February 4, 2007
Rev. Terry D. Campbell

Know You Belong
Romans 8:15-17

“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.’ ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷Now 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.”

Sometime when you’re in an airport, observe the difference between passengers who hold confirmed tickets and those who are on standby. The ones with confirmed tickets read newspapers, chat with their friends or sleep. The ones on standby hang around the ticket counter, pace and smoke, smoke and pace. The difference is caused by the confidence factor. If you knew that in fifteen minutes you would have to stand in judgment before the Holy God and learn your eternal destiny, what would your reaction be? Would you smoke and pace? Would you say to yourself, “I don’t know what God’s going to say—will it be ‘Welcome home, child,’ or will it be ‘Depart from me; I never knew you’?”[i]

We can AND should know we belong to God. It will give us assurance, peace and strength to be strong in challenging times.

That is the meaning of the phrase, “the Spirit of sonship.” It can also be translated “the spirit of adoption.” In the Roman Empire, it was a serious step to take a child out of one patria potestas (father’s power) and to put him into another. The ritual of adoption was carried out by a symbolic sale in which copper and scales were used. Twice the real father sold his son, and twice he symbolically bought him back; finally he sold his lad a third time, and at the third sale he did not buy him back.

After this the adopting father had to go to the praetor, one of the principal Roman magistrates, and plead the case for the adoption, and only after all was the adoption complete. But when the adoption was complete it was complete indeed. The person who had been adopted had all the rights of a legitimate son in his new family, and completely lost all rights in his old family. In the eyes of the law he was a new person. All debts and obligations connected with his previous family were cancelled out and abolished as if they had never existed.[ii]

I. You have been wooed by God.
“Wooed”—that’s the non-theological term meaning prevenient grace. God wants you and is working a head of time to get you. Through the work of the Holy Spirit we have been courted, prepared, enticed to the living water. Jesus said, in John 6:44-“’No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.’”

Before you knew God existed, God was working on your behalf—for your salvation and to draw you to Himself. In fact, the Bible tells us that Jesus was chosen to offer us forgiveness and new life long before we were born. 1 Peter 1:20-“He (Jesus) was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”

Then, God is saying that He is approachable through Jesus and has planned all along for us to come into His family. God says, “Call me ‘Abba, Father.’”

Sometimes we are aware of God trying to get our attention but often we are not. God has been diligently working to woo us, to draw us to Himself. Why? You matter to God! Know you belong to Him!

II. You have been won by God.
Look to the cross! Your eternal life has been paid for by Jesus’ death for our sins on the cross. All so that you can know you belong to God! Isaiah 53:5-“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

Ephes. 1:7-8-“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

Romans 8:32-“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” You have been won from sin and death by God’s mercy and love.

III. You have been wowed by God.
God has finally gotten your attention and you have begun the disciple’s walk of life with the Lord. You have become an heir of God and co-heir with Christ in the glories of heaven. You are amazed, but you know that based on God’s word you can truly says, “I am God’s child and a permanent part of God’s family.” John 1:12-“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Ephes. 1:13-14-“¹³And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

Now you are on the glorious adventure of being a Christian. God is at work in your life every day! It is seeing life’s new possibilities, leaving behind tired old baggage, finding new vitality to love, new ways to make a positive difference in people’s lives.

No wonder the meal of Holy Communion is also called the Eucharist—the Great Thanksgiving. Hebrews 10:22-23-“let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

What will you do now?
Who you think you are, in large part determines what you will do. If you know and remember that in Jesus you are a son or daughter of the living God, you will be more inclined to act like it, living up to your heritage as an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ in the Godly life and glories of heaven. As you come to Communion, open your hearts and minds to God with awe-filled gratitude and celebrate that every person can know we belong to the family of God! Amen.

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