공동체와 양육

Adoption and the Kingdom of God (Eph. 1:3-5)

2013.03.17Rev. Eddie Byun

Adoption is God's plan from the beginning, God's picture of costly and unconditional love, and God's partnership with us. Because God adopted us into his family, the church must care for orphans with mercy, prayer, and practical love.

Adoption was God's plan from the very beginning (vv. 3-5)

Before the foundation of the world, God chose us in Christ and predestined us for adoption as his sons and daughters. His motive was love, and adoption was the means by which he made us his family. Paul begins by blessing God, the source of every spiritual blessing, and celebrates that we have been blessed in Christ. This adoption is not merely symbolic but real, won through a legal process in the heavenly courts and the new birth of faith. Adoption is God's idea and creation, not a human or government invention.

Adoption is God's picture of costly, unconditional love

Redemption means to obtain or set free by paying a price, and God the Father paid for our redemption by giving his one and only Son. Adoption always carries a high cost, financially, emotionally, and physically, and this shows how costly God's adoption of us was. Romans 8:15 tells us we have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry, Abba, Father. Jesus prayed with this intimate word, which was rare in Jewish culture, and so he opened a new relationship of deep intimacy with the Father.

Heaven is God's home for his adopted children

Jesus said that in his Father's house are many rooms, showing that God has a big home for a big family of children. God's heart is for the most vulnerable, and the more vulnerable they are, the more valuable they are to his kingdom. Estimates say about 153 million orphans live in the world today, about 17,000 of them in Korea's public orphanage system, and many more outside it. What we do to the least of these is what we do to Jesus, and caring for them brings great honor and delight to God.

Every person is an orphan until we come home to the Father

From birth, every person is spiritually an orphan, longing for love and belonging. We were created to be connected to the heart of God and to know him as Father. The gospel is the means by which orphans become children of God, so we should see one another as orphans on their way home. Because our family and friends have yet to know Christ, we should share the gospel so they may experience spiritual adoption. This is how adoption is God's picture.

God's people must show mercy to orphans as his representatives

In God the orphan finds mercy, and that mercy must be seen through his people. James 1:27 says that pure religion before God is to visit and care for orphans and widows in their affliction. In the early church, when children were abandoned beyond the city gates, believers went out to the rubbish fields, took them into their homes, and raised them as their own. The church was known for compassionate love toward orphans, and it is time to take that place of leadership for justice and mercy once again.

Prepare our hearts and homes for North Korean refugees and orphans

Tensions between North and South Korea are escalating, so the church must watch, pray, and respond to what God is doing. Three North Korean refugee boys rescued in Thailand were placed with Christian families in Northern California within minutes after a call for help. A new law in the U.S. opens the way for more refugees from the north to receive foster care and adoption into loving homes. Believers are urged to prepare their hearts, marriages, homes, and finances for the day when North Korea opens its borders and many orphans will need care.

Apply to Life

  • Let us pray for orphans and for the laws to change in their favor.
  • Let us pray that the church will rise up to honor orphans and adoption.
  • Let us prepare our hearts, homes, and finances to care for orphans.
  • Let us share the gospel with our family and friends who have yet to know Christ.
  • Let us care for orphans through prayer, volunteering, or saving for families who adopt.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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