Robert Morris - The Family of God
So we've been in this series called, Blessed Families and I couldn't leave this subject without talking about the ultimate blessed family. And that is the family of God. The family, that by His grace, Titus says it this way, not by works of righteousness which you have done, but by His mercy, he saved us. by His grace, we will become a part of this family now. But we were raised in another family. Now, I'm not talking about your biological family. I'm talking about a spiritual family. We were born in the family of Adam and Eve after the fall. And now we've been born again into the family of God.
Think about Moses, who was a Hebrew. And yet he was raised by an Egyptian family that didn't know God was a pagan culture and society, worshiped many false gods. And then he finds out, wait a minute, this isn't your real family. And Hebrews 11 talks about how he chose then, not to be called the son of Pharaoh's wife, not to associate with that family anymore. And I'm we're talking about Egyptian people were bad or anything like that we're just simply talking about they didn't know God. So he was raised in that type of family. And all of a sudden, he finds out, "No, I'm not a member of that family. I'm a member of this famous, he had to retrain himself.
So I want you to follow this example, because I didn't get saved till I was 19 years old. for 19 years, even though I was in a Christian home, still, I was in the family of the world. And then came to Christ and found that, "Wow, I belong to a new family. And this is really good family". So I want to talk with you some about that. So we'll get to John 8 in a minute, but let me read you a few scriptures before we get there. Ephesians to 19 says, "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners". This is specifically speaking to Gentiles. "You're no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of the household of God".
This word household is actually referring to family. Matter of fact, I read this in my just my daily reading today in the New Living Translation, and it says the word family, you're now members of the family of God. And what I'm hoping is throughout this message, it dawns on you what it means to be a member of the family of God, and on me as well. Here's Ephesians 3, verses 14 and 15. "For this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named".
So I bow my knees to Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family and heaven and earth, those have already gone on to heaven and those on Earth had been named. We got our name from Christ, were called Christians. They were first called Christians in Antioch. But they were Christian, the word Christian means Christ-like, like Christ. So we get our name, we now have the name of God. And of course, like, like you married into a family and your last name changes. See, this is just kind of exploding in me right now to think that I've got God's name. And I'm part of his family from now on.
Here's what it means to marry into the family of God. All right, so here's number one, we are born into a family of unconditional love. When you get saved, you're born into a family of unconditional love, by God and by others, from God and from others. Okay, so let's address this for a moment. The others, though, are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and they're still human. So there are times when brothers and sisters don't act in unconditional love. I understand that. But there's never a time that your father does it. God loves you unconditionally.
This truth, it took years for this to dawn in my life, it took years for me to figure out because for those 19 years, you live in the world before I for what for me before I got saved, it was conditional love. It was performance baseline, but not in the kingdom of God. It's unconditional love. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life". Okay, that's unconditional love. "For God so loved the world..."
The world. Here, let me read it to you this Romans 5:8 says this it way, "but God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners," "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". That's unconditional love. In other words, God didn't wait to see if he would straighten up and fly right to give his son. He gave His Son while we were still sinners. While we were still mocking him and spitting on him and nailing him to a cross. That's it's unconditional, you can never do anything that would cause God not to love you.
Romans 8: "Nothing...", I'm convinced that nothing can separate me from the love of God. Not life, not death, not principles, or power. Nothing in heaven or earth, nothing and nothing you do... Please hear me. You can't blow it bad enough for God not to love you. No matter what you do, no matter if you blew it this last week or yesterday. God loves you. You'll never get away from the love of God.
I taught all my kids, I could say it all the time: how does daddy love you? With all his heart, all of his heart, never holding anything back, no matter what you ever do, and forever and always, I'll never stop loving you. And how does God love you? That's the way God loves you. This, this would change our life. If we could catch this. God loves us unconditionally. Luke 6:35: "For he is kind to the unfaithful and evil". Okay. Before an image comes to your mind. Look in the mirror. Because I haven't always been thankful, and I haven't always done the right thing. But he's always been kind. Always.
So we're born into this family of unconditional love. Here's number two. We're born into a family of unmerited favor. We're born into a family of unmerited favor, adopted, pardon me, adopted into a family. The reason I said adopted because this is important, because the Bible refers just as born and adopted. So I want to really focus on in the moment that God adopted us. We're adopted into a family of unmerited favor. Now that's the definition of grace. It's completely unmerited. We didn't deserve it.
Look at this word adopted, though. Ephesians 1:5: "having predestined us to adoption, as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself". Galatians 4:6-7: "and because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying out," now this is the Spirit of his Son in us, "crying out, Abba, Father. Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, than an heir of God through Christ". Okay, first of all, I want to just key in on this phrase Abba Father, it's in Galatians 4, Romans 8, but it starts in Mark 14. First time it's ever mentioned, Jesus said it. And he said he sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying Abba, Father, Abba, Father.
What does Abba mean? Abba is the Aramaic word for father. Most of you might not know this. Here's what he was saying, I think he was saying, "Father," in the language that he spoke, "Father, the Father". I think what Jesus was saying was, "You're not only the father, you're my father". And he was making it very personal. And then Paul, writing in Galatians, and in Roman says, "and now you can also call Him Father". He's not just the father. He's now your father. You remember one of the first things Jesus said after the resurrection? He said to Mary, "Go tell my disciples, I am ascending to my father, and your father".
From now and he's your father. Look at this verse, 2 Corinthians 6:18, "'I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty". Has it ever really dawned on you that you're a son or daughter of God? That God is your father. Do you realize what that means? Now, I know it's difficult for some because you had a bad father. And if you did, I'm very, very sorry about that. And we're going to talk about that in a moment. If you had a bad biological father. But the true Father, a loving father, a protective father, a providing father a giving you father, an unconditionally loving Father, and the Father of all the father that holds everything that speaks and creates is your father. I'm telling you, I'm hoping that it just keeps like, Just your revelation just keeps... I'm a child of God. I am a child of God.
Now, I grew up with a good father. And my father owned the company. I worked for the company. But I never saw myself really as an employee. Because I was the son of the owner of the company. I knew it. When I drove up to the building, my name was on the building too; that was my last name. Now, I didn't get paid like he did. But I still knew who my father was. And I knew when I walked in, yes, he was my boss, but he was my dad, too. I grew up with that knowing that.
Funny story, I'd go to college and then I'd come back and work full time at the company during the summers. And the first day back one summer, there was a new foreman. And we were all in this trailer, kind of like you see these trailers on job sites, and we were having lunch. And some of the, most guys probably in there knew that my dad own the company, but this new foreman didn't know. He'd come on, you know, while I was at college, and so we're sitting in there and my dad drives up.
And this foreman says, "Well, here comes Mr. Big". I probably shouldn't have done this. But I said, "So who's Mr. Big"? He said, "Old JP," that was my dad's initial, "JP, Mr. Morris". He said, "he owns the company," and this what this foreman says, "He thinks he runs things around here, but actually, I'm the one that runs things around here". I said, "Well, that's good to know". So my dad stuck his head in the door and said, "Hey," to everyone, "how you guys doing"? Said, "Good". And then he turned to me and he said, "Hey, since it's your first day back from college, I want to see if you want to go to lunch, son". I said, "I'd love to... dad".
Have you ever watched color drain from someone's face? It's cool. I told this guy, I said, "You might call him Mr. Big. I call him dad". He was really nice to me the rest of the summer it was. Listen, your dad is more than the owner of the company. He's the owner of the world and the universe and all that dwell therein. He owns it all. That's your dad. Now, I'm gonna shock you with this though, You might not know who your dad was before you got saved. Do you know who your dad was before you got saved? Satan. 'Course, some of you are thinking, "Yeah, I always thought that". No, no, not that one, not your biological father. Your spiritual father.
Let me show it to you straight from Jesus. This is Jesus. John 8:38: "'I speak what I've seen with my father. And you do what you're seeing with your father.' They answering said, 'Abraham's our father'. Jesus said, 'If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham'". By the way your the works of Abraham were to believe in Jesus. That believe Jesus. You say, "Wait, it says Abraham believed God... it was counted him". You know who that was. That was the son a man that came and met with him and told him your wife's gonna have a child. That was Jesus, he believed Jesus. That's the works of Abraham.
"But now you seek to kill me a man who's told you the truth, which I heard from God," which is what he did with Abraham. "Abraham did not do this". In other words, God told him the truth. He believed me. "'You do the deeds of your father.' Then they said to him, 'we were not born to fornication we have one Father - God.' Jesus said, 'If God were your father, you would love me'". Then verse 44, he makes it real clear to him, "You are of your father the devil".
So for 19 years, not my earthly father, but my spiritual father was Satan. And he was abusive; and he was angry. He was a tormentor. He was an accuser. Come on, you know what I'm talking about. If you're listening, if you were born in a bad family, you need to know something. Everything bad that ever happened to you was Satan. And I'll tell you something else too, if you were born in a good family, everything bad that ever happened to you was Satan. Same father. All your anger, all your fear, all your insecurity, all your inferiority, all your rejection, all your guilt, all your bitterness, all your impurity. That was all from the Father you used to have. But you now have a good father. And you've been adopted into this new family.
We have some friends here in the church that adopted a girl from another country. She wasn't a baby when they adopt her. She was a girl living in an orphanage. They brought her home. First of all, she was surprised because she had her own room. Couldn't even fathom having her own room, been in orphanage her whole life. They told us this story that a few months after she'd been living with him, they discovered that when she would help them clean the table at night. She was actually taking food up to her room and hiding it in a room because she didn't know if there'd be food the next day. And then they bought her some really nice clothes and one day they were looking for one of her nice dresses to wear and mother said, "Where's your where's this dress"?
Little girl picked up a mattress. She had hidden the dress under the mattress. 'Cause she didn't know if someone would steal her nice dress. See, she'd been living in a different family. She was adopted in a new family. But it took her a long time to get used to the new family, are y'all following me? This is the way it is when we get saved.
Here's the third thing were transferred into a family of unearned blessings, transferred into a family. Now here's why I use the word transferred. Colossians 1:13 says, For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son. Now, because we're talking about family, let's say it another way. He's transferred us from the family of darkness. We all used to live in a family of darkness. He's transferred us into the family of his son. We've been transferred into a new family and it's a family blessing.
Remember you've got in Genesis 3, the fall, before Genesis 3, 1 and 2. Genesis 1, basically the creation of everything. Genesis 2, kind of reveals secrets man and woman. Genesis 3, the first part, the fall, and then the curses after the fall. Then Genesis 4, Cain killing his brother Abel It shows how sin affected the family immediately. Okay. But in chapter one, after God creates Adam and Eve, the very first thing he did... Did you know the first thing he did? Verse 28, "then God blessed them". First thing he did was bless them. Right after the fall, the first thing God does is he lets them know, the curses that they brought on themselves now. He doesn't curse him. He lets them know. You've now brought these curses on yourself.
By the way, the last word of the last sentence of the last chapter of the last book of the Old Testament is cursed. Look it up for yourself. The very last word in the Old Testament, Malachi 4:6 is cursed. The first word in the first sentence of the first sermon in the New Testament is blessed. Blessed is the, blessed are those who are poor in spirit. See what I'm saying? Jesus comes to remove the curse. Here's the way Galatians says it, Galatians 3:13-14, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith".
Okay, so the blessing of Abraham, here's the blessing. God appeared to Abraham in Genesis 12 says, leave your family," leave your family, "and go to another land that I'm going to show you. And it's a land flowing milk and honey, you remember what part of the curse was, the land is not going to produce for you. He comes to Abraham and says, "Let me take you to a new land".
I don't know how many of you have ever been to Israel. But it's amazing to see all the desert around it. And then this lay on that is so fertile. It's not cursed anymore. Now you still have to plant your seed; You still have to water it. But it's now blessed. Just like that girl that got adopted, do you realize how many Christians don't understand this? You are not living in a cursed family anymore. You are living in a blessed family. And God is your father. He's changed it all God's your father. And he adopted you into this new family. It's unearned blessings, you didn't earn them. You work but you don't earn them. He just blesses you. But you've been adopted.
So let me just remind you for a moment about adoption. Okay? So you can be grateful. By the way let me read one more scripture because I just I couldn't leave this series without reading the Scripture. Psalm 68:6, God places the lonely in families. So matter what your marital status is, no matter how young or old, no matter what biological family you came from, you're in a new family now. You don't have to ever be lonely again. Because God places the lonely and families. It's the family of God.
So let me remind you about being adopted. Give you an example. The children don't adopt the parents. The parents adopted the children. Now this is an important theological truth. Because you need to know something, you did not adopt God into your life. God adopted you. You didn't choose God, by the way either. You chose to believe, but you didn't choose God God chose you. Jesus says very clearly to his disciples, "You did not choose me I chose you". God chose you before you ever chose him. And that's good for me. Because I had a lot of rejection growing up, I was never chosen. You know how I used to divide up, Did any of you, some of you might know my pain right now. You know, I used to always hate when they said, "Hey, we'll just divide up and choose teams". "Oh, great". 'Cause I'm going to be the last one chosen. I just knew it. And if you were an athlete, I hate you.
So just to clarify how I feel about you just so you know. So I'll always be standing there with one other person. Does anyone can relate to this? One other person, just me and one other, just one other. You know, I'm just standing there. Thinking, "Please, please God, please. Don't let me be the last one chosen. Finally, they'd say something like this. "All right. We'll take Robert y'all can have the girl". Thank God for the girl. But that's not the way God chose you. He chose you first. But in adoption, you don't line up the parents and say to the little boy, "Now Johnny, which mommy and daddy do you want"? and Johnny said, "Well let's see, I want Mommy, and I want that daddy".
Doesn't work that way. The parents choose the child. But here's what happened. Remember whose child you were before you became God's child. So God came to the adoption agency, the orphanage of the world. He pointed down at you and said, "See that little girl right there? I want little girl right there". And Satan would have said something like this: "Oh, You know, I don't know how she got mixed in with the rest of them, but you can't have that little girl right there. See that little girl? Is my little girl". And God said, "But I want that little girl".
And God knew what kind of a father he was. And God knew that he abused you. And He said, "I want that girl right there". And Satan would've said something like this: "So you want that girl? All right, I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, I'll make a deal with you. I'll give you my little girl. If you'll give me your little boy. You're only boy. But just so you're clear about this. Let me tell you what I'm going to do to your son. I'm going to beat him. I'm going to spit on him. And I'm going to nail him to a cross until he dies. Now you still want that girl"? And our father said, "Yes. I want that girl right there".
I want to remind you, no matter what family you came from, you and I have now been adopted into a new family, the family of God. I want to encourage you if you don't have a good local church and you're in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I want to encourage you to come visit us. If you're outside the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I want you to find a church. I want you to be a part of a local family of God, a place where you can be loved and a place where you can love. Thank God that Jesus came, and we are now part of the family of God. And thank you so much for watching. And thanks for your hunger to learn God's word.