SERMON NOTES :: He Is Our Father - Ephesians 1:3-6
MESSAGE |
He Is Our Father
SERIES |
It's A Family Reunion
SCRIPTURE |
Ephesians 1:3-6
SPEAKER |
Pastor Joseph Ardayfio
KEY THEME |
One of the spiritual blessings that we have in Christ is that God has adopted us as sons and daughters so that we might have the privilege, benefit and responsibility of divine sonship.
1) The significance of adoption and divine sonship is only recognized when we realize the immense change from being an outsider, without any family, privileges, benefits, stability, or nurturing, to being adopted into a new family.
2) In the New Testament, while adoption included the act of taking an outsider and placing them in a family, it also referred to the official act of a Father who bestowed the status of full adulthood on a son of minor status
a. There are 3 levels of relationship: slave – child - son.
b. Adoption (sonship) happens at the moment that we are born into the family of God, simultaneous with regeneration and justification.
3) Adoption give us the PRIVILEGE on sonship
a. Privileges are the gift of God, not the result of human merit.
b. As sons and daughters of God, the greatest privileges that we have are ACCESS + INTIMACY with our heavenly Father.
c. Sin blocks access into God’s holy presence, but Jesus brings access to the Father. [Ephesians 2:14-19; 3:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:19-23].
d. We need to return to the place in which we were awestruck to be in the presence of our Heavenly Father.
4) Adoption gives us the BENEFITS of sonship
a. The benefit of being God’s children includes God’s Providence, Purpose, Protection, Provision and Perfection.
5) Adoption gives us the RESPONSIBILITY of sonship
Scripture Index
Ephesians 1:3-6
Ephesians 2:14-19
Ephesians 3:12
Hebrews 4:14-16
Hebrews 10:19-23
thoughts for further study
1) What is the significance of our adoption through Jesus Christ?
2) How does your adoption into the family of faith affect the way that you view your relationship with God?
3) How can you renew a sense of awe at the privilege of access to God through Christ Jesus?
