Pt. 16 LBCF Chapter 12: Of Adoption

Very simply, of adoption. And the reason that I'm going to do this one is it only has one paragraph, all right? And it's pretty basic, yeah, pretty basic, but extremely important, and one of the biggest blessings, all right?

It's in two parts and one paragraph. And one of the reasons it's important is, one, it refutes the liberal doctrine of the universal fatherhood of God, all right? Which is what a lot of liberal theologians talk about.

They talk, oh, no, God is the father of everybody, and we're all brothers. The late Walter Martin used to mock them, saying, he says, yeah, they believe in the universal fatherhood of God, the universal brotherhood of man in the neighborhood of Boston.

It just, God is not everybody's father in this sense, all.

Right?

It explains just who is a child of God, and I know I'm not doing an apologetic, but I have to put this up just so that you can see. For John 1, 12, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name.

And it lists the blessings of being adopted into the family of God, OK? So let's look at the outline. For part one of the paragraph is the foundation of adoption, all right? The recipients, all those that are justified.

If you've been justified, you're a child of God. That's the good news. That's the entrance into the child of God. Its source, God. God assured it. God vouchsafed it. I love the old English, all right?

And its ground, in and for the sake of his only son, Jesus Christ. Something that we need to keep in mind, we have to make sure that even in our evangelism that it's God-centered and not man-centered, all right?

Why are any one of us here saved? Because of Jesus Christ, for his glory. Remember, God gave his elect to Jesus Christ and said, these are yours. You belong to Jesus Christ. He's your older brother, which means you are, God is your father.

And as we go through, you'll see that we get to inherit everything that Jesus Christ inherits. In fact, let me say this now so I don't forget it later on. Think if you can, this is, I'm going to give you an impossible task.

Think if you can, the love that God has for Jesus Christ. It's beyond us, right? But here's the other thing. The way he loves Christ, he loves you with that same exact love. No less, no more. Think about that.

As much as he loves Christ, that's how much he loves you. When I first heard that, it blew me away. And I'll tell you, unashamedly, I cried. I cried to think that God loved me that much, as much as he loves Christ.

Part two of the paragraph talks about the blessings of adoption. We see what adoption is. What are the blessings of adoption, all right? First, incorporation into God's family to make partakers of the grace of adoption, all right?

I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but I know people in here have adopted children. You know that my wife and I have adopted children. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, without any hesitation, that each one of those children we have adopted, we love with the same love that our natural children, with that same intensity, that same love, no distinction, all right?

And we are partakers of the grace of adoption. You have been chosen in him. And a reception of a filial disposition, what that means is they are taken into the number and enjoy the liberties and the privileges of the children of God.

All the privileges of the kingdom of heaven are yours, if you're a child of God. He withholds, Paul says, and I think it's in Ephesians 1, he withholds no good thing from you. Everything that you need, you will get.

Not necessarily everything you want, but everything you need, he will give to you. We will experience a paternal treatment by God, have his name put upon him, receive the spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are unable to cry, Abba, Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by him as a father.

In other words, just as an earthly father should be, but he does in perfection, right? And we should not be ashamed to call ourselves children of God. That should be our number one identity. I had a friend, he was a chaplain for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.

That's Memphis, Tennessee, the land of Elvis. And he came up to New York and this guy was, he had no shame whatsoever about Christ. And we got into the elevator at the Empire State Building. We were showing him around.

And you know those elevators, they get, they're pretty large and they get jammed, all right? We were the last two that walked in and we walked in and he turns around and he says, hi, everybody, my name is Corky Childs.

He says, I'm a child of Jesus Christ and I'd like to tell you about him. And all the way to the top, he gave the gospel. Yep, not ashamed, you know, we're unable to cry out, Abba, Father. And then we had the reception of the promise inheritance.

Yeah, never cast off, but seal to the day of redemption and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation. What promise? We are heirs. Everything that was promised to Jesus Christ is ours. Isn't this an amazing doctrine?

Unworthy sinners such as we are. And look at what, look at what's promised to us. And his promises are true. And that's chapter 12. Oh, wait, no, you know what? I gave you, this was just a bonus. Don't, no extra charge for this.

This was a definition from Sam Waldron. And I just figured I'd throw it up. Adoption is a change in legal status from that of a slave to that of a son of God, which takes place by faith at the moment of death.

Adoption is an act of union with Christ, but will be publicly revealed at the resurrection. It is, that's supposed to be an act of God's free grace flowing from the electing love of God and Father in eternity and the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit in time.

And immediately confers the spirit of adoption and the privilege of being one of God's heirs, as well as other privileges, obligations, and liabilities. Liabilities? Yeah, sometimes it costs you, doesn't it?

Any questions on adoption? No, we good? Praise God to this, isn't it? Isn't this an amazing part? This is all enabled by Jesus Christ.