Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Again, you know, it's such a confirmation on. On what to share.
[00:00:08] I'm going to share on sonship, and Rory's just been praying about it. I didn't share anything with Rory. He didn't know what I was going to share. And it was amazing how. Yeah, in worship, you know, praying of where we belong, of our Father, sons and daughters.
[00:00:26] So it's always very helpful for a guy preaching to hear some confirmation along the road.
[00:00:36] So that's awesome. So, yeah, my title this morning is sonship.
[00:00:44] So, first of all, I'm going to speak about adoption a bit, and in two ways.
[00:00:53] So we know that we are adopted as soon as we receive Christ. We've just come out of Easter where we've died to ourselves.
[00:01:05] When we start believing. We baptized and in baptism, we join together, and we know baptism, you die of your old self and you joined with Christ and you're living a new life.
[00:01:20] You formed a new identity.
[00:01:23] You're not supposed to be what you were.
[00:01:26] Through baptism, through receiving Christ, you've changed.
[00:01:30] You've taken on that new identity.
[00:01:34] You belong somewhere new.
[00:01:37] You don't belong where you used to belong. You're now adopted into a family.
[00:01:42] You have a living father, spiritual father.
[00:01:47] So that's the adoption side of it.
[00:01:52] So the other side of the coin is that the father, the father needs a son or a daughter. He needs an heir.
[00:02:02] So the whole plan with the Lord, from the beginning, from Adam and Eve, he wanted a son and a daughter, and then obviously, they failed a bit in that, falling to sin.
[00:02:17] And then he started with Israel, the nation, and so he carried on onto Jesus.
[00:02:22] But we must know that he once is on earth, and that's why he created us.
[00:02:31] So he's desperate for sons and daughters on the earth, and that's why he made that plan for us. So in a natural adoption, one of our daughters are going through a process of adopting a child.
[00:02:48] And I don't know, all of you, a lot of you have been adopted by parents, so. And a lot of you have adopted children.
[00:03:00] You've gone through that experience.
[00:03:02] So first of all, some children are in need like we are. We need. We need a father.
[00:03:10] So the child comes from somewhere.
[00:03:15] So he comes out of what he's used to, his. His type of world, how he grew up.
[00:03:24] Because some children are adopted as bigger children, not just as babies.
[00:03:32] So are we. Because we're not babies in that sense.
[00:03:37] We've all had a past experience of growing up.
[00:03:41] So we adopted and we come out of something that we used to and we adopted into a new family, we receive a new father and mother.
[00:03:54] So now we always face this challenge as a child that's being adopted, that all the old is still stuck in you, you know, so your ways, your ways of thinking, your discipline you received the way you were growing up, it's all like in you now. You into this new family, a new father.
[00:04:22] And things have to change.
[00:04:24] That's what happens when we receive Christ.
[00:04:27] We're a new creation, but we'll always struggle with what we had.
[00:04:36] Just as a child being adopted, they go through a process of all their emotions, all the ways they were used to, and now they're in a loving family that cares for them, a loving father that's also desperate for an heir, that's desperate for a son or a daughter.
[00:04:58] So now he also needs to navigate that because this child is used to old things and he must learn him the new things, the new blessed way of a loving father.
[00:05:12] Okay, so in a natural adoption, as much as the father, the child needs a father and a mother, the father also needs an heir, a son and a daughter. And so I want to.
[00:05:30] When Paul was writing this to the Romans, I'm going to share in Romans just now, there was a, a law there in, in that time in the Roman world they called it the Greco Roman world was a law of adoption.
[00:05:49] I don't know if anyone's aware of that. I just want to read briefly what that meant.
[00:05:56] So in the Greco Roman world, adoption was not about the child, nor was it about redeeming abandonment.
[00:06:04] Rather, adoption was about the father.
[00:06:07] It was a sensible way for prominent men without sons that couldn't have children to ensure that they had an heir.
[00:06:15] Adoptees were handpicked, often from what we would consider stable homes and trained and equipped to become a son and adopter would approve of.
[00:06:26] This necessitated a change in identity, a new name, a new destiny, a new rules and discipline.
[00:06:37] To become who the father wants you to be, you had to put to death your former identity and act as a legitimate son within your new home.
[00:06:48] Primarily used by the elite to prevent the extension of a family, a family line to secure heirs and to create political alliances. So that was that. What happened in that time.
[00:07:02] So the only difference now the father still wants is because he wants to establish and form his kingdom on this earth. That's why we his children, he needs us, believe it or not, he needs us on this earth to set things right to, to fight for him on this earth to win souls, to make disciples. We can carry on and on with that.
[00:07:31] But thank goodness that we are not selected when we perfect, we selected when we imperfect.
[00:07:44] And that's where the grace of God he gets us out of the pit imperfect, unqualified people.
[00:07:54] And he redeems us into adoption as his children.
[00:08:01] So very seldom we preach the, the cost of adoption. In Romans 8 we'll go there just now we read a lot of when he preached to them. They had to be obedient, they had to keep the law, they had to please the Father and putting death to the deeds of our body.
[00:08:30] So the adoption in our modern day gospel, the adoption into his family often makes made so rosy and colorful, you know, just to be accepted, just come as you are.
[00:08:48] But we seldom also preach the, the consequences or what's involved in that. And there's also suffering as we read because we receive Christ. Christ suffered as well. So there's a suffering in, in the adoption as well. Just as a little child, Christ comes into a new family being adopted. It's hard for the child because he has to learn the new ways of this household, of the father and the mother. And it's not always pleasant.
[00:09:21] And, and that is what we go through once we step into the family of God.
[00:09:29] So let's go to Romans 8:12 to 17. We'll start off there.
[00:09:40] Okay, here we are. It's out of the esv.
[00:09:44] So then brothers, so then brothers, we are debtors. Not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
[00:09:52] For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body and you will live.
[00:10:03] For all who are led by the Spirit are sons of God.
[00:10:12] So those that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.
[00:10:16] For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received 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.
[00:10:33] And if children, then heirs. Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, Provided we suffer with him in order that we may always also be glorified with Him.
[00:10:45] So we always run for the glory.
[00:10:48] That's our natural thing in the flesh. We always want the glory.
[00:10:52] But are we provided?
[00:10:55] Provided we suffer with him in order that we may share in his glory.
[00:11:01] So, and that's a danger where adoption is made very colorful, you know, into the family of God. And for a child, a natural child to be adopted in a family is hard.
[00:11:15] You know, sometimes he's not aware of it.
[00:11:18] And it's not his choice.
[00:11:21] Nico goes into it and now he has to like he knows there's a hope and the glory coming.
[00:11:31] So we are adopted into this new family.
[00:11:36] When we adopted into Christ's family, we have a new father, spiritual father, who loves us.
[00:11:42] And he loves us so much. He wants to grow us, he wants to form us, he wants to discipline us.
[00:11:52] Because we must remember that he wants an heir.
[00:11:55] He's busy building sons and daughters that can rule and reign with him on this earth.
[00:12:02] So that's, that's his end, that he wants to establish his kingdom on earth.
[00:12:10] So it's not just all about acceptance. It's very important that we know that we are acceptance.
[00:12:16] Okay, but it's, it's. That's a start.
[00:12:19] That's where it starts. We are accepted into his family and then the consequences then putting to death our flesh as we read there.
[00:12:30] And that's where the, where our challenges come.
[00:12:36] So we putting to death our former identity, our actions.
[00:12:42] And that's a lot of times that is underplayed these days.
[00:12:49] We always look for the prize, but we underplay the change we need to do in our identity and our actions.
[00:12:59] So in all this, there's a big restoration process that needs to take place. We all need to in the process of being restored.
[00:13:10] So yeah, in verse 17, we see that we are fellow heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him. Okay.
[00:13:16] So we are not just children.
[00:13:21] So a child, we all know a child grows up.
[00:13:24] So a child is adopted in the natural adoption. If you adopt a child, then he remains a child. Then he starts growing up. So. So there's certain things he can do and certain things he grows into.
[00:13:40] He starts walking, he starts learning, he starts deciding for himself as he grow up. And then eventually you go out of the house and you're on your own. You mature.
[00:13:50] Yeah. Go and meet the world these days, you know, so.
[00:13:56] And that applies same for the kingdom.
[00:14:00] So the moment we adopted into the kingdom, into Christ, we basically children.
[00:14:06] And then the learning process starts.
[00:14:09] Now we had to start growing up.
[00:14:13] So our whole process is growing up and maturing in the Lord.
[00:14:21] So we're gonna go to Galatians 4 just now. But in Romans and in Galatians, adoption means a few that we are chosen intentionally because God wants us. Okay. We receive new identity.
[00:14:38] The one thing about that Roman law as well is once they accepted, all your debts are cancelled.
[00:14:48] If they figure out you the right person, you be the heir, the son.
[00:14:54] Whatever your history, whatever it's Canceled. You adopted into this new family. And that's exactly what happens to us.
[00:15:01] You know, once we adopted, he's paid for all our sins, for all our wrongdoings. Okay, so our debts are cancelled, and then we gain our full inheritance rights.
[00:15:14] We don't always realize the inheritance rights we have in Christ.
[00:15:19] We'll go into more of that just now. But we inherit, when we inherit the kingdom. There's so much in the kingdom that we inherit. Okay, we'll go into that just now.
[00:15:31] So. And then the awesome privilege to call him Father because we didn't have a real. We had earthly fathers, but now we have a spiritual father, which we can call Abba.
[00:15:44] Okay, so it's awesome. So let's read Galatians 4, verse 1 to 7.
[00:15:50] Sons and heirs.
[00:15:53] I know the word speaks of sons, and I know it's a reason, but daughters qualify, so it's not just men, just to set it right.
[00:16:03] So verse one, I mean that the heir is, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his Father.
[00:16:21] In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.
[00:16:29] But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth 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 daughters.
[00:16:42] And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, abba, Father, so you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son and an heir through God.
[00:17:03] So we are no longer slaves.
[00:17:05] And.
[00:17:06] But the important part in the beginning there is as long as you're a child, you're no different than a slave.
[00:17:15] And that's where our growing becomes.
[00:17:18] And.
[00:17:23] The next section in Romans where it says, the whole of creation eagerly awaits for many sons to bring to glory.
[00:17:36] So now how do you put that together?
[00:17:38] He's talking of children and sons and daughters.
[00:17:43] But the kingdom awaits for sons bringing to glory. And remember the glory part, that if there's no suffering, there's no glory. So let's read verse 8, Romans 8, 1823.
[00:17:59] And that's where we're moving into a bit of the sonship part, moving from a son from a child to a son and a daughter.
[00:18:08] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
[00:18:16] For the creation waits with eager Longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
[00:18:26] Okay?
[00:18:27] For the creation was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
[00:18:52] And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
[00:19:06] So that's when we meet our Savior one day. But on this earth, the whole earth is crying out for the revealing of the sons of God. And God had. Has got this plan that he needs sons and daughters on this earth because he's establishing his kingdom. He's setting things right.
[00:19:28] Because the world is sin. It's full of sin.
[00:19:32] We're born in sin. And he wants. He always wants to turn that around.
[00:19:36] And that's why we adopted into his family. But we can't stay children.
[00:19:42] We must mature.
[00:19:44] Because once we mature, we start walking into that inheritance that he's given us.
[00:19:53] So it's getting harder.
[00:19:59] So we're all excited when we receive the Lord. And the Lord changes our lives and he does things, and it's awesome.
[00:20:05] And then we start walking with him.
[00:20:07] And then not everything goes right anymore, you know, Then you get some challenges, and then this thing happens. And then that thing happens. Lord, I thought it was so wonderful.
[00:20:20] So we go into Hebrews 12.
[00:20:25] And I think everyone can identify with certain things. And I also want to point out that sometimes we're so quick to accuse the enemy, we think every little wrong thing that happens to us is the devil.
[00:20:46] And the moment we keep on doing that, we're just praising the devil.
[00:20:51] And it's not like that. You know, God allows sometimes things to happen to you. There are attacks from the enemy. I'm not saying there's no attacks, but we can overdo it with the enemy. He doesn't. He doesn't need any praise or glory.
[00:21:08] The Lord sometimes allow things to happen to you.
[00:21:12] That's our way of maturing. He can't come out here with a stick and beat you.
[00:21:17] He lets things happen, you know, in your life to, like, learn you. And so.
[00:21:26] So there is good news, though.
[00:21:29] So in that process, you know, God's building and maturing our lives. And the moment we embrace things and learn his ways, we learn his heart, we learn his character. He's building our character the whole time. It doesn't Stop.
[00:21:44] So let's read from verse 7 in Hebrews 12.
[00:21:47] It is for discipline that you have to endure.
[00:21:50] God is treating you as sons and daughters, for what son is there who his father does not discipline?
[00:22:00] If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and you are not sons.
[00:22:12] That's a scary part.
[00:22:16] So if we are not disciplined, we are illegitimate.
[00:22:20] Okay? Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them.
[00:22:29] Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live for they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them.
[00:22:39] But he disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
[00:22:44] Now that's, that's serious.
[00:22:47] So we all, we, we've all had children.
[00:22:49] If you haven't, you're going to have may, hopefully.
[00:22:53] And we discipline our children as best as we can.
[00:22:57] Okay? And then when they leave home, you hope that you've done the right thing all along, and then you fear you haven't.
[00:23:06] Have I done enough?
[00:23:09] Okay, so. And that's for a short while.
[00:23:12] But the Lord, in our walk with the Lord, we are under his discipline the whole time, and we grow in him the whole time so that it's unto holiness for the. For the moment. In verse 11, for the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant. But later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
[00:23:41] So there is a legitimacy that comes with our Father's discipline.
[00:23:48] And although we will always sin, we will never be without sin. We know that.
[00:23:58] But that crying out to Abba father, knowing that we have the Father and embracing anything that we think the Lord is teaching us because he's building our character the whole time.
[00:24:13] And we've all suffered that, you know, for us, yeah, when our lives turned around, we were all like on fire.
[00:24:23] And you know, it's like we're all pumped up and everything's happening and then suddenly you lose everything.
[00:24:34] And it's just a test, you know, it wasn't the devil.
[00:24:38] It was not the devil. You lose your.
[00:24:41] For our case, the farm, possessions, your inheritance, earthly inheritance, and all those things. And you struggle through that and you ask questions and you dealt and how can he do that? And we've prayed and we've prophesied and we've believed. I've put our faith and done all these things and still it's gone.
[00:25:09] No answer. But he wants our hearts, and that's part of the journey we on and inheriting that kingdom.
[00:25:17] So while we maturing and as, as sons and daughters, there's so much that we have in the kingdom, just in your prayer life, where you can pray, in authority, where you can step up and pray for your children, start prophesying for them, restoring relationship, how God wants you to raise your kids, bringing your lives in order, not conforming to the world.
[00:25:52] So he's given all this, those are the things you suddenly inherit as soon as you adopted into his family.
[00:26:00] Because he wants to turn the things of the world around where you were dysfunctional in your family, your children, in your marriage, in your honouring your mother and your father, whatever it may be, he wants to turn that around and establish that again.
[00:26:20] That's part of his plan for the kingdom. And that's why we are adopted into his family as a son and a daughter.
[00:26:27] And he's given that all to us. So we must really just embrace, embrace walking, becoming the sons and daughters and remembering that it's important we do that.
[00:26:44] And if we rebel against that, we become illegitimate.
[00:26:49] The father does it out of his love for us.
[00:26:54] So if you take back in history the Israelites, how they went about and he tried to create that thing in the nation and they went through tough times because all he wanted is to have this family, these people that he can use to build his kingdom.
[00:27:18] So they all through in processes. And then he sent his son Jesus to do it for us.
[00:27:26] And as we receive Christ, we, we become part of that sonship.
[00:27:31] That's how we qualify as sons and daughters.
[00:27:35] So that we can also now walk in the victory that Jesus walked in up to the cross, up to the resurrection.
[00:27:43] But never forget that, be part of the suffering as well and part of the dying as we shared at Easter, it's about the dying of ourselves as well and embracing, embracing the hardship.
[00:28:00] So adoption is, is a double edged, is very much double edged.
[00:28:06] It's both life and death.
[00:28:09] So as soon as we die, we get life for ourselves.
[00:28:13] And it's a matter of embracing sonship, knowing what it's all about.
[00:28:20] It's all in love from the Father.
[00:28:22] We're walking this thing with God. He's building my character and surrender him.
[00:28:28] The more we surrender. We sang about the surrender this morning as well.
[00:28:32] And as Paul shared earlier, with a clay, we constantly formed as a clay, like clay in the Lord's hands.
[00:28:42] He's just forming us, forming us.
[00:28:45] I want to just read John 12:26 as well.
[00:28:51] Speaking of dying.
[00:28:53] John 12:24, 26, you've got to tell you, speaking of dying, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone.
[00:29:07] But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
[00:29:11] Whoever loves his life loses it.
[00:29:15] And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
[00:29:19] If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be also.
[00:29:27] If anyone serves me, the father will honour him.
[00:29:31] So I would like to encourage you that our walk with the Lord as sons and daughters, it's a walk of maturity. We cannot remain children, immature. A child is immature and. And the Lord's come to pull us out of that law and mature us.
[00:29:56] A child needs a law because it is immature. Our little children, we lay down things and they get disciplined. And discipline is not always just hitting with a stick, eh, With a plunky.
[00:30:11] Yeah. There's correction that's brought into something, there's direction, there's helping you get on the right path.
[00:30:23] There's a lot in discipline in, in our lives as we grow.
[00:30:30] And we mustn't always associate discipline with this hard law thing.
[00:30:36] You know, we grow up with it and it is hard sometimes, but it's a different heart because we're going somewhere.
[00:30:46] We're becoming sons and daughters and there's a hope and there's a loving father and he's changing us. We're going to come out better the other side.
[00:30:55] It's not just a punishment.
[00:30:58] There's no punishment in this. There's a growing, there's a maturity that we're growing in.
[00:31:03] So that's what I want to encourage you with today is, yeah, we have our hardships, we have our challenges, but the Lord's adopted us and he's growing us into sons and daughters.
[00:31:19] And the biggest mistake is that you think you're there.
[00:31:25] We keep on learning and we. We're going to have different challenges, all of us, whole time, but we keep on learning. The moment you think you've learned enough, it's a big mistake.
[00:31:38] Just keep yourself open to. Keep on learning what I want to embrace because I want to become your son and daughter that you want me to be because you've given me this inheritance.
[00:31:50] You want to establish your kingdom on earth.
[00:31:54] Amen.
[00:31:56] Jesus did it for us. Yeah.
[00:31:58] Let's pray.
[00:32:01] Father, we thank you.
[00:32:03] Thank you, Lord, that as we receive you, we know you love us so much as your legitimate children. Lord, you seeked.
[00:32:17] Your heart's desire was to have children and sons and daughters on this earth, to establish your kingdom on this earth.
[00:32:30] And we are just so grateful, Father, that we could be part of that and that you felt with your great love to send your son for each one of us so that we could be part of that family, the family of God.
[00:32:47] And that we could also have one another as brothers and sisters to also grow together, Lord.
[00:33:02] So Father, I pray that we would embrace that our focus would always be on you. And it's sometimes so hard not to blame, to ask so many questions and to groan and to complain, Father. And we are guilty of that.
[00:33:24] We're so quick to complain and we want to repent of that, Lord.
[00:33:32] We want to repent of always so quick to question you and to complain about any little hardship we have, any little struggle we're experiencing.
[00:33:45] Father, forgive us for that.
[00:33:51] And just remind us of how you love us and how you're growing us into sons of glory, sons and daughters. What the earth is eagerly desiring and the earth is crying out with birth pains to see the sons and daughters walking on this earth, walking in authorities conquering, conquering ground, claiming back what the enemy has stolen.
[00:34:25] And I feel like the enemy stolen things in our lives in some of your lives.
[00:34:35] And you need to take that back.
[00:34:38] It's your rightful place as a son and a daughter of God.
[00:34:43] You need to take back territory in your life that the law that you feel is stolen.
[00:34:50] Sometimes the enemy is there to steal, kill and destroy.
[00:34:55] But you have a rightful place as a son and a daughter in the inheritance.
[00:35:00] God's cancelled the debt.
[00:35:04] You can step up in your rightful place, take authority over a situation, take back what the enemy has stolen in your life.
[00:35:11] Joy, finances, relationship breakdown, anything that the enemy stolen in your life, you're in the rightful place to take it back.
[00:35:30] Realizing that I am a son and a daughter, I can take it back.
[00:35:39] So Father, thank you that we can take back what the enemy has stolen in our lives.
[00:35:51] Thank you Jesus.
[00:35:55] If it's you that feels like you need to take back the enemy stolen so many things in your life, joy, relationships, anything, anything the Lord's putting on your heart.
[00:36:10] We'd like to pray with you.
[00:36:13] We'd like to pray with you.
[00:36:19] Just bring it before the Lord.
[00:36:21] You know, the Spirit identified. Anything that you need to take back in your life, where you've let go, just take it back now.
[00:36:33] Thank you Jesus.
[00:36:35] Thank you Lord that you restore and you rebuild into your kingdom.
[00:36:47] We honor you and we praise you for this.
[00:36:50] In Jesus name, amen.
