True Adoption

Ephesians 1:3-14
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

In human terms, when we adopt a child legally the child is completely and totally ours, however we now have to build a relationship with the child. No parent would be contempt with merely having a child "legally" with no emotional relationship with the child. As the parent adopts the child into his or her family they must now get to know each other, grow closer to one another, and build a relationship in love. The parent already loves the child as they chose to adopt the child not because they had to but because they chose to in love. But the child must grow to love and trust... This takes time and effort but no true parent would be satisfied with having a child without a relationship and so too then, no child would truly be satisfied with merely being adopted legally with no genuine relationship built on love and trust.

Far too many Christians are settling for mere legal adoption into the family of Christ when we have been chosen "in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will" (Eph 1:4-5). Christian, you have full son-ship... The Father chose you in love before the foundation of the world, not so you could merely be adopted but so you would experience fully what it means to be a child of God. All the love, all the joy, all the pleasure of living in relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ and not to mention you get to spend eternity with him.

Stop settling for the mere title of Christian and get to know your Father and his will for you, to "be holy and blameless before him." He saved you to represent Christ here and now and as you do, day by day he is transforming you into the image of Christ. God pulled you from the orphanage of sin, self, and the world and adopted you into a loving relationship with Him. You have been plucked from a self serving wasted life to a life that is lived to the glory of your Father "to the praise of his glorious grace."

Will you be the child who seems to not care at all that he was adopted, who shows no desire to know His Father? Or will you be the child who is filled with joy because he was chosen? Will you be the child that is amazed that he was adopted and has a Father who loves Him and wants a relationship with Him? Will you be the child that is so amazed by the grace and love that he has been shown and continues to be shown that his deepest desire is to live in such a way that honors his Father?

What will you do?

Will you waste it or will you treasure it?

Will you enjoy what it means to be a child of God or will you continue to settle for so much less?

You decide....

How is your love for GOD

Philippians 2:5-8
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus, who is God, came down from heaven and took our punishment. The infinitely glorious God of the universe loved us enough to die in our place. When we begin to grasp this fact then will our hearts and lives begin to change. The Bible tells us that "we love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).
So what I am proposing is that obedience begins with love; first with the glorious love that we see in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and second with the love that is formed in our heart by God's grace when we respond to the Gospel in repentance and faith. But it does not stop here. We must continue to grow in our love for God because love for God drives out our sinful desires. God is not after begrudging obedience. God is after obedience that stems from love.
So yes we read our Bibles, pray, do ministry and missions, and so on not to be accepted by God but because our gracious God has already accepted us in Christ. So we do all these things to know and to love Him more (also to glorify God and make His glory known), and the more we know and love God the more holy we become and the more joyful we will be.
Every command that God gives, everything He calls us to can only be achieved by repentance and faith, totally surrendering to Jesus. There are no basic practical steps towards obedience; only true love for Christ and the Gospel will fuel our obedience.
So as you struggle to fight the good fight, instead of looking for practical ways to make yourself better or to live your best life now, ask yourself, how's your love for God?

For The Praise of His Glorious Grace

We were not created so that we could be at the center of our universe. Over and over again in the Bible God tells us that He does what He for His glory, for His name’s sake.

God created you for His glory.

Isaiah 43:6-7

6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

God saves for His glory.

Isaiah 48:9-11

9 “For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off.10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

Ezekiel 36:22-23

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

Psalm 25:11

11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

John 17:24

24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am ,to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Romans 3:23-26

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 1:4-6

4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

If we have been saved we are called to live for God’s glory.

1 Corinthians 10:31

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

“[U]nlike all other beings, God is infinitely valuable, infinitely beautiful, and infinitely satisfying. Therefore, when he upholds and displays his glory, he is preserving for us, and offering to us the greatest and the longest pleasure.” – John Piper

 Psalm 16:11

11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

The Westminster Catechism states that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” 

God has called us to do this.

Matthew 5:13-16

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

God is about His glory and the praise of His glorious grace; therefore, we should be too. This is not a call to a life of ease, for Jesus tells us in the two verses before this passage,

 Matthew 5:11-12

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

It will not be easy, but we can be glad and live for His glory even in persecution, even in suffering, because if we are living for His glory then that is where our joy comes from. And we live with the hope of the glory that is the come. There is coming a day that we will bask in the radiance of the glory of God for eternity and that makes any temporal sufferings and hardships we endure here as nothing compared to the pleasure that we will enjoy forever.

Revelation 21:22-27

22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.    

My prayer is that God would grant His Church a passion for His glory and a zeal for His’ name that we would be willing to endure anything for the praise of His glorious grace.

Psalm 96 

1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;12 let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy13 before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.

He Is Worth It

During China's Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the twentieth century, no foreigner was safe. The Boxers opposed all foreign influences, including Christian missionaries. Diplomats fled to a compound in Beijing, but missionaries in the outer provinces had few choices.

Local officials in Fenzhou, Shanxi province, were relatively accepting of missionaries, so a number of missionaries fled there in hope that they would be sage until the uprising ended. After they arrived, the governor of Shanxi, a noted Boxer sympathizer, assigned a new magistrate to Fenzhou. The magistrate promptly posted an armed guard over the foreigners.

One of the missionaries, Lizzie Atwater, was pregnant at the time. She wrote a final letter to her parents on August 3, 1900:

"Dear Ones, I long for a sight of your dear faces, but I fear we shall not meet on earth... I am preparing for the end very quietly and calmly. The Lord is wonderfully near, and He will not fail me. I was very restless and excited while there seemed a chance of life, but God has taken away that feeling, and now I just pray for grace to meet the terrible end bravely. The pain will soon be over, and oh the sweetness of the welcome above!

My little baby will go with me. I think God will give it to me in Heaven, and my dear mother will be so glad to see us. I cannot imagine the Savior's welcome. Oh, that will compensate for all of these days of suspense. Dear ones, live near to God and cling less closely to earth. There is no other way by which we can receive that peace from God which passeth understanding.... I must keep calm and still these hours. I do not regret coming to China, but am sorry I have done so little. My married life, two precious years, have been so very full of happiness. We will die together, my dear husband and I.

I used to dread separation. If we escape now it will be a miracle. I send my love to all of you, and the dear friends who remember me."

Twelve days later, Lizzie, her husband, their unborn baby and six other missionaries were hacked to death by their guards.

Later, when Lizzie's parents in Oberlin, Ohio, heard the dreadful news of the death of their daughter, son-in-law, and unborn grandchild, they said, in tears, "We do not begrudge them - we gave them to that needy land; China will yet believe the truth."

~ AsiaHarvest.org

Philippians 1:20-21

[I]t is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Philippians 3:8-11

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

This woman could feel these words in her heart. Even in the midst of persecution and on the brink of death she counted the cost and saw Christ as more precious than anything else this world has to offer. “Dear ones, live near to God and cling less closely to earth. There is no other way by which we can receive that peace from God which passeth understanding.... I must keep calm and still these hours. I do not regret coming to China, but am sorry I have done so little.”

Even though she, along with her family were going to lose their very lives, she still did not regret answering God’s call to “Go… and make disciples of all nations.” She with child, alongside her husband and six other missionaries were willing to give everything so that the Gospel might be known to the unreached and that the glory of the Lord might be proclaimed.

She did not feel alone or forsaken by Christ in the face of death, instead she felt His faithfulness to His promise, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”   

“I am preparing for the end very quietly and calmly. The Lord is wonderfully near, and He will not fail me.”

O, that the Lord might grant us the courage and the passion to trust in His promises and “count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus.” That we might say with full conviction, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” And that the Lord would change our hearts and minds so that we could say with Paul that “it is [our] eager expectation and hope that [we] will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in [our] body, whether by life or by death.”

It's About Him

"Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk losing an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you — it’s about Him."

----Tim Keller Quote pulled from Darrin Patrick's: Church Planter

A Stupid Way to Read the Bible

From Charles Spurgeon’s 1867 sermon “A Song at the Well-head”:

You are retired for your private devotions; you have opened the Bible, and you begin to read.

Now, do not be satisfied with merely reading through a chapter. Some people thoughtlessly read through two or three chapters—stupid people for doing such a thing!

It is always better to read a little and digest it, than it is to read much and then think you have done a good thing by merely reading the letter of the word.

For you might as well read the alphabet backwards and forwards, as read a chapter of Scripture, unless you meditate upon it, and seek to comprehend its meaning.

Merely to read words is nothing: the letter kills.

The business of the believer with his Bible open is to pray, “Lord, give me the meaning and spirit of your word, while it lies open before me; apply your word with power to my soul, threatening or promise, doctrine or precept, whatever it may be; lead me into the soul and marrow of your word.”

Also, it is not the form of prayer, but the spirit of prayer that shall truly benefit your souls.

That prayer has not benefited you, which is not the prayer of the soul.

You have need to say, “Lord, give me the spirit of prayer; now help me to feel my need deeply, to perceive your promises clearly, and to exercise faith upon them.”

In your private devotions, strive after vital godliness, real soul-work, the life-giving operation of the Spirit of God in your hearts.

Gospel Reminder

Wisdom from B. B. Warfield and the Apostle Paul...

"There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot ever be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be true as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing; nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to God through Him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on His “blood and righteousness” alone that we can rest."
----B. B. Warfield 

1 Corinthians 15:1-11
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,
2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you-unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

(Above quote comes from Perfectionism, Part One, vol. 7 of The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield (New York: Oxford University Press, 1932; repr., Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), 113.)

Scripture quote from the ESV Bible.