GOD ADOPTS SINNERS INTO HIS FAMILY, REALLY!

            TERMS OF SALVATION – ADOPTION

                  

ADOPTION is God’s act of grace whereby He saves sinners and gives to them now all the rights and privileges of sonship and makes them heirs of heaven. Justification makes them legally fit to be in God’s Kingdom; Regeneration (the new birth) gives them the filial (family) being and character; Adoption grants the filial (family) entitlements. Salvation would be meaningless without the restoration of all the privileges forfeited by sin.

THREE MAJOR N.T. PASSAGES

ROMANS 8:15-17,19,23

^“15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together……¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God…..²³ And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” 

(The Holy Spirit works within believers giving boldness and a warm sense of identity with Almighty God. He affirms our childhood. He assures our heirship and the future glories thereof.)

GALATIANS 4:4-6

⁴ “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, ⁵ To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
⁶ And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”

(In accordance with His over-arching redemptive plan, God sent His Son to not only redeem us from the curses of the law and save us from our sins, but also to bestow all the entitlements of sonship, and, again, the warmth of a relationship with the heavenly Father, Almighty and Eternal God.)

EPHESIANS 1:3-6

³ “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

(Putting together all the terms of salvation we’ve been learning, thinking them through and adding them up, we then begin to understand just how much He has “blessed  us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” All these blessings were predestined (or predetermined) for us, not because of us (“in my hands no price I bring”), but “according to the good pleasure of His will.” Out of the goodness of His hearts He has so blessed us! These truths are the very grounds of our worship. And so, we ever praise Him for the “glory of His grace.”

-rdc

 “In Rome adoption was a familiar social phenomenon, and its initial ceremonies and incidents occupied a large and important place in their laws. By adoption an entire stranger in blood became a member of the family in a higher sense than some of the family kin, emancipated sons, or descendants through females. Such a one assumed the family name, engaged in its sacrificial rites, and became, not by sufferance or at will, but to all intents and purposes, a member of the house of his adoption. The tie thus formed could only be broken through the ceremony of emancipation, and formed as complete a barrier to intermarriage as relationship by blood.”  - Unger’s Bible Dictionary 

HOPE IS FAITH FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE....

                   TERMS OF SALVATION – HOPE

             

HOPE is the forward look of faith. FAITH is “the evidence of things not seen (past, present or future). It is also “the substance of things hoped for…” (Heb. 11:1). Hope eagerly anticipates a future prospect. Hope denies a philosophy that says reality is only the here-and-now. There is not an afterlife. All we have is what we have presently. (Therefore, live it up. You only go around once!) But the Scriptures declare stridently that “surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off” (Proverbs 23:18). The salvation given by God’s grace and rooted in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ abounds in hope. And so, the Apostle Paul prayed for the Christians at Rome: “Now may the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

THE PAST ORIGINATION OF HOPE

Unger says “the fountainhead of hope is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.” And, the Holy Spirit fosters hope in our breasts.

1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Romans 8:16-18 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

THE PRESENT OPERATION OF HOPE

As we walk by faith we are full of hope. Faith focuses on God, and He cannot fail. Hence, hope! As faith increases, so does hope. Hope is one of the three main characteristic of the Christian life.

1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

Hope is optimistically imbedded in the Gospel.  Because of what Christ has unbelievably accomplished for us, will He ever not be able to carry out all He has promised?  “Hope does not disappoint.”

Romans 5:1-11 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: ² By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; ⁴ And patience, experience; and experience, hope: ⁵ And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
⁶ For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. ⁸ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. ¹⁰ For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. ¹¹ And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”

THE FUTURE OPTIMIZATION OF HOPE

Colossians 1:24-29 “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: ²⁸ Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: ²⁹ Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.”

Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

rdc

CHRIST'S ATONEMENT RENDERS GOD SATISFIED....

       13 TERMS OF SALVATION – PROPITIATION

         

Most often when we ponder the work of Christ on the cross, we think of its SIN-WARD and MAN-WARD aspects. Sin was atoned for and man is justified by God the Judge when he/she believes in Christ.  

But, PROPITIATION is the GOD-WARD effect of Christ’s “once for all” death for sin and sinners. A key word to define it is SATISFACTION. PROPITIATION = SATISFACTION. What is satisfied? God’s holiness and righteous demands toward the sinner were rendered fully satisfied when His Son died in the sinners place. In the mind of God the offense of sin has been cleared.

^“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: ² And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2

THE OLD TESTAMENT PERSPECTIVE

In the Old Testament the Mercy Seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant in the holy of holies had to be regularly made a place of PROPITIATION by sacrifice.

 The writer of Hebrews describes this: “But [inside] beyond the second curtain or veil, [there stood another] tabernacle [division] known as the Holy of Holies. It had the golden altar of incense and the ark (chest) of the covenant, covered over with wrought gold….But into the second [division of the tabernacle] none but the high priest goes, and he only once a year, and never without taking a sacrifice of blood with him, which he offers for himself and for the errors and sins of ignorance and thoughtlessness which the people have committed.” (Hebrews 9:3-4,7 AMP). 

All this was a type of Jesus’ actual and propitiatory fulfilment on the cross: “But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation, He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us)” (Hebrews 9:11-12).

THE NEW TESTAMENT PERSPECTIVE

NOW, the blood-sprinkled body of Christ on the cross IS the Mercy Seat for sinners once and for all. The prayer of the publican (Luke 18:13), “God be merciful to me, the sinner!” can be translated “God, be Thou propitiated to me, the sinner.” God was rendered satisfied a short time after the publican’s prayer when His Son died. Now, we believe in Jesus for salvation and thank Him for the propitiatory work of Jesus on the cross. The mercy has been extended historically at Calvary.

OTHER NEW TESTAMENT VERSES

^“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

“…for all  have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; ²⁵ whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation  in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; ²⁶ for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:23-26).

“Therefore, He (Jesus) had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the  people” (Hebrews 2:17).

EASTON’S BIBLE DICTIONARY:

Propitiation

...that by which God is rendered propitious, i.e., by which it becomes consistent with his character and government to pardon and bless the sinner. The propitiation does not procure his love or make him loving; it only renders it consistent for him to execise his love towards sinners. In Rom 3:25 and Heb 9:5 (A.V., "mercy-seat") the Greek word _hilasterion_ is used. It is the word employed by the LXX. translators in Ex 25:17 and elsewhere as the equivalent for the Hebrew _kapporeth_, which means "covering," and is used of the lid of the ark of the covenant (Ex 25:21; 30:6. This Greek word (hilasterion) came to denote not only the mercy-seat or lid of the ark, but also propitation or reconciliation by blood. On the great day of atonement the high priest carried the blood of the sacrifice he offered for all the people within the veil and sprinkled with it the "mercy-seat," and so made propitiation.

In 1 John 2 Ex 2:2 4:10, Christ is called the "propitiation for our sins." Here a different Greek word is used (hilasmos). Christ is "the propitiation," because by his becoming our substitute and assuming our obligations he expiated our guilt, covered it, by the vicarious punishment which he endured. (Comp. Heb 2:17, where the expression "make reconciliation" of the A.V. is more correctly in the R.V. "make propitiation.")

-rdc

REDEEMED AND SO HAPPY IN JESUS, NO LANGUAGE MY RAPTURE CAN TELL....

        13 TERMS OF SALVATION – REDEMPTION
                    (SCROLL DOWN FOR CHART OF ALL 13 TERMS)

                            

 Both the Hebrew (O.T.) and Greek (N.T.) terms for REDEMPTION denote deliverance, severance and release from sin, particularly by payment of a price. Some set forward the idea that redemption primarily has the idea of ‘release’ and also includes the idea of the price paid, while ransom emphasizes the idea of the payment paid, but also includes the notion of freedom from bondage. The shed blood of Jesus Christ is the ransom paid for the sinner’s release from the bondage of the curse and from God’s dictum that the soul that sins must die.

^“You must know (recognize) that you were redeemed (ransomed) from the useless (fruitless) way of living inherited by tradition from [your] forefathers, not with corruptible things [such as] silver and gold,
But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a [sacrificial] lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19, Amp).

KEY OLD TESTAMENT PASSAGES:

The doctrine of redemption finds its seed introduction in the Old Testament and comes to full fruition in the New. The Hebrew pada means “to deliver” or “to sever.” The Jews were a redeemed people, set free from the bondage of Egypt by the power of God and commemorated forever by the Passover (blood shed). This was an annual offering of slain lambs to the LORD. The blood was applied to the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses and God said:

“The blood shall be for a token or sign to you upon [the doorposts of] the houses where you are, [that] when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be to you for a memorial. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations, keep it as an ordinance forever” (Exodus 12:13-14. Amp).

Redemption, in a very Gospel oriented sense, is set forth in Psalm 49:6-10,15:

^“Even of those who trust in and lean on their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?
None of them can by any means redeem [either himself or] his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him—
For the ransom of a life is too costly, and [the price one can pay] can never suffice—
So that he should live on forever and never see the pit (the grave) and corruption.
For he sees that even wise men die; the [self-confident] fool and the stupid alike perish and leave their wealth to others…………¹⁵But God will redeem me from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead); for He will receive me. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!” (Psalms 49:6-10,15).

KEY NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGES:

REDEMPTION FINDS ITS FULLNESS OF DEFINITION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. The Greek apolytrosis denotes a loosing by payment of a price. Its meaning centers in the atoning work of Christ as the price paid for human redemption, and on account of which Christ is called the Redeemer.

Passages: Matthew 20:28; Romans 3:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Timothy 2:5,6; and 1 Peter 1:18,19 (see above).

The necessity of redemption implies prior bondage. In his natural state man is held captive by Satan and in subjection to the dominion and curse of sin (Galatians 3:13; 1 Corinthians 15:56). Belief in Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior frees a sinner’s soul from such captivity to Satan and to sin. Believers look forward to a final redemption when the body is likewise loosed from all the ravages of sin (Romans 8:15-23; 1 Corinthians 15:55-57). We can conclude that the Redeemer completely frees sinners from sin, liberating both the soul and body from the curse of sin. The payment of Christ’s blood is made to the Father, thereby satisfying (the propitiatory power of the blood) His order that the soul that sins must die.

-         Dick D. Christen 

A PRAYER FOR OLD AGE...

"Lord, Thou knowest, better than I know myself, that I am growing older. 
   Keep me from becoming talkative, and from the habit of thinking that I must say something on every occasion.
   Release me from the craving to straighten out other peoples' affairs.
   Keep my mind free from endless detail; give me wings to get to the point. 
   Give me grace to listen to the recital of others' tribulations. Help me to endure with patience.
   Seal my lips against my own aches and pains. They are increasing, and Thou knowest my love of rehearsing them is becoming pleasanter as the years go by.
   Teach me that occasionally it is possible that I may be mistaken.
   Make me thoughtful, but not moody; helpful, but not bossy. Give me an awareness of the limits to my own store of wisdom. It seems a pity not to use it all, but Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end. Amen."

THOUGHTS ABOUT "GRACE"...

"For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God...  (Ephesians 2:8 AMP)."

Without grace my heart would be estranged;

   Wayward, rebellious, faithless and lost.

But, oh, in grace my God has arranged

   To rescue my soul at infinite cost.

Proud man, reckon that you are nothing

   Apart from the Christ of matchless grace.

Of this God-man exuberantly sing,

   While proud self-centered thought you erase.

-rdc

DON'T FORGET COMMON GRACE......

 "But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike]"  (Matthew 5:44-45).
                                                                                                                                                            "The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers." (Psalms 24:1-2).

Oh, the beauties through the vicissitudes of life,

   Sublime potentialities of man, child and wife.

Magnificent and ineffable is God's earth, 

   with awe-inspiring grandeur visioned on its girth.

rdc

GOD AND US WEAK VESSELS

GOD AND US WEAK VESSELS

All things honestly considered, I serve my God

   in a relatively meager way:

And such does go along with this idea:

   my weak body is just a jar of clay.

But, little is much when God is in it;

   and a Master can still use a lesser tool;

In fact, God used little David, who,

   by God’s great grace, the nine foot giant did out duel.

'Cause David saw God bigger than that giant,

   seeing himself as just a servant;

But unlike his brothers who cried, "Can't",

   David stopped Mr. Giant's godless rant.

God specializes using things most humble

   and thus gains for Himself all glory;

By HIS strength my weakness is  made strong….    

   And….uh…. this now concludes my lesson-learned story.

RDC

INFINITE BUT INTIMATE, THE GOD OF PRAYER

INFINITE BUT INTIMATE, THE GOD OF PRAYER!

I Chronicles 29:10-13

WHEN MY VOICE LIFTS HEAVENWARD

     ECHOING THROUGH LONELY SPACE,

I RETRACE THE PATH MY LORD

     USED, SAVING ME BY HIS GRACE.

YOU SEE, HE IS WAY OUT THERE,

     INFINITE AND TRANSCENDENT,

BUT REACHABLE BY MY PRAYER…..

     BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT GRACE MEANT.

WHEN MY WHISPERS REACH HIS EAR,

     NESTLED IN HIS LOVING CARE,

WARMLY LOVED AS HIS CHILD DEAR…..

     JUST A THOUGHT BECOMES A PRAYER.

YOU SEE, HE HOLDS ME RIGHT HERE,

     INTIMATE AND MOST PRESENT,

ON HIS LAP, A FATHER DEAR…..

     HELD SNUG, HIS LOVING INTENT.

WHEN BY FAITH I FIND HIM THERE,

     THROUGH CHRIST WHO TO CALV'RY WENT;         AS HIS CHILD I KNOW HE CARES
      AND GIVES ME WARM BLESSINGS SENT.

YOU SEE, PRAYER REACHES HIM THERE,

     INSISTENT AND CONFIDENT,

AND HE COMES TO ME RIGHT HERE…..

     OUR TIME INTIMATELY SPENT.

- Dick Christen

YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN? WHAT EVER DOES THAT MEAN?

     13 TERMS OF SALVATION – REGENERATION

REGENERATION is “born again” truth. The Christian Gospel exceeds mere reformation. Instead, God, by the Holy Spirit, effects an inner new birth or creation of a new nature within. This is necessary because the sin nature, with which all are born, cannot now be eliminated. When a sinner believes in Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior, he/she is made a new creature in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit quickens the sinner (Eph. 2:1), opens the heart (Lydia, Acts 16:14) thereby enabling a dead sinner to believe in Jesus. At once he/she is regenerated (born again). (Key passage: John 3:1-17. Other verses: Ephesians 4:22-14; Colossians 3:9,10; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:22,23; 1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1.)

MAJOR TEXT – JOHN 3:1-17

NICODEMUS’ CURIOUS QUESTION vv.1,2

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: ² The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”

(Nicodemus is very religious, but a lost sinner. God is raising his curiosity about just who this Jesus is.)

JESUS’ UNCEREMONIOUS ANSWER v.3

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

(Jesus ‘cuts to the chase’ and pursues a Gospel presentation.)

NICODEMUS’ OBLIVIOUS QUESTION v.4

“Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?”

(His question is obviously devoid of spiritual insight. All he can think of is physical birth, religiously learned though he be.)

JESUS’ STUDIOUS ANSWER vv.5-8

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. ⁸ The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

(Jesus transitions from the physical to the spiritual – “except a man be born of water – (the physical) – and of the Spirit.” There exists another realm of reality wherein God moves sovereignly and unpredictably, like the wind.)

NICODEMUS’ INCREDULOUS QUESTION v.9

“Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?”

(The learned Jewish leader turns ‘Indian” – HOW? Now his curiosity has peaked.)

JESUS’ MARVELOUS SALVATION ANSWER vv10-17

This passage leads right into the renowned verse, v. 16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” 

(Salvation (the new birth – regeneration) happens when a sinner believes not merely ‘about’ Jesus, but ‘in’ Him! To believe ‘in’ Him is to trust Him completely putting all one’s hope for eternal life wholly in Him.

-         Dick Christen