We are starting a new series today. Can anyone guess what the title of the new series is? Anybody? It is not. Where would why would you think that? I'm just joking. It is. It absolutely is. Child of God. The last couple of weeks, if you were with us, if you watched from home online, we talked about what it means to approach God like a child. We spent a couple of weeks doing that, sort of setting up this conversation that we're starting today, because the reason that we need to approach God like a child is because we are children of God. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you are a child of God. We've been going through this letter in the New Testament called Romans for a while. And Romans is kind of a deep dive, and we like to spend some time in Romans, and we come back up for air a little bit, then we go back down. And Romans, if you're if you're unfamiliar, it's probably the most comprehensive explanation of who Jesus is, of what Jesus came to do, of what we would be like, what status we would have if not for Jesus, exactly what it means for us to connect with Jesus, what that changes for us. It is by far the most comprehensive detailing of all of those dynamics that we have in any self-contained letter or book in the New Testament of the Bible. And so if you understand Romans, you really understand what it means to be a Jesus follower. It's a really important document. It's been as influential in helping people understand what it means to follow Jesus as any document that's ever been written. And if you're new to the whole Jesus thing, if if you're just kind of checking the church thing out and you're like, oh man, Romans, we're just opening up the Bible, it's deep. I don't think this is for me. Let me just encourage you with something. You are a spiritual person. You have been created by God with the capacity to understand deeply spiritual things. You will be amazed at how easy it is for things to click for you when it comes to understanding the things of God, because you were created for this purpose. You were created to have a deep relationship and connection with the God who made you and all of this stuff, even though there's a lot of concepts, a lot of ideas, it's gonna click with your spirit because you're created for this capacity. So don't worry if you're just jumping into the middle of a series on Romans, and I'm saying it's the most comprehensive detailing and blah, blah, blah. No, you've got this. And this section that we're in right now, it's it's smack dab in the middle of Romans chapter 8, which might be the entire climax of the book of Romans. I'm gonna read just a few verses from Romans chapter 8. This is verses 15 and 16. This is what we're jumping off from. It says, You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him Abba Father, for his spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. If you put your faith in Jesus, you are a son or a daughter of God. It's not that you're like a son or a daughter. It's not a metaphor. This is not some nice way of helping us feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. Oh, yeah, it's kind of like God's my dad. It's kind of like I'm his child. No, no, you are a son or a daughter of the God who created everything. And that is a powerful, powerful thing. So much so that if we can move beyond just having this as a nice sentiment in our minds and we can understand this and actually really digest this, believe it with all of our heart, let it sink into the core of our being. This reality, us being children of God, it should affect every single aspect of our lives. It should affect the way that we see ourselves, it should affect the way we see the world around us, the way that we see our obstacles, the things standing in our way. Understanding this as a life-changing reality, not just a nice, a nice thought. This changes everything. Now, I don't know if anyone here ever grew up with a parent that had some clout. Like maybe you had a mother or a father that could pull some strings. Anybody, just you can raise your hand by the way, if you're like, yeah, yeah, my mom or dad, they could get some things done. I had some interesting experiences because of that. Anybody at all? None of us are the children of important people. Wow. That's good though. That's good. You know, it's funny, I have these really interesting memories growing up because when I was born, we were really, really poor. And some of my earliest memories are of us living in a double wide trailer in southern Missouri. And uh and then I remember being like three or four, and this is like vague stuff. And I remember this rental house that we moved into. And uh I just remember it because it had a lot of squirrels in the backyard. That's all I remember. It's like the squirrel house. And then when I was five or so, we moved into the very first house. Very first house my dad ever owned. He's 30 years older than me. And so, you know, I was five, he's 35, buys his first house, this little small house, but it was amazing to us. And and then over the next few years, it's like we moved again, and our house was nicer. And and, you know, I'm a kid at the time. I have I didn't know I was poor when I lived in the double wide, it was just where I lived. And I didn't, I didn't know, there was no like moment where I was like, we have crossed into the middle class. Like that didn't happen when I was seven years old. I just was like, we're moving again, cool. Well, what was happening is the company that my dad worked for was growing. And he had gotten in at the ground floor. Uh he started working for a company called O'Reilly Automotive, and there's like 20 of them in North Atlanta. Uh, but when he started working for them, there were like five, and they were all in southern Missouri. And it was kind of just a cool thing. It was a family-owned company. They're really Irish, like super Irish, the O'Reilly's. We're the McTears. And so here comes my dad, and he's this you know young Irish guy, and he started working at one of their stores, and I don't know if it was the last name or what, but they're like, we like this guy, and my dad's actually a super capable business guy. So so he ends up kind of coming in, working on the corporate side, and he was a big part of this company growing and expanding. And so as the company grew, you know, our life improved. And it got to the point where O'Reilly was like a big company. So the first time I remember like someone learned that my dad worked for them, and they were like, oh, they were familiar with it. And I was like, that's pretty cool. Well, the the pinnacle of that for me as a kid, feeling like, oh, yeah, my dad, he's he's important. You know, he works for a big company and all this stuff, is when I was in the fourth grade, we went to a Kansas City Royals baseball game. And when I was in elementary school, baseball was my favorite sport by far. Missouri has two professional sports teams that play baseball. So you've got the Cardinals in St. Louis, you've got the Royals in Kansas City. We used to go to games all the time. It was awesome. And one day, we go to this baseball game, and uh we sit down, and my dad says, Hey guys, I'll be right back. He gets up out of his seat and he's gone for a while. But it's a baseball game, and you know, the hot dog lines are long, and you know, who knows? And so I'm not really thinking much of it. He shows back up a few minutes later, and he has he has this ball, and uh, and he hands it to me. And uh, there's no way you could see it from where I'm at, I keep it in this little case, uh, but I'll put it up on the screen so you guys can see what this ball says. It says, Justin, my best, fogbutt. That's what I read. And like, look at it for a second, like, really look at it. Justin, my best, fogbutt. Now, I don't know if that first word is fog, but that second word is absolutely, undeniably B-U-T-T butt. And so I just kind of stared at it for a second, like I don't. It seemed important when my dad handed it to me. I got that in impression, and he's like, here you go. And I look at my dad and I'm like, who is Fog Butt? Like, what is who what is this? And my dad's like, no, no, no, no, no. That's George Brett, is what it is. And so, you know, from a kid in Missouri, if you're not familiar, George Brett played for the Royals, won a World Series with the Royals. He he is like by far the most legendary Hall of Fame. He he is the Kansas City Royals, especially when I was a kid. And so I'm holding this ball, and as a baseball fan, like I had posters of him, baseball cards of him. I'm holding a ball that has his signature on it, but not just his signature, it has my name on it. He wrote it. And so it turns out that O'Reilly had grown to the point where they were big sponsors of the Royals, and their their logo was on all the outfield walls. And so my dad had had an inn. And we go and and he went and he was able to you know knock on the the suite of the owners or whoever and said, Hey, my son's here. And and George Brett at that time was available and and he got a personalized autograph. Fogbutt signed a ball, you know, for me. It was amazing. It was amazing. And so, you know, I got this ball and I immediately, you know, got a case for it, and this sat, this sat on my dresser as a kid, like for the the third grade, fourth grade, all the way, you know, until I was in high school, and I actually dug it up out of a box in my attic just last night when this came to me. I remember thinking when I got that ball, like, go dad. You know, I was like, my dad, my and you know, I probably told my friends, like, my dad knows George Brett. I probably said that, which would have been a lie, but that seems like something I would have said in fourth grade. But I just I felt like my dad, he could pull some strings. My dad was the kind of guy who who was important enough to get some things done. It felt really good. If your father is the God of the universe, like you want to talk about pulling some strings. You want to talk about having some cloud, you want to talk about being able to get things done? The God of the universe in which you exist is your father. I mean, who could provide for you better than God? Who could bless you more greatly than God? Who could help you more than God? Who could protect you better than God? The answer is no one. If the God of the universe is actually your father, if you are the actual son or daughter of the living God, that is a game changer. That is something that should change every single aspect of the way that you see life. And I believe it's vital for us, absolutely crucial for us, to understand what it really means to be the child of God. Because again, this is one of those ideas that unfortunately has become kind of commonplace. And it's fortunate in the sense that the message of Jesus has has worked, it's penetrated. Yeah, I'm I'm God's child, but but we need to appreciate this for what it is, because this is powerful truth. So as we go through this last section of Romans 8, we're gonna explore and unpack what it really means that I am a child of God? And today I want to start with two words: audacity and adoption. Those are the two words that we're gonna focus on today. What does it mean to be a child of God? Audacity and adoption. We'll start with the first word. Audacity. I don't know if you've ever been around someone who says something that's just audacious. Like they say something and you're like, that's that's just you have to almost, you have to address it, right? If someone says something truly audacious, you have this moment and you're like, should I question this? Should I say something? Should I challenge this? Sometimes people say audacious things about themselves, maybe they're bragging about themselves, you know, they're they're they're talking themselves up, and you have to sort of like, should I challenge this or what? When my my oldest was in the first grade, he came home one day, and there was a friend that he went to school with that lived in our neighborhood. They rode the bus together, and he just says, Dad, and he says the kid's name, did you know that he has a million dollars? And I was like, I mean, he lives in our neighborhood. And so, we don't have a million dollars, you know, and I was like, What do you mean? What do you I was just trying to feel it out? And he's like, No, no, no. He told me on the bus that he has a million dollars in his wallet, you know? And this is an audacious thing to say, and I've got my son, he's in the second grade, and I'm not like mad that this kid said that, you know, because he's a second grader. Like I probably said, my dad knows George Brett. I'm sure I said that. I I vaguely remember that, but it sounds like the fourth grade me. But I had this moment with Lee, I'm like, well, I can't like have my second grader walking around believing that you can have a million dollars in your wallet. Like, he's got to understand the world we live in better than that. So I had to sit down and be like, son, he's lying to you. And he's like, why would he do that? And I'm like, I that's a great question. He wants you to think he's cool, he wants to feel important. I don't know, but I'm just I just want you to know, I don't want you to tell him, I don't want you to go be like, you lied to me. I don't want you to get on the bus tomorrow and say that. Number, I just want to quick aside, I didn't really like the kid. You know, it's weird when you're a parent, and this kid would come to our house, and the first time he came to our house, we brought apples downstairs for them to eat, and uh they just he threw them at the wall. He just like come downstairs, and there's all these apple stains, and and I'm like, what happened? And there's he's throwing apples at my wall. And so I'm like, I don't like you. You know, get out of my house. Throwing apples at my wall. Take your million dollars and go, you know. So maybe I was a little motivated by that. But but like I had to tell my son, I said, son, look, you let me understand you need to understand what a million dollars is. Because it's it's a lot, and you don't you don't carry a million dollars. You don't give your child a million dollars to carry in their wallet, if that's even possible. There's not a wallet that could fit that. Just trust me, he doesn't have a million dollars. He's lying to you. Because that was an audacious thing to say. It's hard for us to understand how audacious the statement, God is my father, actually is. But in Jesus' day, no one missed that. You know, sometimes when we read the teachings of Jesus, there are things that we read and they're a little audacious. They have this effect on us. And sometimes we kind of bristle and go, ooh, I don't like that. You know, for example, in our culture, because of the way our culture is wired and how we're sort of conditioned, if we ever read Jesus talk about something like judgment, and Jesus talk about like some type of final judgment where God's gonna say yay or nay, and and that's like we don't like that. We kind of go, ooh, uh, I don't, mm-mm, that I don't like that. I'd rather you just say, everybody's good, no matter what, it's all good. He didn't say that, but but that stuff that makes us bristle. The people in Jesus' day, they wouldn't have had a hard time with statements about judgment at all. I mean, they grew up with that. Their whole culture was we're the ones who are in, everyone else is out. So when Jesus talked about judgment, they would have been like, that's right, and obviously we're okay. You know what I mean? That's how they would have responded. But but then there are these statements that we might read Jesus say, and for us, we're like, yeah, that's great. We just read right past it. Jesus calls God Father, we're like, on to the next line. But to the people in Jesus' day, that's the thing they would have bristled at. That's the thing they would have said, excuse me, what Jesus talked about God as his father, and it was scandalous. Good example. John chapter 5. It says afterward, Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the sheep gate, was the pool of Bethesda with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people, blind, lame, or paralyzed, would lay on the porches. And this was a place that people would go. They believed that the pools provided healing. That's what they believed. And so they would go and it says, one day one of the men lying there had been sick for 38 years, and when Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, Would you like to get well? I can't, sir, the sick man said. For I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up, someone else gets there ahead of me. And Jesus told him, Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk. And instantly, the man was healed. He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking. Now, how many of you, if you saw that, would have just jumped for joy, like, wow, that's amazing. Look what just happened. You're so excited for this man. I have very good friends who need healing, and I pray for them and believe that they're going to experience that one day, and the day that happens, I'm going to be like, yes! That's not the reaction of the religious people who are nearby. But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, which was the day that they had set aside to worship God. And so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, You can't work on the Sabbath. The law doesn't allow you to carry that sleeping mat. I mean, just talk about missing the point, right? Like, can you imagine being this man? You've been sick 38 years, you haven't been able to walk for 38 years. Miraculously, you don't even get into the pool that everyone believes heals you. He didn't even get in. Jesus just says, stand up, pick up your mat, and walk, and you do it. People are like, what are you doing? It's Saturday, that's the day that their Sabbath was. Stop it. You're like, seriously? But it goes on. Verse 16. The Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules, but Jesus replied, My father is always working, and so am I. And so the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his father, thereby making himself equal with God. When Jesus simply said, Oh, my father, he's always working, so am I. The reaction from the religious leaders was, He needs to die. That is how audacious of a statement calling God your father was to the people with whom Jesus lived. Matthew 26, we get a window into the trial that Jesus went through before he went to the cross. It says, Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, Well, aren't you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself? But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to him, I demand in the name of the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God. And Jesus replied, You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God's right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, Blasphemy. Why do we even need other witnesses? You've all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict? Guilty, they shouted, He deserves to die. To claim to be the Son of God, to claim that God is your father was so audacious that it was deserving of death. And Jesus said it all the time. But maybe what's most audacious is he didn't just claim that title for himself, he gave it to us. If you're familiar with the uh the Lord's Prayer, maybe those of us that grew up Catholic or kind of Catholic, you know, there's a lot of either Catholic or kind of Catholic uh people who go here. And uh and I mean it's great. We have that's one of the things I love about our church. We have people from all walks of life. Sometimes people say, like, oh, you're a non-denominational church, which is the title for a church that just doesn't have a, I guess, a name. And uh, we're like, no, we're we're like all denominations, all kinds of people we have all kinds of people here. It's great. It's great. We're all kind of confused, it's awesome. Um like some of you, like when it's Lord's Supper time, you're like, I don't know, this is weird, but then those of us who grew up Catholic are kind of Catholic, like, I know exactly what to do right now, uh, and vice versa, you know, it's all kinds of stuff. It's great. And so if you if you grew up like that, you probably had a prayer that you repeated so many times, right? It's known as the Lord's Prayer. And it comes from this great story where where people come to Jesus and they say, Tell us how to pray. How do we talk to this God? And Jesus says, Pray like this. Our Father who's in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And don't lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. A really short, simple prayer, but it begins with two really powerful words. Our Father. Jesus tells this group of people when you pray, call him dad. And as blasphemous and outrageous as it was for Jesus to call God Father. I mean, at least he's Jesus, right? He's the one doing the miracles, he's the one walking on water. I mean, maybe if there's anyone who has a right to call God Father, it's that guy. But no, no, he tells us to call God father. That is, that is audacious. We've got to realize that we we've got to let this hit us the way it's meant to hit us. These people, when Jesus said call God Father, the first time they would have said that, it would have been like, you sure? And I imagine they would have done that thing where you look and see if lightning's about to hit you or something like that. You know, like our father, like what's what's going on? Because you're not supposed to do that. And and we've we've got to appreciate the audacity of the position that we've been put in. I don't know if you've ever had an experience in life where you're like, I shouldn't be here. I don't deserve to be here. I am above my station. But that is where you are. And the religious leaders of Jesus today, you know what? Yes, they had God all wrong. That's why we've got to be really, really good at making sure that we don't believe that we have God all figured out ever because if history has shown us anything, is that the people who usually believe they have God figured out don't. You've always got to be humble and open. But you have to understand the the reason that they were so shocked by Jesus calling God Father is because they understood the holiness of God. God is other, He is set apart, He is different, He is not to be treated. With some type of frivolous attitude. He's God. Like he's not your bro. You know what I mean? That's Jesus. He's your brother. Because you're a child of God. But God the Father, He is holy. I mean, I go back to my ball here. We had land when I was a kid. We lived in rural Missouri, so there's plenty of land for everybody. And I had this bucket of baseballs. This big bucket. And I used to take it outside and I'd throw up balls and I'd hit them. We had enough land that I could hit baseballs and not worry about the neighbor's yard or windows or anything like that. So I would hit these baseballs. And like, if you would have taken this baseball and put it in my bucket of balls, like I would have, I would have slapped you, to be quite frank. Like, what are you doing? That's not just a baseball. You know, that's my George Brett baseball. This one, it's in a case. It's set aside. It's set apart. It was like the holy baseball in my house. And if you would have walked in my room, you wouldn't have wondered, is that important? Because it was clear. And we do have to understand that God is set apart, that he is holy, that he's unlike anything else. And the Jewish people, they definitely understood that about God, that he is great and grand, and we should come to him reverently. And so in their minds, there's just no way to call him father. That's too personal. That's bringing God down, and how dare you! But they forgot and didn't understand, they missed that Jesus Himself is God come down. And God just didn't come down for us, he then lifted us up to a place that we had never been. And so now we can call God Father. That's audacious and it's awesome. So you have to appreciate the audacity of that. Now, second word: adoption. This is key. Let's go back to Romans 8:15 through 16 again. Because it says, you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him Abba Father, for his spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. Now, certain words, especially in Scripture, are kind of like hyperlinks. You know, you say this one word, and it, you know, if it's like a hyperlink on the internet, you click on it, it opens up a whole bunch of other stuff. There's certain phrases, certain words that the people who originally read this, heard this, that word adoption, it would have brought up a lot of thoughts in their minds. It's like, okay, in our office here at the church, um, many of us who work here at his hands have seen the show, The Office, more times than makes sense. Anyone else in the room say I'm like an office aficionado? Like you've seen all of the episodes of The Office. You can be you don't have to like timidly raise your hand, you know. Okay, so those of us in the office that that are you know office people, sometimes we'll just say a line, and everyone else in the room who watches the office like knows exactly what we're saying. But the few people on staff who haven't watched The Office have no idea, like, why is everyone laughing? You know? Like you just say one line and three or four people are dying, and everyone is like, I have I've missed something, okay? Because they don't get the hyperlink. And so this word adoption, you know, it brings up a lot of thoughts in our minds because we understand adoption in our world today, but you have to realize that this word would have brought up a lot of different ideas, some of which are similar to our views of adoption, but very, very different ideas to the people that this was written to. Because the way that adoption worked in the Roman Empire, Roman adoption was a very specific thing. Adoption really wasn't a thing in the Jewish community at all, but in the Roman world, adoption was a really big deal. And so when Paul writes, you have been adopted into the family of God, now you can call him Abba Father, this would have opened up all these thoughts in these people's minds. And so I want to take just a second. I want to walk through what Roman adoption is all about, because if you understand these things, you connect the dots to what he's saying about what Jesus has done for us, guys. It's huge. It is audacious. It is huge. Okay, so let's start here. Number one, first and foremost, Roman adoption was selfish. People did not adopt others out of some kindness of their heart. They didn't see orphans or children without parents and go, ooh, they need a home. In fact, that was so commonplace in their world, it didn't really register. And I'm sure there were people who took other people under their wing, but the legal understanding of adoption, this was not something people did to bless children. This is something people did to look after their own interests. Because in the Roman world, if you didn't have a male heir, you had no ability to pass on your inheritance. You had no ability to pass on what belonged to you. Or if you happen to be a person of great wealth, and let's say you had an heir, you had a son, but he's a moron, uh, and you didn't want him to have your inheritance because you're like, he's gonna ruin it, you you would adopt a better son. I'm not joking. I'm not joking. If we laugh about it, it happened all the time. It happened all the time. And there were even emperors who adopted kids who became emperors because they're like, I don't like my son. He's gonna mess all this up. This one, this one's sharp. I pick you, you're my son now. And so adoption is something that people they didn't do this out of the kindness of their heart to bless less fortunate people. They did this to look after themselves because they did not have an heir or the heir they had wasn't a good one, and they needed to make sure that their legacy was left in the hands of someone capable, so they would adopt. That is almost the entirety of Roman adoption. So let's keep going. Roman adoption, like our adoption today, was intentional. Like you you picked somebody. Now, it's intentional for us today, because there are like adoption agencies. And you might go through an adoption agency, but that adoption agency might say to you, hey, there's a child, and we want to match you, and then you might go through a process. I've had friends that have done this, and and the the agencies assisting you in that, there weren't adoption agencies in the Roman world. In fact, very often the person you would adopt would already have a mother and father. And if they got adopted by you, that meant they weren't that person's kids anymore. And so adoption was something that was very intentional. It was something that if you got adopted, it means you were picked, you were wanted. It means that that someone recognized something really great in you and like, I want you to be mine because of all that you have to offer me. You know, it's it's it's interesting because in our world, if someone finds out that they've been adopted, sometimes that's a crisis. And many of you have been through this. And sometimes people will even say, you know, you're adopted as like a put-down. And I mean, let's just let's just appreciate the fact that it feels good to be chosen. I've got four kids. I didn't choose any of them. You know? Now, don't hear me wrong. I'm not saying I wouldn't choose them. If I could, I would. I'm just saying I didn't. They're mine. God's like, here's this one, and have fun. You know? But it feels nice to be chosen, to be picked. You're picked for a team. You're picked for a job, for a promotion. Someone chooses to spend the rest of their life with you, that feels really, really good. But you have to understand in the Roman world, you know, usually someone getting adopted wouldn't have been like a young child. It would have been someone who was grown who had proved their worth. And so if you would have been chosen to be adopted, someone intentionally picked you because they saw tremendous value in you. And so, even though their motivations were selfish, it would have been a tremendous compliment. It was intentional. Okay, Roman adoption wasn't just selfish, wasn't it just intentional. It was final. If you got adopted, you were 100% now a new person. Like there's no, you're part of that family now, and there's no such thing as unadoption. There's no such thing as like, I changed my mind. No, once you were adopted, it is final done. Can't be undone. And so the process of adoption was very weighty. In fact, there was a ceremony that they would go through in the Roman world where uh, if there was another father who was allowing his son to be adopted into another family, they would go through this process where there would be like a ceremonial sale that would take place. And twice the adopting father would pay a price to the father who was giving his heir up for adoption, and twice the father giving his child up for adoption would refuse the sale, would say, No, no, no, I've changed my mind. And then again, here. And this was played out in front of witnesses, and no, no, no. And then the third time, the father would take the money, the payment. And this was meant to symbolize this is final. Once you accept this payment, this this child is now this other person's. It was it was no such thing as going back. You couldn't two days later be like, hey, hey, can I I've changed my mind. Like, no, no, you had your chance. The two times you refused, the third time you accepted, it's final. Roman adoption was not just final, it was complete. Like, so complete, it's actually kind of interesting. Things that wouldn't even work today. Let's say, for example, you owed a tremendous amount of money to someone, you were in debt. In the Roman world, if you were in debt and someone adopted you, guess what? Your debts are wiped away because that person doesn't exist anymore. If you had done certain crimes and then you were adopted, you could never be arrested for those crimes. Because you didn't do them. That was that other person that doesn't exist anymore. It was like literally an entirely clean slate. You were viewed totally and completely as a new person, so much so that the mistakes, that the crimes of the past could not be put on the new person. It's pretty amazing. That wouldn't work like that today. Otherwise, a lot of us would be like, I'm gonna get adopted, you know? I'm out of debt. This is great. That's how complete adoption was. It's actually really interesting. There was uh an emperor who uh who adopted a young man who would one day become the emperor. His name was Nero. Nero was nuts. And uh and when he got adopted by the emperor so that he would be the heir, he also happened to fall in love with the emperor's daughter, Claudia. And so he wanted to marry Claudia, but it was a big deal because that was now his sister. And it wasn't like he could be like, well, she's not really my sister. I was adopted, like just recently. Like they had to go through an entire legal process to get married because, in the eyes of the law, that is your sister. There was no like kind of, not really technically, it was like, no, no, it was complete. It was complete. That's what Roman adoption was. And then the final thing is it was expensive. The only people who adopted in the Roman Empire were the wealthiest people. Adoption was something reserved for the ultra-rich. The price was so high, because as you can tell, like if your debts could get wiped out, you become a new person, you're scot-free, and all these other things, like that's something that people could use to their advantage. And so there were a lot of hurdles, a lot of obstacles to adopting. It was incredibly expensive. When Paul would have said that simple phrase, you have been adopted into the family of God, it would have brought up all these ideas for all of the people reading it, listening to it. So here's what I want us to do as we wrap up. This says very clearly that because of Jesus, when you put your trust in him, you are now adopted into the family of God. What does that mean? What's that hyperlink going to? Let's start here. It was expensive. What was the price that was paid? The precious blood of Jesus Christ. Can you think of a higher price? Like I I love all of you guys. And if you were ever in trouble and you needed my help and all it required was the life of any of my children. I mean, I'm I'm just gonna say I'm just I'm sorry. Probably not. You know, I mean, like, I pardon me, what's me, but no, no, I would be like God the Father and I could sacrifice something so precious, but no, these my children are my world. I mean, they're amazing. And and it wasn't like it's just any kid, it's Jesus. I mean it's Jesus. His life, that was the price paid, so that you could be in this family. You know, I've I've mentioned this before. I've got this baseball, I grew up loving baseball, and I had baseball cards. It's a saying that my dad used to say all the time, and it just sticks with me constantly. I repeat it often. But I used to I used to have these baseball cards, all these collectibles, and I would calculate how much they cost, how much they were worth with this magazine I would get in the mail every month, and I would tell my dad sometimes, like, Dad, my card collection, it's worth a thousand dollars. And he would always say, No, it's not. It's worth whatever someone's willing to pay for it. What does that say about you? What are you worth? Whatever someone was willing to pay. And Jesus gave his life. That means you were really expensive. That should bless you. Let's go back. This adoption, it's complete. That means you're a new person. When you're in the family of God, it's you're brand new. That means if someone ever shows up, if the enemy ever shows up and accuses you, if you ever feel some thought in the back of your mind that says that you you are you're accused, that you should be ashamed because of who you were, what you've done, blah, blah, blah. No, who's that person? They're gone. Like you're you're a child of God, nothing can change it. It's complete, it's total. You're a whole new person, and nothing from that old life can stick. It's also final. There's no takebacks. God the Father is never gonna look at you and go, hey, we need to have a talk. Uh been trying the whole son-daughter thing out for a while. You know, love you, but just not working for me. Like that's never, that's never there is no such thing as unadopted. And this is really vital, guys, because whose you are, whose you are, plays a big role in you understanding who you are. And we have a tendency as human beings to decide and choose things to give us our sense of identity that are fleeting. And so let's say you choose success to be what gives you your sense of identity. That's great. Just make sure you never fail. Because then you're not a success anymore. That can change. Or let's say, let's say, you know, in this day and age with Instagram and all the health crazes and all that kind of stuff, like it's beauty. It's being fit. You know, I'm gonna, beauty, that's how I'm gonna, that's how I'm gonna get my sense of identity and value. Beauty fades. Have you ever seen someone who's trying too hard to hold on to beauty? You know, like they've hit that point in life where it's like, embrace aging, just embrace it.

You know?

Like you see this a lot in Hollywood, and you're like, your face doesn't look like a face anymore. Uh I get that you're trying to hold on to that, but just be old. Just go for it. Come on, we all get there, right? Like beauty fades. It's not final. And if that's what gives you your sense of identity, then I mean, all right, but that's a short-lived experience. Or the love of other people, the acceptance of other people. People are fickle. The same people who are cheering, Hosanna, Hosanna, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, were shouting crucify him a few days later. People can change fast. And so you can't choose something to give you your sense of identity that's fleeting. You can't choose something that can be taken away. Nothing can take away the fact that you are the son or the daughter of God. Nothing and no one can ever change that. It is final, it is done. Jesus said it is finished, and nothing can change it. And so if you get your sense of identity from being a child of God, if that's what gives you your real sense of worth, if someone says, first and foremost, who are you? I am the son or daughter of the living God, they might look at you crazy, but they can't take that away from you. Because it's final. It's final. You were chosen. You were picked. And he knew everything about you. I mean, again, this is something we repeat on a regular basis, but if you're new at his hands, know that God does not love you out of ignorance. He doesn't love you because he just doesn't know your stuff. He knows it all better than you do, and he loves you passionately. He's chosen you. He sees value in you. He chooses you. He doesn't just demand that you choose him, he chooses you and he chose you first. You've been adopted, you've been picked. Enjoy that. It feels good to be picked. It feels good to be chosen. So enjoy that. Revel in that a little bit. Relish in that. Like I've I've been chosen by God. He picked me. He wants me. He wants me to be his son. He wants me to be his daughter. Enjoy that. Because it was intentional. And one last thing. It was entirely selfless. Now, Roman adoption was selfish. You only adopted someone because you needed an heir. Because you didn't have a son. We talked about that at length just a few minutes ago, but God's adoption isn't selfless. No, no, no, not at all. Quite the opposite. It's entirely selfless. Because I don't know if you know this or not, but he already had a son. And he's pretty good. His name is Jesus. God the Father wasn't hurting for an heir. He wasn't like, who will I be able to entrust? All my knowledge and all my goodness. Hmm, who could it be? I wonder. Oh, yeah, Jesus. No, no, no, no. He had Jesus. The Father had a son. And he's amazing. There's no one like Jesus. There never will be anyone like Jesus. That's why he is the name above all names. He's Jesus. He's precious. He's powerful. He's incredible. There's no one like him. So so understand that when God the Father chose to adopt us, it wasn't because he's like, I have no one. And let's be honest, it's not like we're the upgrade. It's not like he's like, you know what I like about you, other than you know, versus Jesus, uh, you know, don't let don't ever tell Jesus I said this. But you are so much better than him. Like, no, that's not. It's impossible to be better than Jesus. And so when God the Father intentionally chose you to adopt you completely, finally, and when he paid a tremendous price, an incredibly expensive price to bring you into the family, it wasn't because of what he was going to get out of it. It was because he loves you. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, says, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ, through that death, through that price. Why? Because this is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. We typically think of Jesus' death as what God had to do. But this says it's what God wanted to do. This is what Jesus wanted to do. Willingly pay that price so that you could be in this family. And because of that, you are the child of the most selfless, but at the same time powerful person in the entire universe. The God who created everything, the God who created you wants to call you son, wants to call you daughter. I'm sorry, guys, that is audacious. Can you think of anything better than that? Like, can anyone top that? I can't. I can't think of anything that I'm less worthy of than being called a son of God. And I can't think of anything that brings me more value than to be called a son of God. If you've put your faith in Jesus, you are, you are, unquestionably. There is no debate, there's nothing that can be done to undo it. You are 100% because God says so. The son, the daughter of God. You have been adopted. It is done. The price has been paid for. You are in. This means that Jesus now is your older brother. Scripture says that now you've been lifted up to be a co-heir of Christ. You're in the family. You are family. You are the son of God. You're the daughter. You can call God Dad. It means you can call him Father. Oh, guys, this is so good. This is so good. We are all a child of God if we put our faith in Jesus. Every single one of us. And here's the deal. I know some of you, it's like you've been, you've understood this for a while. And honestly, guys, sometimes the most spiritual thing that we can do on a Sunday morning, you come to church, you've been to church a hundred times, like I knew I was a child when I walked in. I appreciate the reminder. No, you need the reminder. Because you're supposed to enjoy this. You know, when I got this baseball that my dad won for me, for most people, this doesn't mean anything. I couldn't sell it on eBay for a dollar, mainly because it has my name on it. Uh maybe there's some other Justin out there who just loves Fog Butt a lot. Uh, you know, George Brad. But, like, no, it's but that day that my dad got this for me, like, I didn't like hide this. I was I was basically like walking like this. You know? I enjoyed this. I set this on my my dresser in my bedroom. I stared at it. And it actually meant a lot that my dad loved me so much that he had some strings to pull and he used it to bless me. That meant a lot to me. I enjoyed this. Do you enjoy being the child of God? Do you enjoy the fact that you have his ear? That when you pray, he listens. That you don't have to engage with him because of your performance. Like, my kids are not always well behaved. Sometimes all of them are jerks at the same time. Sometimes every one of them. There are moments in my house where it's like, all of you! Stop it! You know? And it doesn't change the way I feel about them. One iota. Because they're my children. They're mine. I love them. God the Father loves you. He loves you. Enjoy it. Enjoy it. Like leave today and enjoy it. Go buy yourself a nice lunch to celebrate the occasion. What's this for? Oh, I'm just the child of God. And I know you're having to pay for it, but he'll pay back. And leave a good tip because that person is the child of God too. Alright? Do that. Always do that. If though you haven't given your life to Jesus, if you're here and you're watching from home and you haven't made this decision, I want you to understand the audacious opportunity before you. In one moment, in one decision, in one moment of surrender and faith and belief, you can forever change your identity. In one moment of faith and surrender, saying, I believe in you, Jesus. I believe that you are who you say you are. I put my trust in you. I give my life to you. God the Father, in that moment, because it's what He's wanted to do from the very beginning, says, You are my son, you are my daughter, I am your father. And you can call me Abba. That was an informal, intimate word. You can call me Abba Father. I'm yours, you're mine. Let's be family. If you haven't given your life to Jesus, do it. There's nothing like it. There's nothing better. But for all of us, we've got to enjoy this. Do you do you believe, by the way, that you're a child of God today? Anybody believe that? Anybody excited about that? Anyone want to live that out? Let's do this. Let's finish with this. Romans 8, 15 through 16. I don't ask to do this very often, and obviously you don't have to. But let's read this together. You just try your best to go at the pace that I'm going at and be okay if it's a little mumbly. But I just I want us to read this and say it like we mean it. So say this with me. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him Abba Father, for his spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. Come on. This is not just a warm sentiment. This is not just a nice thought. It's not that you're like a child of God. You are a child of God. You are a son. You are a daughter. Believe that it is true. No one can take that away from you. You are his son. You are his daughter. Enjoy it. Believe it. Take it in.

I'm no longer as man to feel. I'm no longer a slave to feel. I know who I am. I am a child of God. I'm no longer a slave to Jesus.

I am child. I'm no longer a slave.

Father God, thank you so so much. Thank you so much for adopting us. We're not just your worshipers. We're not just believers. We're not just followers. We're children. There's nothing in and of ourselves that could claim to have any right to be called that. But we belong to you. And we will never forsake that. We will never take it for granted. We will never allow ourselves to fail to appreciate the audacity of our position. We love you, Jesus. It's in your name we pray. Amen.