God’s Adopted Children

 

Jesus and Children

 

Taking notes on Pastor Jerry’s Sermon to gain the heart of his message.  A second title as we consider the New Year would be “A Fresh Start.”  Pastor was reading from Ephesians 1:3-14 regarding our redemption in Christ Jesus.

Pastor began with a story about a football kicker who did not see well.  He would watch the direction the holder of the ball was employing.  This would show him how to kick in order to reach over the goal. 

This New Year we don’t know what 2015 holds for any of us.  God has his eternal purpose and that is His church.  We have been destined for God’s adoption into His family. 

Ephesians 1:5 New Living Translation  God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

Adoption means something else in this scripture.  To the Hebrew adoption was a foreign concept.  The male seed was important to be able to pass on the linage. 

Pastor told when he married his first wife who passed away some years ago, she had three young girls.  He took legal steps to adopt her children to make them his own.  This was a fresh start for the family.  We all have a fresh start one way or the other.  Fresh starts don’t always go according to plan.   

Pastor volunteers as a Hospital chaplain in a local hospital and each day he views that life can be fragile and is becoming more aware that life on earth is not permanent. 

He told a true story about a man who received a letter from Social Security that he was dead. His monthly payment stopped as did his health insurance, and his credit cards were cancelled.  His death notice was printed in the paper. After much trouble he convinced everyone that he was alive and asked the newspaper editor to retract his death notice.  The editor said, we will print you in the birth column and thus you will have a fresh start. 

Throughout the ages three things have been of influence; the Sword, the Pen, and the Purse.

These have been significant ingredients in history.  Often it takes the sword to win freedom.  The pen gives us our constitution with its freedoms to enjoy.  The purse was used to expand our territory with the Louisiana Purchase and other land acquisitions. 

Today our swords now have a nuclear power, the pen has new technology, and the purse controls our economy. 

We don’t know about tomorrow, but we know who holds tomorrow.  We want the best for our children, and God also wants what is best for us.  All through the Bible stating sometimes in different words, but saying the same thing is: DO NOT FEAR. 

 

Humans often wreck havoc where ever we go, so un-tidy and messy and proficient of being bad and even evil.  Yet humans are capable of being so very good. 

 

It is amazing that God loves us no matter what.

When we understand that God has a plan for your life, we are more inclined to trust Him. 

 

Yes we have disappointments, but as we seek God’s will for our fresh start we can trust Him. 

 

Do not fear changes, expect God’s direction, and keep your eyes on the holder of the ball.