnest, or the first part of the  inheritance. When you have the Holy Spirit in your heart, crying, Abba, Father, teaching you  to love God, helping you to enjoy some of the riches of God already now in this life. The Bible  says Now, that's a little bit just kind of a downpayment on what's coming from God, and  what's coming. Everything. The Bible says all things are Yours, the meek will inherit the earth,  the saints will judge the angels, they will reign with Christ on his throne, forever and ever. So  that's what it means to belong to your father in heaven. And that's what the Holy Spirit wants  us more and more, to know now, to cry out to Him, but also to know I am an heir of God. And  that would get us out of the smallness, and the pettiness that we sometimes get trapped in  thinking Poor me. How can you say poor me, when you're the heir of the universe? Aaron  Trump goes around Poor me. Just Can't Get don't have two pennies to rub together. You know,  well, you know, when you're the kid of the president who's a billionaire, whatever problems  you might have, inheritance is probably not one of them. So what does it say here? We have 

an inheritance, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of sonship, who gives us the downpayment on that  inheritance. And there's much, much more to come, we're heirs of God, fellow heirs with  Christ, the Spirit of sonship teaches us that we are children of the Father, that we are co heirs  with Christ, that's another of those amazing phrases your heir of God, and you're a co heir  with Christ, which means that what he inherits you inherit now, there's one sense in which it  would certainly be justifiable for God to go back to kind of the old time way of doing things  where the oldest and the foremost son got the top inheritance. And there's a sense in which  that's true. Jesus inherits the throne of the universe. But there's another sense in which when  the Bible says, We're co heirs with Christ, that God loves us with the very same love that he  lavishes on his son from all eternity, that exalts us to the same kind of throne to which he has  exalted his son, I'm not making it up the Bible. God's word is what says these things. And so  we can just rejoice that we are co heirs with Christ, that we received the Spirit of adoption, of  rebirth of his own son indwelling us, of his love poured out into our hearts, and of the great  inheritance it's no wonder that we celebrate God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, may we  rejoice in him forever. Dear Father, we pray that you will help us to more and more cry from  our hearts and know you as our Father, to have the depths of your love out poured into the  depths of our hearts by your blessed, Holy Spirit. We thank You, Lord Jesus, for all that you did to remove the barriers between us and the reality of God so that the spirit could live in us as  and that we could be your temples as well as your children. So we pray that each day we'll  have more and more a sense of who we are as your children that we will live above the the  low things and the petty things and instead, Lord, let each detail of our lives be something  that shines with the reality of Christ living in us. We thank You, Father, that we are your heirs  through Christ, that we no longer need a spirit of slavery or bondage to fear, but that we have this Spirit of sonship that are being treasured and loved forever. We pray in Jesus name,  Amen.