Freedom Through Adoption [Part 2]

Pastor, author and Bible teacher Alan Wright it is a move from living by the law of the living by grace is a move from one covenant to another as a pastor welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new life. I'm excited for you to hear the teaching today.

In the series called unbleached is presented at renewal the church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program today to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. You can find out more about it and even receive a copy of your very own for your donation this month to Alan Wright ministry. So as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today's special offer@pastor.org find out more about it and make your request or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. Again, our website pastor Alan.org. More on this later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright slave started as a son in new family. And what's important to know is that clearly the Roman law stated that it was possible under certain circumstances, certain circumstances for a Roman father to disown his biological child, but it is clearly indicated in the long that once you adopt a son was seated in your choice. You cannot under Roman law disown that adopted child and this means so much to me because what it means 11 your chosen not in some wooden sense of faith in predestination but in the sense in the father's heart. He wanted you means that you have a completely new legal status that everything is changed in your life means a legal transaction is taken place in the heavenly's and all your debts have been canceled. There is no debtor who can bring an accusation against your beloved when you are in Christ there is such a thorough cancellation and extinguishing of all of the debt of sin, that it is for this very reason that the accuser of the tempter. One is called Satan who comes to accuse the beloved of Christ and all of the roars of that lien must fall impotently to the ground, not because of any of your own merit because you simply have a new legal standing, you are your gods image you can never be disowned in turn into a slave again means that because you are an air of a father that you can know that God has an abundance that he shares with you. That's what being an air is all about about sharing God's one but three father-son Holy Spirit came to earth as a perfect man, Jesus who was not God's adopted son. He was the preexistent son is the firstborn of all creation. It was the Bible says the firstborn of many sons. This is the image of the New Testament God father-son Holy Spirit preexistent son who came and lived a sinless life and on your behalf.

Went to the cross and their and some mystery that I will spend all eternity. Trying to understand God the father turned away from God the son, and it was as if the sun were treated as if he were disowned so that anyone who trusts in him would become an air and aggregate us who could never be discussed and so the Holy Spirit does is he longs to calm into the heart of every believer and convince you that all of this has taken place so that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit, so you're born anew by the power the same resurrection power mystically, mysteriously, that raised Jesus from the dad, a life-giving power. Paul says in Ephesians 2 is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in your heart and is the first and most beautiful and exquisite thing the Holy Spirit dies is begins to whisper to you and sometimes shout to you behold you are a child of God.

The old is gone and the new has come. And he lives with you and he resides with you, to bear witness to such because that the Roman education. The adoption process in Rome was public. They had witnesses because if there should ever be a question about whether this slave had indeed been adopted as a sign.

There were witnesses that they would call upon us that we were there we witnessed it. We saw the paperwork we saw take place. This is not a slave. This is a sign in the Holy Spirit is your witness. He was there he was, there is the grace of God was enacted upon your life.

He was there seeing you be justified by the blood of Jesus. He was there seeing you being adopted by the father and he lives with you forever bearing witness to the goodness of God, to tell you who you are and that same spirit. Paul says he is residing within us, so that when we pray we are now not praying like slaves to a master. We are not praying as if we are begging we are praying like a little bitty children call out to the father. We address God in the same way that Jesus addressed God means that the church is become a new family.

That means that although our friends in spirit become heirs together of the grace of God. That means that former slaves who are adopted live with joy and gratitude and appreciation because though we are different we are the same and in Christ there is no Jew nor Greek, no slave no free, no male or female because our status has changed and we have become brothers and sisters with one another and with Christ himself means that our hope is built on what is already and on what is yet to come in means that you have the real experience of the actual affections of God the father and it means that you have a place of intimacy in the heart of God that the writer of Hebrews says grants you the boldness to come to the throne of grace in your time of need. As Tim Keller has said the only one who can wake up. By keying in the middle of the night and asked for a cup of water is the son or the daughter but there's also something in the future that we still are to inherit, and we know that it's coming and it changes the way we think.

In other words, beloved living as a Christian is living as a child of God. And though these images have limits and are constrained by our imagination to grow in Christ and ever increasing maturity in the Lord. In fact, growing into increasing conformity to the image of Christ himself who was the son of God is to ever increasingly know to have this of what it means to have God as your father.

That's more teaching moment from today's important series. This is what the facts I will restore the fortunes of Jacob's times and have compassion on his dwellings. The city will be rebuilt on her remains powerless. In its proper place as timeless wakes up in Jeremiah 30 for the heart of God lends to us the way. Time cities would often be rebuilt on top of the ruins of the former city city withstand higher with central walls and a greater perspective pastor. Our night succeeding out of the ruling skill discover how God can build your life gloriously out of yesterday's disappointments to get to Alan Wright Ministries to listen to Pastor Alan's messages in an attractive CD album with your digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor and dialect. Today's teaching now continues here once again is Alan writing JI Packer, in his classic knowing God written many years ago has something to this so beautifully. It is worth reading. Knowing God just so you'll come to page 182 and read these words you sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase if you speak of it as a revelation of the fatherhood of the holy creator.

If you want to show how well a person understands Christianity find out how much he makes of the father being God's child, Graham, God is his father. This is not the thought Thompson controls his or her worship, prayers whole outlook on life in means that he or she does not understand Christianity very well at all for everything that Christ taught and everything that makes the New Testament new and better than the old everything that is distinctively Christian, as opposed to merely Jewish summed up in the knowledge of the fatherhood of God is and what Packer says father is the Christian name for God's not to say that God is merely defined by this one image of this fatherly affection and covenantal love for us, but it is to say that all of who God is, is only understood in terms of such relationship, the parent and child. Trust relationship is the best image with God to God is in knowing God means knowing him in such a relationship that you increasingly know your self to truly be his heir is the hard part is really what grown-ups all about Christ. Some years ago there was a zany movie version of Alice in Wonderland Alice in Wonderland storing Johnny Depp playing Mad Hatter magical and bizarre as you can imagine, retelling of Alice in Wonderland. The movie depicts an opening scene, Alice is at a surprise engagement party where a man she doesn't love is about to propose to her in front of hundreds of people and in the midst of this, she is distracted by the sign of our little rabbit hopping around and follows the rabbit to go through a hole where she falls down into a magical underworld and a world in which she has evidently been before, but has forgotten who she is and she's become too ordinary on the face of their but now she's back in this magical wonderland and she comes early in the movie to meet Absalom. The wise caterpillar who says to her you're hardly Alice, but she goes on many adventures including even becoming filled with the bravery to ultimately face the evil Jabberwocky and later she appears back before the wise caterpillar Absalom and she said something like you said I wasn't Alice said no. I said you hardly Alice, he said, but now you're almost Alice think that's who I am. I'm almost Alan not there yet, but the more that I come to know the love of the father Morano, who I am.

Holy Spirit wants to bear witness to your spirit of who you really are is as such, you will grow. I could sum it up in a little chart that I had to put it like this spirit of fear and spirit of adoption of a post hoc you didn't receive a spirit of fair use. Spirit of adoption in the spirit of fear as is in the realm of what he calls the flesh, but the spirit of adoption with around the cult.

The spirit, the spirit of fear is is is about the heart of an orphan, but the spirit realm. The spirit of adoption is about the heart of an air and the fear in the orphan causes sand, but the faith in the air causes victory over temptation for the one it is a hopeless mentality but for their it is a hopeful mentality. I met a family I am. I have a future civil orphan heart as a life of worry. By the one who is truly deeply adopted as a life of peace. It is in the and the difference in spiritual bondage and spiritual freedom.

So the move from slavery to adoption is a move from living by the flesh to living by the spirit which is to say it is a move from living by the law. The living by grace is a move from one covenant to another. It is a whole new identity. They we learned a lot of the confusion is answered by this image because you spent all these years trying to figure out the answer to Bennett's question relates to statement that a lot of the things of a son belonging to father having to do what you're told, may be getting disciplined and shipped home of what the difference in that and then display I give you another image fast for number years later to member what year was Bennett. We went to the father something at Dudley Hall's ranch and Texas Tesoro Escondido the hidden treasure.

It's beautiful ranch with giant bluffs over the Brosseau's River and all kinds of outdoors men activities and we went to a father-son retreat, which is an opportunity to essentially have a right of passage where and we welcome the young man into adulthood were not very good at this in our culture, especially I think for our sons but our sons and our daughters. We don't really know what it is. I mean if you are in a Jewish culture. You have a bar mitzvah or a bat mitzvah we we we don't have many rituals in all its how do you know you're a man because you turn 18 and 21. What what you would now you're 20 1C go to dirty movie and drink alcohol that make you man so this is a design till I welcome you and Amanda hadn't gone out of father and son have this time together and we study God's word together and was studied in all but it was all in the lead up to this time McKay going to write a passage welcome to the community. Men and that so we have all this activity throughout the weekend and that they're all activities that I'm terrible at and maybe if they played some golf and tennis racket. I held my own or something, but this was outdoorsman bath and that I just was no good at any of it so we we went rappelling on a steep cliff on a steep cliff and in so benefit on the gear and staff in the Belden and it did like a champ. Like it done it before you fell back, went down on her, they might have watching the other dads in his life is not going to go well and I put that stuff on it is not easy and leaned back on that now. I lean back further, I might leave you know I could do it and I just turned upside down again skinned my knee against the wall of a disorder, humiliating fashion.

Tesoro let me down and then the next activity will reduce skeet shoot I'm terrible. I didn't grow up planting a cane. I don't shoot guy wonders, shoot some skeet and I missed the first 12/13.

I then remember that in my mind and while I was missing them no and negative and who say they know. Don't close that I get both open usually deleted little bit you like and I'll I'm missing everything I am going good.

When Bennett got another one Bennett job didn't emasculated on the father-son thing and and then the next event we go down to the Brosseau's River is 100° in Texas and we go down the Brosseau's to play tackle football in waist deep water. What could be more manly than that to know and so we go down there were frame tackle football and I'm trying to I'm trying to you know I do this I'm out there and as I get about 316-year-olds hanging on your shoulders and your trying to move the ball and manlike. It's the worst place to have a heart attack. We are down in a canyon site Canyon air to bring a helicopter down here and then and I can drown. So I did it for five minutes and then I just waited over to where the old dad just kinda lingering over there chatting in the side and allow wants them football the whole weekend. You know was like this round is increasingly lie with my even in this day and till we come to Saturday night and we gathered on the Sandy B. Down by the Brosseau's and lit torches.

At first it started with this trust walk where the dad leads a blindfolded sign. I just resisted telling them I don't see very well at night anymore Bennett but we just plan and we gathered all the dads on one side of this gauntlet of torches and all the sons on the other side and it finally came my turn and I just stood up and though I couldn't shoot skeet or repellent cliff or tackle anybody in the football game. I could do this, Matthew Bennett right.

Come join the community of men and he runs into my arms because in the end being a father not just about being a provider or disciplinarian or guy is the difference between a slave and a son or daughter is the child. The air has a heart that changes everything and set you free Vanessa gospel in today's teaching freedom through adoption is part of our series unleashed and I encourage you to stick around Allen's back in the studio here in just a moment sharing a parting good news thought for the day. This is what the facts I will restore the fortunes of Jacob's times and have compassion on his dwellings. The city will be rebuilt on her remains powerless will stand in its proper place. Timeless way expend general authority for the heart of God loves to restore way time cities would often be read out on top of the ruins of the former city city withstand higher with social walls and a greater perspective pastor. Our night since the lab out of the ruins help document build your life gloriously out of yesterday's disappointments to get to Alan Wright Ministries to listen to Pastor Alan's messages, and attractive. See through digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor and dialect of blessing your life, discover God's grace filled vision for the rights of free grace and encouragement. Alan writes a daily blessing. It's free. Just a click away. Pastor I got away I can interview with Alan Wright and for me personally, I think you been two things it as I get older I really gravitated towards understanding what Jesus has done for us.

One is the advocate in the courtroom illustrated in the other is the principle of adoption and this is one that would semi-listing right now. This is the good news thought for the day. This is it right here you when you trust in Christ, you are adopted by God is your father. You have God as your father, the images spiritually. We are orphans. But when you become a Christian, you have God as your father and God is perfect and his love for you and he is unlimited in the grace that he has for you and so the world might say be free to pursue all the choices. Don't ever narrow your choice, but that the gospel says is no. Here's the good news.

Trust in Jesus and become a child of God and is a child of God, adopted by him.

You can never be unadopted. He is election.

Today's good news message is a listener supported production Alan Wright Ministries