Fasting Encouragement Day Five Part Two
Day 5 Romans 7 & 8 Part 2
Good evening; I trust your day has gone well and you are enjoying the goodness of our God.
This is just a quick follow-up to this morning's encouragement. One of my very favorite scriptures is Romans 8:15-17.
Romans 8:15-17 (ESV) 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
I've preached from this passage over the years; it has shaped my understanding of the Father's heart for me and has helped me understand the incredible inheritance that we have as God's sons and daughters.
This evening, briefly, I'd like to show you something that I had never seen before.
Recently, Cathy was reading through the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, and she pointed out something amazing. To the Jew, genealogy is critical. Paul lived in a culture based on honor and shame. He also lived in a dyadic culture that is way different from our western thinking. Dyadic culture doesn't think from an individual perspective but puts greater value on "we" versus "I" and as a result, honor is found in the group. Identity starts with family, then community, then region, and then to the nation. In Paul's world, not only in the Jewish context but the Mediterranean world, your lineage, the family or group you belonged to, would determine your value.
Matthew starts Jesus' genealogy from Abraham and traces it down to Joseph. Except Joseph wasn't Jesus' father. Jesus was grafted into a lineage. He was adopted.
Matthew 1:16 (ESV) 16 and Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
Matthew doesn't hide Jesus' adoption. The enemy has no issue attempting to make us feel like illegitimate children. He loves to challenge our heritage, especially if we fall into sin. Did you know Jesus faced that accusation as well?
John 8:39-41 (ESV) 39 They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God."
Whoa! What a burden Jesus bore. God had grafted Him into the lineage of Abraham and David, but all the Pharisees could see was His illegitimacy. But Jesus' adoption made Him legitimate in the Father's eyes and legally in the eyes of the law of the day. In the same way that Joseph's adoption of Jesus made Him legitimate, and the Father's adoption of you and me makes us legitimate.
What an amazing thought; our adoption as sons and daughters in the spirit is something Jesus carried for us in the flesh. One more way that He redeemed us is by bearing our burden of being fatherless to being children with an inheritance.
Adoption is a big deal to our God; take time this evening to thank Him for your adoption. Thank Him that the Holy Spirit is the witness of your adoption and that no enemy can contest the Father's will over your life!
Rest well,
PL