#3 - ADOPTION

1. There are three times in Scripture that a person or group is called a son of God. Each
time it is because they were created by a direct act of God.

A. Angels

Genesis 6:1-4 KJV

(1) And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were
born unto them,
(2) That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives
of all which they chose.
(3) And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his
days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
(4) There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in
unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which
were of old, men of renown.

Job 1:6-9 KJV

(6) Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and
Satan came also among them.
(7) And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and
said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
(8) And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him
in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
(9) Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

B. Adam

Luke 3:38 KJV

(38) Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was
the son of God.

C. Christians

John 1:12 KJV

(12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name:

2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV

(17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new.

2. Jesus is the only begotten son of God in a unique and different way than Christians. Jesus
was God in the flesh. We are not little gods as the word of faith movement teaches. We are
sons of God by adoption.

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John 1:18 KJV
(18) No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
he hath declared him.

John 3:16 KJV

(16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

3. The Bible does not teach the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man. If you have
not received Jesus as Lord, you are a child of the Devil.

John 8:42-47 KJV

(42) Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and
came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
(43) Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
(44) Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie,
he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
(45) And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
(46) Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
(47) He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

4. Adoption defined:

Adoption in its literal sense, signifies the act of receiving a stranger into a family, and conveying
to him all the rights, privileges, and benefits belonging to a natural or legitimate child. For whether
we say that a sinner passed from a state of guilt and condemnation to a state of justification, or that
he is taken from the kingdom of darkness and adopted into the family of God; we express the same
fact only in different terms. But, adoption implies something more than the pardon of sin, which
is the central thought in justification. It is more particularly expressive of that covenant relation into
which God graciously receives those who became justified and regenerated by acknowledging them
to be his people, and declaring himself to be their God. (Wakefields Christian Theology, Vol. 2,
page 434)

5. Gods purpose in the cross and redemption is to have a people and a family that is the
church of the living God. Nothing is more important than this. Gods solution is the church.

Galatians 4:4-5 KJV

(4) But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law,
(5) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Hebrews 8:10 KJV

(10) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the
Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people:

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6. Adoption give us relationship.

Galatians 4:4-7 KJV

(4) But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law,
(5) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
(6) And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father.
(7) Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through
Christ.

7. Adoption gives us guidance.

Romans 8:14-15 KJV

(14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
(15) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

8. Adoption gives us assurance.

Romans 8:16 KJV

(16) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

The Witness of the Spirit

By the testimony of the Spirit, I mean, and inward impression on the soul, whereby the Spirit
of God immediately and directly witnesses to my spirit, that I am a child of God that Jesus Christ
hath loved me, and given himself for me, that all my sins are blotted out and I, even I, am reconciled
to God. (Wesleys Works, Vol. V, pages 124-125)

1 John 5:10-12 KJV

(10) He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath
made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
(11) And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
(12) He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

Hebrews 10:22 KJV

(22) Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

9. Adoption gives us the inheritance of heaven.

Romans 8:17-18 KJV

(17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer
with him, that we may be also glorified together.
(18) For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us.

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1 John 3:1-2 KJV
(1) Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
(2) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know
that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

10. Adoption gives us provision.

Psalms 84:11 KJV

(11) For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will
he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Matthew 6:25-34 KJV

(25) Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall
drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than
raiment?
(26) Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet
your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
(27) Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
(28) And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil
not, neither do they spin:
(29) And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
(30) Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into
the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
(31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(32) (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of all these things.
(33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added
unto you.
(34) Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of
itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

11. Adoption gives us protection.

Isaiah 43:2 KJV

(2) When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame
kindle upon thee.

Psalms 37:23-24 KJV

(23) The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
(24) Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

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Psalms 91:1-10 KJV
(1) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty.
(2) I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
(3) Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
(4) He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy
shield and buckler.
(5) Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
(6) Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
(7) A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh
thee.
(8) Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
(9) Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
(10) There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

12. Adoption gives us the privilege of chastisement.

Hebrews 12:6-8 KJV

(6) For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
(7) If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not?
(8) But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Romans 8:28 KJV

(28) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose.

Followers of Jesus Christ

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Evansville, IN 47724-4174
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