You're listening to Mountain View Church Audio, Christ-centered teaching from the Wilderness City, Whitehorse UConn. Here's this week's message.
Cause all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah. And I know it's not much, but I have nothing else fit for a king. Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah. I've got one response, I've got just one move. With my arms stretched wide.
I will worship you. So I throw up my hands, praise you again and again, because all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah. And I know it's not much, but I've nothing else fit for a king, except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your song Cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs Get up and praise the Lord Oh, come on, my soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your song Cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs Get up and praise the Lord
Oh, come on, my soul. Oh, don't you get shy of me. Lift up your song. Because you've got a lion inside of those lungs. Get up and praise the Lord. Oh, I throw up my hands. Praise you again and again. Because all that I have is a hallelujah. Hallelujah. And I know it's not much. But I have nothing else fit for a king.
Picture a dinner table in a family home. Everyone has their spot. It's where stories are told and prayers are shared and laughter spills over as second helpings are passed around. It's so normal that most of us take that scene for granted. But for an orphan, that image of the table means everything. Imagine someone pulling out a chair, setting a plate and saying, this spot is for you.
The food served and conversation starts. It's completely normal for everyone else, but it feels unbelievable to the orphan. Looking around at the table and thinking to himself or herself, I belong here. This is my family. My name is Jeremy. Welcome to Mountain View Church. This picture of a table is a symbol of belonging, value, and worth. It's also a symbol that points to identity, the focus for our fall series. We've been walking through Paul's letter to the Ephesian church, unpacking the deep truths that show us where our true identity is found.
And today we come to one of the most beautiful of those truths that God has adopted us in Christ. Hi, my name is Camilla. Our scripture reading is from Ephesians 1 verses 1 through 6. If you have a physical Bible, you can use a table of contents in the front to locate the book of Ephesians. If you have a mobile device, you can download a Bible app or use the search function at Bible.com.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we shall be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will. In many ways, this is the second half of what Paul presented in verse 4. That considered, if you missed last week's message, you should pause this video or audio and go back. I understand that it feels like a bit of a hassle to go back and try to find a previous video, but I promise you that it'll be worth it. You have a way better foundation to grasp today's message if you go back. So, assuming that you're all caught up, let's keep rolling. Paul states that God predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will.
Through Jesus, we move from orphans wandering in this world to children in God's family. As an orphan, I might perform to be seen, I might hide to feel safe, or I might brace for rejection in general as I navigate life. But as a child of God, I can rest in being known, I can live with security, I can walk with confidence because I'm loved and I belong. This is why adoption is such a powerful picture of our encounter with Jesus. On an earthly level, adoption marks two lives, one before belonging and one after. But spiritual adoption is connected to the moment when Jesus took our sin on the cross. He died and rose again. Through his death and resurrection, he removed our separation from God and removed our identity as orphans. Because of Christ's work on the cross, the Father now receives us as his own children, clothed in Christ's righteousness and loved with the same love that he has for his one and only son.
Coming back to that image of the family dinner table, imagine you're the orphan walking into the family kitchen for the first time. All of a sudden, the oldest and firstborn son stands up and gives you his place at the table. Now, the orphan sits at the table as if he'd been a part of the family all along. How amazing is that? And for some of you, it might sound impossible. It sounds crazy. Some of you might be confused, which is valid, because this is a massive theological concept. To make sure you understand it fully, I'm going to actually break it down into three parts based on three key questions. The first, what does it mean that God predestined us to adoption? Second, what did adoption mean in Paul's world? And finally, how does Jesus make our adoption possible?
Let's dig in. Question one is what does it mean that God predestined us? The word predestined can make people shift in their seats. Paul says that God predestined us, which means to be predetermined or decided in advance. Just like last week's passage about being chosen, these concepts can make us feel really uncomfortable. This is because they push against the grain of our individualistic culture. We live in a world built on self-control and personal choice and a self-defying truth. So a theological truth, like being predestined, will always rub up against our cultural instincts.
That being said, we can't escape that when Paul used the word predestined, he means that before the creation of the world, God decided to make us a part of his family through Jesus. Does that erase our personal responsibility? No, that's not what I'm saying. But it does magnify his grace in an amazing way that God planned for you. He wanted you long before you ever even existed. Theologian Dr. Jeff Robinson explains it like this. Predestination means our salvation is as secure and settled as the God who selected us. If our inheritance is rooted in God, who chose us before the beginning of time,
then we cannot fall away. We did nothing to gain it. We can do nothing to lose it. By his grace, God's people will persevere to the end through many dangers, toils, and snares. This truth is a balm of comfort to saints who are wearied by the daily struggles of life, whose spiritual legs may be weakened by the daily war within and without. The God who chose you will surely keep you. So if we can wrap our minds around this truth, we'll realize that instead of feeling like a
cold theological concept, predestination is a very personal assurance. It means that your story has a unique connection point, that when you found God, he was always there. Long before you took your first breath, before you ever made your first mistake, God already had a place for you in his family. So I hope you can see how that truth changes how you walk in this life. Instead of fear, there should be peace. Instead of striving, there should be rest. And it anchors the next theological concept and the focus for this passage, that we've been predestined for adoption.
But first, we need to make sure we understand what adoption meant in first century culture, in Paul's world. When he wrote these words and taught them to the early church, what did he have in mind? When Paul used the word adoption, his readers would have pictured something very specific. It was a permanent legal commitment and a relational covenant wrapped up into one. In the Roman world, adoption was binding. Once it happened, it couldn't be undone. The adopted person received a new name, a new inheritance, and a clean record of their previous life.
Every family debt was erased. The old life was gone as if it never existed. Roman law called this transfer of authority patria potestas. Adoption transferred a son from the potestas, the authority, of one father to another. And the adopted person was taken into the new family and had the same rights as the natural children. Historians note that adoption in ancient Rome wasn't focused on a child's welfare like it is today.
Totally different. It was used to preserve family lines and inheritance and sometimes even political legacy. Historian Dr. Carol Ashby writes, While contemporary adoption is aimed at placing a child in a loving family, Roman adoption aimed at providing a suitable male heir to become the new paterfamilias when the family patriarch died. Families with too many sons sometimes offered one to another noble household to strengthen social and economic ties.
So, Roman adoption also became strategic at the highest levels of power. But here's the part that ties directly to identity. The name of a male Roman citizen had three parts. Prenomen, which is the given name, Nomen, which is the clan or gens, and Cognomen, the family name. It was customary for an adopted male to place his original clan and family names with those of his adopted father. In other words, adoption meant a complete transfer of your identity. Your past clan and lineage and family names were gone. Your new name grafted you into a completely new family tree.
This is the symbolism that Paul is pointing to in this letter to the Ephesians, who would have known the Roman adoption process very well. And yet he's connecting them and us to God's family through Christ. When Paul says that God has adopted us to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, he's describing a transformation of identity. Paul takes that same picture of Roman adoption, the transfer of name, status, and inheritance, and applies it to our relationship with God. For the original audience, they would understand that what Rome practiced in law, God fulfills in his grace. And it's worth noting that Paul doesn't just mention adoption in his letter to the Ephesians. This is a recurring theme throughout his writing. When he writes to the Romans and the Galatians, he expands on what this adopted family relationship with God looks like and how it's lived out in the life of the believer. First, look at Romans 8.15, where he writes, you have received the spirit of adoption as sons.
by whom we cry, Abba, Father. Then in Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5, he states that God has sent forth his son to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. Both of these passages point to the same truth, that adoption is only possible because of Jesus, which leads to the obvious next question, our third question. How does Jesus make our adoption possible? When Paul states that our adoption happens through Jesus, that little phrase changes everything. It means that our adoption doesn't depend on us. We can't earn it through our moral performance or church attendance or any sort of spiritual effort. It doesn't work like that. We're adopted through a person who is fully human and yet he is fully God. And coming back to Galatians 4, which we read before, it says, And then he continues. He writes,
God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. Paul is showing us that our adoption costs something. You see, Jesus came just at the right moment in history, the fullness of time, as it states in Galatians, to redeem us. In its simplest form, we're talking about the word redeem meaning to buy us back. In first century Roman culture, it described paying the full price required to set someone free, our freedom. And so our adoption was purchased by Christ at the cross. Jesus took on our slavery to sin so we could step into his sonship with the Father. Through the natural born son of God, spiritual orphans like us become sons and daughters of God.
So Paul states that God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. This means that adoption is a living and active and spiritual relationship. The Holy Spirit enters into us at salvation, sealing our adoption. And He becomes a daily reminder of who we belong to. Unlike other forms of religion that are working for a higher power, trying to earn a place of righteousness, we've been brought into God's righteousness through Jesus. We're no longer slaves, but children of God, able to cry out to Him those words, Abba, Father.
which is an intimate term that in English might resemble the word daddy, father. Let's come all the way back to our core text from Ephesians 1. Paul adds our adoption happens, quote, according to the purpose of his will. This is such an important component of the spiritual adoption process that it wasn't a last-minute rescue plan. God had a plan in place before creation, choosing to make you his own.
It's His will, His initiative, and His delight to adopt you. And I hope you can see how that changes the perspective on human identity. If our adoption begins in God's will, it can't be undone by our weakness. Our belonging to Him doesn't depend on performance, so we can rest in His unchanging purpose and plan. The future is all in His hands. We don't have to control it. And so, for today's application, just look at Paul's follow-up in verse 6. We've been adopted to the praise of His glorious grace.
with which he has blessed us in the beloved, that big B beloved, which is Jesus. He's pointing to Jesus. It's all about Jesus. It's in, through, and by Jesus that God has adopted us. And the father called Jesus his beloved son at his baptism, declaring his pleasure and approval before Jesus had ever performed a miracle or preached a sermon. But that same love covers those who belong to him. To be in the beloved means being united with Christ, sharing in his sonship.
When the Father spoke over Jesus, he now speaks over us. You are my child. You are loved. You belong. And this is the greater picture of God's grace and the gospel as a whole, something that he freely gives through Jesus. God isn't asking you to prove anything. He's inviting you to receive what Jesus already finished. This is declared in the gospel of John. We read, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The call is clear that we are to receive him and believe in his name. Maybe you've been curious about Jesus, or you've believed in God for years but never made it personal. Like we discussed last week, being chosen in Christ is a mystery, and so is spiritual adoption. Let's be honest. We don't know the exact point when all this happens or how it exactly takes place in the minute spiritual realm. And yet, God's desire is to adopt you into his family, and today might be the day that you accept that adoption. If that's you, you can start with a simple prayer. Right now, wherever you're at, you can just pray along with me.
Let's pray. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Before we wrap up, I want to say thank you. Thank you for watching or listening and engaging with what God's doing through this series and at Mountain View Church as a whole. However you're watching, however you're listening, wherever you are, thank you. And if you haven't done so already, please connect with us at mountainview.church slash connect or send us a direct message on social at Mountain View White Horse. And if you happen to be watching through our YouTube channel, please consider subscribing, then turn on notifications so that each week's message will appear in your feed as soon as it's available. Now, here's this week's ministry updates.
Stuff the Bus is about collecting donations for people that maybe don't have enough to eat at this time of year when everybody's celebrating all their blessings and it's just a way for us to kind of take care of the needs that are out there. I like the different volunteers that show up. We get all sorts of different people coming to do all these little jobs that add up to make a big difference. My name is Jasper and I'm helping out because I like helping those in need. I'm Luke and I decided to help out today because it's just fun hanging out with friends and helping our community.
We have a membership meeting on October 30th starting at 6 30 p.m. If you're a covenant member of Mountain View Church, please mark your calendars so we can ensure that we have a quorum. For parents, child care will be provided, and this is an important opportunity to celebrate what God's been doing this past year and look ahead to 2026. If you're not currently a member but you'd like to know more or you'd like to apply for membership, simply visit mountainview.church slash membership. Next, let's talk about baptisms. We are one month away from our next Baptism Sunday on November 23rd.
If you've given your life to Jesus, but haven't publicly declared it through baptism, you can sign up at mountainview.church slash baptism. Finally, and somewhat connected to next week's message, I want to give you a quick personal update. Thank you to everyone who's been praying for our family, and especially for my wife, Nicole. She finished chemotherapy a few weeks ago, which was a huge milestone for us, and she's slowly regaining her strength and energy. But the journey's not quite over yet. Next week, we'll travel south for her second surgery, and then in December, we'll be traveling back down for two weeks of radiation treatments.
Through it all, we've seen God's faithfulness in so many ways. Through your prayers, your encouragement, and the way our pastoral team has stepped up to carry extra weight during this season. So, to you, Herber, Aaron, and Byron, you have gone above and beyond, and I couldn't be more grateful and thankful for you as friends and pastoral colleagues. Thank you, guys. And to all of you, Mountain View Church, thank you. You've shown us what it means to be in the family of God. You've lifted Nicole up every step of the way, and our family have felt your love and support. I am so thankful to be your pastor, and I'm so thankful to serve here at Mountain View Church. So, pointing to next Sunday, Pastor Herber will continue our identity series, moving into Ephesians 1, verses 7 and 8, where Paul talks about what it means to be redeemed, to live forgiven and free.
So if you've ever carried guilt or you've struggled to move forward from your past, this message is for you. Please plan on watching, listening, or attending one of our gatherings. Now to close out our time together, I'm going to leave you with a discussion and prayer focus for this week. First, the discussion question. How does being adopted through Jesus change the way you see your relationship with God? How does being adopted through Jesus change the way you see your relationship with God? After you chat about that with some friends or meditate on it, maybe make a journal entry, take some time to pray. Thank God for adopting you and ask him to help you to live with that identity.
as a beloved child of God. And we'll see you next week, although you won't see me, but the week after, I'll be back. See you then. If you prayed to receive Jesus today or would like to connect with our church community, visit mountainview.church and click the connect link. If this podcast and radio ministry has been a blessing to you, please consider partnering with us or making a tax-deductible donation at mountainview.church. Thanks for listening to Mountain View Church Audio. Join us next week for more Christ-centered teaching from the Wilderness City of Whitehorse UConn.