Romans 8: 14-17
Part one of a mini series by Nigel Beynon on prayer looking especially at the phrase “by him [the Holy Spirit] we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ “
This week: ‘Abba, Father’ - Our adoption in Christ is the foundation of prayer.
Please note: this is a recording from Zoom. Due to a blip at the time of recording there is no picture until about 30 seconds in.
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Transcript
We’re going to spend 4 weeks thinking about prayer. And our focus is going to be the phrase in v15 – ‘And by him – that’s the Holy Spirt – by the Holy Spirit we cry, Abba, Father.’
Let me start by asking – why do we pray? And what does that mean our prayer look like?
We can pray because we’re in trouble and need help. In that case prayer probably looks like a 999 call. The pressures of lockdown might have led to a lot of those prayers - Lord would you help me get through this.
We often pray because we want God to change something. So our prayer looks like requests. You might have prayed that kind of prayer this week hearing about the events in the US – Lord – change this situation.
We might pray because we feel guilty about what we’ve done – so our prayer looks like confession.
Or we might say – to be honest I don’t really pray.
Foundation of prayer - adoption
I want us to look at what I’ve called the foundation of prayer – the starting point – the heart of prayer. And that is adoption. Being adopted as a child of God.
To sum up this sermon - what I want us to get is – if we’re going to pray – I want us to get to hold of – to be gripped by – being children of God. Because that is the foundation of prayer.
So I’m going to talk about adoption for a while – and then we’ll come back to prayer.
Adoption
I want to suggest that being adopted as a child of God is the centre of being a Christian.
Now – I made this point in a sermon from 1John a couple of months ago. I used an illustration of a judge and an orphan. You might remember it. We’re not doing that again – this time let me try and show adoption is so central by seeing how God’s actions to save us – have adoption as the goal. God acts to rescue us in various ways – but often – the purpose of it all – the aim - is to adopt us.
God chooses us in mercy – to be his children.
So for instance - we could say in his rescue God chooses to have mercy on us. But listen to how Paul describes that choosing.
Paul writes, ‘God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world – in love he predestined us to be adopted as sons or daughters – through Jesus Christ according to his pleasure and will’.
Now – we’re not going into questions about predestination and all that – what I want us to see is why God chose us – he choose us to adopt us . That was the goal – that’s the purpose. And I love that it says – this was according to his pleasure and will. So God before the beginning of time - took pleasure in saying – I want you to adopt you. The thought of you being his child – pleased him.
So God chooses us to be his children.
Jesus died to redeem us or rescue us – in order to adopt us.
Second example - God rescues us by sending Jesus to die for us. But listen to how Paul describes that. He writes,
‘God sent his Son, to redeem those under the law that we might receive the full rights of sons and daughters.’
So Jesus died for us – to redeem us or rescue us – but with the ultimate goal – of making us God’s children. That was the aim.
There is the cost of our adoption – this is how much God paid to make us his children. His own Son.
Spirit brings us new life to make us his children.
So the Father chooses, the Son dies – thirdly – to rescue us, the Spirit brings us alive. We’re spiritually dead and he regenerates us – brings new life. But again – he does it – to make us his children.
This is our passage from Romans. Paul has said the Spirit makes us alive – but v15 – he is the ‘Spirit of sonship’. Or literally is ‘adoption’. He is the Spirit of adoption.
So he makes us alive – but with the ultimate goal of being adopted as God’s children.
That’s why I say, being a child of God is the heart of being a Christian – because this is what God is working for – this the goal of God’s rescue. The Father choosing, the Son redeeming, the Spirit bringing life – it’s all with the aim of making us his children.
I know a couple of people who have adopted children themselves. Through them I’ve seen it’s a long process. And a difficult one – interviews and assessments. Saw one friend have some big setbacks and disappointments. But they went through all that - because they wanted to care for a child. Look after them, nurture them – and know them, love them. They go through all this work – because they want them.
Well, if you trust in Jesus that is how God feels about you. He wants you as his child.
That’s why he went through all of his rescue - choosing – sending Jesus to die – giving you his Spirit – it’s all to make us his children. He does it all because he wants you. He wants you in his family. He wants to care for you and look after you. He wants to have you close and to know you. That is how he feels about you.
I want to ask - do we know that? Do we feel that? I know I often don’t. It’s very thin. But we need to grasp this, we need to grow in this. Because it’s the heart of being a Christian – and because it’s the foundation of prayer.
Leads us to pray
Paul goes on - we received the Spirit of adoption and by him we cry, Abba Father. In other words – being a child of God – leads us to call him Father, it leads us talk to him – it leads us to pray.
I don’t know if you’ve seen any videos of reunions doing the rounds. People who have been isolated from their family because they are health care professionals – being reunited. I saw one of a nurse who had been isolated from her children for two months – being reunited. She comes up behind them and just asks – what are you watching? The little girl turns, and shouts, mummy.
It’s a lovely moment. It’s so instinctive and natural.
It’s the most natural thing in the world for a child to call mummy, daddy.
Paul is saying that is what prayer is – if you’re God’s child – prayer is simply calling to your father. So in many ways it should be the most natural thing in the world.
When Jesus taught his disciples to pray – he emphasized this. He said, when you pray – don’t show off to others – go into your room and pray to your Father. And when you pray – don’t go on and on trying to force God to do something – your Father knows what you need. This is how you should pray – Our Father in heaven.
Being his children - calling God father - it’s the foundation of prayer.
Now, when I just said, it’s the most natural thing in the world to pray to God as your father – you might have thought – not for me it isn’t. Prayer doesn’t come naturally at all. So to finish let me make three comments on that.
Some of us might be thinking – this isn’t helping me because from my father – my parents – I didn’t get loving, caring, nurture. I got disappointment and hurt. So thinking of God as my father doesn’t help me pray.
If that is you then I’m sorry. But I want to appeal to you not to give up on the idea of God as your father. The understandable hurt and pain you feel testifies to how we should have been cared for – or it points to how we need a father to care for us. And in God we find the father who is all the things our earthly parents failed to be. He will never let us down, forget us, hurt us. Rather he is everything a father should be. Perfectly loving, caring, understanding, encouraging. In other words – he’s the father we are crying for. Now there’s much more to say on that we don’t have time for – but do get in touch with me or Nat if you’d like to talk more.
Second comment – calling God father doesn’t come naturally because often we don’t live like his children. We get things wrong, muck things up – we feel guilty – and that means prayer is last thing I feel like doing.
Again – there’s lot to say on this but one comment - we must realise we’re secure as God’s children. Our sin doesn’t undo our adoption. When God choose us to be his children – he knew exactly what he was taking on. When Jesus died for our sin to make us his children – he died for it all – including what we’ve done today. And when his Spirit comes into us to make us his children – he says – I know what you’re like – but I’m not leaving.
A while ago I heard this testimony about adoption:
“As a teacher’s assistant I often work with children in the foster system. Because of the transient nature of a foster home, many kids feel very insecure. They are allowed to stay with their foster family only if they perform correctly.
God didn’t choose to be our foster parent. We don’t get kicked out of the family because of our behavior. When I accepted Christ I became a permanent member of his family. He died to redeem me. He signed the adoption papers with his blood.”
We are secure as his children. Even when we muck up – God is still our father.
Last comment – calling God father often doesn’t come naturally – because we don’t realise we are his children.
We probably know it – in our heads – but it’s a distant idea. We don’t really get it – we don’t feel it as a reality. That’s why I’ve spent most of our time on how God has worked to adopt us – because I hope that helps us get this.
You can describe yourself in a variety of ways. I could say, I like rugby. I could also say, I’m married to Jo. Both are true but being a husband is a deeper thing than liking rugby. It’s more at the core or the essence of who I am.
Paul is saying, if you go really deep, go the centre of who you are. You find the Spirit of adoption making you God's child. That is, in essence, who you are.
As we increasingly grasp that – as the Spirit makes that real to us - it will increasingly become natural to pray. To call God father.
I asked at the start, why do we pray? Cry for help, requests for action, confession?
First answer, foundation answer is, we pray because he’s my father.
There are still cries for help. We might cry to God about what we face this week, pressures we feel. But we do so as children crying to their father.
Yes, there will be requests – please change the injustice in society, overcome racism. But we do that like children going to their father.
Yes, there will be guilt and confession – but we do it like a child going to their father.
Or maybe you rarely pray. Let me encourage you – look at who you are in Christ – see who God has made you - and then talk to your father.
Pray
Quick comment – I said we’re having four weeks on prayer. The first three weeks are talks – we’ve just one the first one. The fourth week is going to be a question time. So if a question comes to mind from the sermons – or you’ve got another question about prayer – do send it to me? We’ll put my email on the notices in case you don’t have it – or use whatsapp. Then we’ll try and answer those in our last week.