Woodlawn Evangelical Lutheran Church           

Romans 8:14-17 – “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Introduction – Father, Son, Holy Spirit = one God? I don’t get it! It doesn’t make sense to me. We call it the Trinity. Three persons, yet only one God. They are one all powerful, eternal, all-knowing God. But they are all distinct and we see that each of them work for our good in a very special way. What could seem like some strange idea about God that we can’t understand and maybe are tempted to think isn’t very important to understand, actually has very practical application for us. And it all has to do with family.

                Each of us is part of a unique family. The relationships and experiences that you have with your family are unlike those of any other family. As you talk with one another and encourage each other in your faith, you may see many similarities between your family and another family, while at the same time realizing that it is the entire unit, parents and children, that gives a family its characteristics. And undoubtedly in each family you can find some positive in the relationships between family members, but also unfortunately some dysfunction, where people’s attitudes and actions are not pleasing to God.

                The family of the Holy Trinity, of course is a perfect union of Father, Son, and Spirit, because he is one God. But by God’s grace, through the work of the Holy Spirit, we get to enjoy the blessing of being part of the family of God. We don’t have the power and the authority of God, but we receive blessings from God that only members of the family receive.

Welcome to the Family of God!

I. Through the Spirit we become children of the Father

II. Through the Spirit we have an inheritance along with the Son

I. Through the Spirit we become children of the Father

                Now a person can correctly say that every human being is a child of God, that God is the Father of each and every person, if you mean that the only reason that people have life is because God is the author of all life. There is no life that exists except life from God. But when you think about what it means to have a Father, wouldn’t you hope there would be a stronger relationship, something deeper than the fact of just being alive?

                Unfortunately in our world, when you talk about the Father of a child, you aren’t always talking in a very positive sense. You may be talking about someone who is half responsible for the conception of a child, but for all intents and purposes, that is when that father’s relationship with the child and the child’s mother ended. You’ve probably seen the billboards that advertise paternity testing to see who the father of the child might be. It’s a sad state of affairs that maybe even affects you in a very personal way, because for some people “father” is not a word that brings warm and welcome feelings. For others, of course, “father” means a man who shows loving concern and offers his guidance and protection, eager to take care of you.

                When you think of God your Father, I pray that there is only a smile on your face and joy in your heart because you know what you heavenly Father has done for you. Let’s celebrate Father’s Day early this year. “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”

                What a contrast there is between being a slave to fear and a son of a Father. Slavery, unfortunately, was quite common in the Roman Empire in which the Apostle Paul lived. He did not call slaves to get rid of their chains, but instead be faithful and obedient, looking for opportunities to do what is good even in that humbling and demeaning life. He also preached to slave masters, reminding them that they too had a master in heaven, watching over them to see how they would take care of the responsibility they had to care of the needs of their workers. The thing about being a slave, or any kind of worker for that matter, is that you always have the fear of punishment hanging over your head if you are not faithful at your job.

The Holy Spirit leads us, however, not as slaves of God, but as sons of God. He has led us by the powerful gospel message out of unbelief into belief, through the baptismal waters and brought us into a privileged relationship where God is not our master who threatens to punish us, but our Father in heaven who is ready and eager to help with our every need. We cry “Abba”, the word for Father in the Aramaic language. We see that reflected in the name Ab-raham, the Father of Many Nations. So, because God is our heavenly Father, we bring our petitions to him, asking him to satisfy all of our physical and spiritual needs, asking that he would hear and respond to the prayers we offer on behalf of our loved ones and our nation. We come to our Father in humble praise and say, “Thank you, Lord, for the life you give me and especially the new life of the Spirit.” How great it is to be a member of the family of God, where the Father is always working for the good of his children and we don’t need to fear that at some point he will not be there for us or that he will go back on his word. He has already welcomed us, the lost children, into his home, adopting us as his own and giving us everlasting benefits.

II. Through the Spirit we have an inheritance along with the Son

                Just as the Spirit has brought you into a relationship with your Father in heaven, he has also brought you into a relationship with God’s Son. We know that God’s Son is eternal, one forever with God the Father. But in time, he also was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He became fully human, with flesh, blood, muscles, stomach, lungs, heart, and brain. And he still has all of that, but not with the weakness that we have to deal with because of the sinful corruption of our bodies. Instead, I think it is safe to say that his body and all of its functions are working at 100% efficiency.

                Because of who Jesus is, both perfect God and glorified human being, you would probably never be so gutsy to say that you are like Jesus. You wouldn’t, would you? You might say, “What would Jesus do?” in a situation and try to do what Jesus would do or did, realizing the whole time that you couldn’t do it as well as he did.

                But in one very real sense, you can say that you are like Jesus: “If we are [God’s] children,” (which, of course, we already said we are because of the faith in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit has put into our hearts), “then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” Wow! What a privilege! We are heirs of God? In other words, we have an inheritance from God? And it is the same inheritance that Jesus, God’s Son has? How is this possible? How can we be on the same level as Jesus Christ our Savior, who came to earth to suffer the punishment for our sins?

                It is possible, “if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” Oh. I don’t know about that. I don’t know if I like that. What does it mean to share in the sufferings of Jesus? Does it mean being hated by those who don’t want to hear about our holy God and his holy commands for our lives and his solution, which is Jesus our Savior? Does it mean risking life and reputation and friends and family? Does it mean self-sacrifice and not worrying about how good a life I can have but instead how much I can serve God, regardless of what it will cost me?

                It could mean all of those things. When the Holy Spirit creates a new person inside of us whose greatest confidence and joy is found at the cross and the empty tomb of Jesus Christ, we know that ungodly people in our world may think us strange that we do not follow along with them in their ambitions and desires. We know that the old self that struggles against each of us with will try to eat away at our faith by shifting our focus to the tragic death of people in car accidents, the suffering of people from terminal disease, the horror of a hypocritical leader in the church committing unspeakable evil. The devil will try and take each and every one of your sins, from the scathing words that hurt someone’s reputation to those hidden desires that you keep trying to get out of your mind and he will tell you “You are guilty! God can’t love you!” And you will suffer through all these temptations and many more.

                But all that you suffer because you are a Christian, you do not suffer without the hope that there is relief in sight. That is one thing that will be never taken away from us. Hope – seeing what is yet to come and knowing that it already belongs to you. Through Jesus you have hope. God swapped your record with Jesus’ record so that when the time comes for you to stand before God, he will see your clean record with no errors, no mistakes, no crimes, no hidden secrets. Hope, that because by faith we share in the sufferings of Jesus Christ, so also, by faith in him we will share in his glory. God will transform our sin-diseased bodies so that they are like the glorified human body of the eternal son of God, who rose from the dead in glory to show that he is victorious in the battle against all that tries to harm our souls.

Conclusion – So, children of God, do you see what God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is doing for you? As part of the Family of God, you have received benefits and privileges beyond your wildest imagination. As adopted children, you have what you could not earn and no money can buy. Take the opportunity to get to know your family better. They are around you and within you. It is God, and it is the other children that God has adopted. Do you appreciate the benefits? Do you think someone else would appreciate the benefits? Don’t be afraid to let people know what it is like to be part fo the Family of God. Amen.