Opening reading: Romans 8:14-17 “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.”
In this series of lessons which I have titled, WHAT WE ARE, we have looked a little deeper into what it means to be salt, and light, a branch and sheep, and also, the temple of God, as we are referred to in the New Testament.
We are actually called a number of other things in the New Testament which I am not going to get to which you may want to study on your own. Each of them is used in different ways to show us who we and responsibilities we have as Christians. We are also called, Saints, Priests, we are redeemed, building blocks , ambassadors, and of course we are also referred to as Christians.
I would like to close this series of lessons with what I feel is the most endearing and wonderful reference of all, one I am sure you are very familiar with. As believers we are also called, God’s children over and over in the New Testament.
Now you may have heard many lessons taught or preached on this, because it truly is a great honor bestowed on us to be called His children. In the New Testament, I have to admit one of my personal favorite scriptures regarding this is seen in Ephesians chapter 1, I would like to read it to read it to you from the NLT because I like how it reads; it goes as follows:
“4 Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son.”
In Romans 8, it says, because of Christ and the work of the Spirit who brought about this adoption, we are God’s Children, and the Holy Spirit in us testifies along with our spirit that, we are His children.
It goes on to say in vs.17, “If we are children of God, then we are heirs, heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ.”
I don’t know about you, but even though we may not fully understand the full ramifications of that statement, or all of what we will inherit, this truly is a wonderful honor which is filled with a hope and a great and wonder-filled future. It is described as glory, eternity, the kingdom of God, and Heaven.
In presenting this series of lessons, where I’ve showed you how you’ve been described in scripture, I not only wanted to show you the kind of relationship you have with our God, and how much we are loved by Him, describing us as His children.
In Ephesians, Paul said that He not only wanted to adopt you and make you part of His eternal family, it also mentions the fact that it pleased Him to do so. It literally brings Him pleasure knowing that you are His and part of His family.
Giving birth to you own chil is a wonderful blessing, but when someone chooses you, picks out and adopts you, not because they have too, but because they want to, that act and expression of love should never be over looked or ignored, but should be cherished. He personally chose you to be part of His family, not as a slave, or servant, but His own son and daughter.
But with this new position in His family (like with any other family) comes responsibility. And this is what I would like to talk about in rest of this lesson. So what responsibility do we now have as God’s children?
To begin with, I thought it was interesting that the Apostle Paul wrote in Rom. 8:17 that ‘we are children of God (if) we are led by the Spirit of God.’
So first of all, we are under an obligation to pay attention to, and heed, and even choose to be led by the Holy Spirit. And I would dare to say that this is in contrast to doing what we always want to do, or what we always think we should do, or even what we feel like doing.
Paul was telling those early Christians that they should not always do what they want, or think, or feel, rather to be a good son or daughter, they should do what God wants, and what His Spirit teaches or prompts us to do.
And just like a child in any other household, being good or bad is going to come down to the choices we make. Either you are going to choose to listen to God or not. Either you are going to choose to do what He teaches, instructs, or prompts you to do, or not. You have the freedom to choose. But as with any choice, there are consequences and repercussions, some good, and some not so good. (Examples)
Scripture also teaches that we are to honor our mothers and fathers. (Exodus 20:12) So it’s obvious that we are to honor Father God whenever possible.
On-line I read a list made by Dr. Rainey of ways we are to honor our parents. I feel some of these should be considered in our relationship to our heavenly Father to honor Him. They are as follows:
#1. We need to choose to value our relationship with our parents. It’s easy to take our parents and what they do for granted. We pay attention to that which we value. Likewise we can take our heavenly Father and the things He does and has done for us for granted. How many so called Christians forget about even doing the simplest things like giving thanks for what we have or even praying regularly? That’s like the son or daughter who calls their mom or dad 3 times a year. Choosing to put a high value on our relationship honors not only one’s earthly parents but more importantly, Father God.
#2. Taking the initiative to make one’s relationship even better also honor the parent. There are some kids who go out of their way to show their love and desire to be close to their parents. Taking the initiative to improve one’s relationship with Father God honors Him as well. No parent wants to be forgotten or ignored, including God.
#3. Doing what they want and obeying their will also shows that you honor your parents. In Romans 8, concerning God, we read the same. Jesus also said, “If you love me you will do what I say.” Ignore someone else’s desire and wishes for you is an act of rebellion, and some of us know very well what it is to be rebellious. Some of us even also know how hurtful it can be to have your own child act this way towards you. God tells us to love one another, but whe nw don’t, we dishonor Him.
#4. Recognize what your parents have done for you and noteing the sacrifices they made for you also honors them. So many parents go without so that their kids can have certain things, maybe even things that they weren’t able to have; maybe nice clothes, a nice home, or even a college education. But as you know, those things don’t come without a price to be paid, and the parents are usually left footing the bill. To ignore those nice things provided, and the sacrifices made to have them, I believe it is a selfish act on the child’s part. But to recognize, show appreciation, and give them praise for those things they have done for us honors our parents.
The same is true for Father God. It honors Him when we thank Him, and tell others of the great things He has done for us, including the Son who He sacrificed for us. We honor when we gather to sing songs of praise and worship Him togethers, thanking Him for what He has done.
#5. Another thing I would like to add is this: Years ago there was a dear Christian lady who my family cared much for. Our family called her Ma Emery. She was old, and wise, encouraging and downright sweet. When we traveled to TN we tried to make a point of stopping in to visit her. I know that she cared for us just as much are we cared for her. More than once I remember her telling me, “Ben, make me proud.” And I’d tell her I’d do my best.
I believe when we choose to do our best to make our parents or a loved one proud of us, in many ways it honors them. Maybe when you mom or dad gave you a job and you went out and did above and beyond what was expected as you did that job and you make them feel proud that makes them feel good and it honors them. It says, ‘I’m doing this good thing for You!’
Many of us have done things for our parents because we wanted them to be proud of us.
And likewise when we choose to do our absolute best because you know that it will please Father God, I can’t help but believe that it will make Him happy because your attitude and effort honors Him.
So these are a just a few responsibilities we have as God’s Children.
We don’t want do things to dishonor Him, but rather we should want to please Him. We should be doing things to honor and build our relationship with Him, not do things that hurt that relationship.
I would encourage you as you pray to consider those things that we have talked about over the past few weeks. I feel that it is good to pray that God would help us to become more like salt and light in this world. And pray that we would become like fruitful branches, and pray that the Lord Himself would prune us so that we will even become more fruitful in our service to Him. And pray that as the Temple of God here on earth we can keep our temple holy and pure, and that it would be a place of worship and prayer and service.
As we wait for the day to move into our Fathers home on high, pray that you may never take Him or what He has done for us for granted, and live our lives as His sons and daughters to make Him proud.
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