| HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT HOW GOD BECAME YOUR FATHER? |
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| It’s not just a nice phrase or a word picture to help you understand Him as Creator or as Lord. If you have the Spirit of God dwelling inside you, if He is leading your life, you are a child of God. An actual child of God.
How is this possible? What makes a son or a daughter a son or a daughter? Is it DNA? Is it a shared nose? Or is it something else?
In the gospel of Matthew we see the beautiful picture of Jesus’ baptism when the Son is raised up from the water, the Spirit descends like a dove, and the Father says: “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”
Then later, Paul writes this to the church in Rome:
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:14–17
We see the same Trinity in this passage as we did when Jesus was baptized. This time, though, the Spirit is bearing witness to the legitimacy of us being God’s children, paving the way for us to approach God as our Father, our Dad. And Jesus, the Son, sharing His inheritance.
We are physically born into sin, and fear, and death. But as Christians, we are spiritually reborn (not receiving the spirit of slavery to fall back into the fear that so often cripples us). Instead, we are adopted as His children.
The Spirit certifies God as our adopted Father, and we are welcomed into the family by His Son, Jesus, as coheirs.
Rest in this. Do not fear. Happy Father’s Day. |
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| Randall Payleitner is the Editorial Director at Moody Publishers. He writes semi-regularly at www.SmartPeopleReadBooks.com. This year Randall will be celebrating his first Father’s Day since becoming a dad—he and his wife Rachel welcomed their two-year-old into their family, as their son, this past September. |
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| It’s not just a nice phrase or a word picture to help you understand Him as Creator or as Lord. If you have the Spirit of God dwelling inside you, if He is leading your life, you are a child of God. An actual child of God.
How is this possible? What makes a son or a daughter a son or a daughter? Is it DNA? Is it a shared nose? Or is it something else?
In the gospel of Matthew we see the beautiful picture of Jesus’ baptism when the Son is raised up from the water, the Spirit descends like a dove, and the Father says: “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”
Then later, Paul writes this to the church in Rome:
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:14–17
We see the same Trinity in this passage as we did when Jesus was baptized. This time, though, the Spirit is bearing witness to the legitimacy of us being God’s children, paving the way for us to approach God as our Father, our Dad. And Jesus, the Son, sharing His inheritance.
We are physically born into sin, and fear, and death. But as Christians, we are spiritually reborn (not receiving the spirit of slavery to fall back into the fear that so often cripples us). Instead, we are adopted as His children.
The Spirit certifies God as our adopted Father, and we are welcomed into the family by His Son, Jesus, as coheirs.
Rest in this. Do not fear. Happy Father’s Day. |
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| Randall Payleitner is the Editorial Director at Moody Publishers. He writes semi-regularly at www.SmartPeopleReadBooks.com. This year Randall will be celebrating his first Father’s Day since becoming a dad—he and his wife Rachel welcomed their two-year-old into their family, as their son, this past September. |
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Revitalizing Pastors 