The Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
PREDESTINED for Adoption and Inheritance Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen! In today’s Epistle, God speaks the Word PREDESTINATION two times. When God says something once, we ought to listen. When God says it twice, we ought to double our listening! First, God says you have been “predestined… for adoption though Jesus Christ.” Then God says you “have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined.” Today’s sermon has three parts. The first part has to do with to whom God is speaking when He uses the Word PREDESTINATION—is it you or is it someone else? (Here is the early answer: God is speaking to YOU.) The second part of the sermon takes up what it means that you are “predestined… for adoption though Jesus Christ” and that you “have obtained an inheritance.” The third part of today’s sermon has to do with why it matters. Dear Christian friends, 1: To whom God speaks when He uses the Word PREDESTINATION. Each time God uses the Word PREDESTINATION here in today’s Epistle, He is speaking to you and He is speaking about you. God uses PREDESTINATION to speak about you because you have been baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). God calls you PREDESTINED because His miracle of Baptism has washed away your sins (Acts 22:16), so that you will never die (John 11:26). By Baptism you are PREDESTINED to resurrection and life, on account of Jesus’ own resurrection and life! God does not use the Word PREDESTINATION on everyone. In particular, God does not call any unbeliever PREDESTINED. God only calls His own, dear Christians PREDESTINED. PREDESTINATION is a divine Word for you and for all Christians and for no one else. Why does God use PREDESTINATION to describe only you, but not the unbelievers? Because there are some words that simply do not apply and would never be used to describe certain things. For example, the Sun burns at about 10,000° F. Therefore, you would never use words such as “cold” or “icy” to describe the surface of the Sun. Instead, you would use good and fitting words, such as “hot” or “molten.” But you would not use these words “hot” or “molten” to describe Antarctica! Only certain words rightly describe certain things. In the same way, you would never describe yourself or any other Christian as “pagan” or “wicked” or “damned.” (Neither would God!) What Words rightly describe you, now that God has washed away your sins in Baptism? The words “hot” or “molten” rightly describe the Sun. In the same way, because you are the baptized of Christ, words that rightly describe you now include “saint” (Ephesians 1:1), “holy” (Romans 11:16), “redeemed” (1 Peter 1:18), “re-born” (1 Peter 1:3), “forgiven” (Ephesians 4:32), and YES, “PREDESTINED.” You would use the words “hot” and “molten” to describe the Sun, but never to describe Antarctica. So, too, these Words—“holy,” “redeemed,” “re-born,” “forgiven,” “PREDESTINED”—these Words describe you and all Christians, but they do not describe any unbelievers! 2: What it means that you are PREDESTINED. Listen again to part of today’s Epistle, as God explains to you what you will receive from Him in the future, because He has PREDESTINED you in Baptism: In love He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace … In Him we have [also] obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. First, God says you have been “predestined… for adoption though Jesus Christ.” Then God says you “have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined.” According to these Words, you have been given a very certain and reliable future! • With these Words, God promises you that you will one day be fully revealed as His dearly loved children. You are “predestined… for adoption though Jesus Christ.” Yes, you were already adopted to be the children of God when God baptized you (Galatians 4:4-7). You already possess complete forgiveness and the fullest outpouring of life and happiness that anyone could ever imagine. You simply cannot yet see any of these things with your eyes. You are now holy and perfect, even though you daily sin; you are now redeemed in Christ, even though you are still enslaved by habits and desires; you are now re-born and living eternally, even though your body will someday fall into a grave. God gave you “adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:5) in your Baptism, and yet still we all wait for “the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19). Stated another way, God’s adoption in Baptism has PREDESTINED us for the future, greater adoption, which God elsewhere calls “the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23) and “the resurrection of the dead” (Matthew 22:31). In today’s Epistle, God is assuring you that your future resurrection is certain and it is inevitable. You are “predestined… for adoption though Jesus Christ.” Because God baptized you, you are now like a train set upon a railroad track. Your destination is certain because the tracks only lead in one direction. • Just as you are “predestined… for adoption,” so too, you also “have obtained an inheritance.” Your inheritance of eternal life is “kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4), but it is now so completely certain for you that God can speak as if you have already received it. Consider it done! “You HAVE obtained an inheritance.” Why have you received this? Because you have been set upon the tracks, and the tracks lead in only one direction. You have been PREDESTINED by the miracle of Baptism, which God Himself poured out for you! These are God’s Words and they are not mine: In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. 3: Why it matters. If you have lived a perfect and trouble-free life, then the word PREDESTINATION will probably not seem very valuable to you. Who could really feel too concerned about a brighter future when today seems to be all fresh air and sunshine? So, too, if you have a lot of self-confidence and personal holiness, then you really do not have much need for the promise of God. Then again, maybe • You have felt at least an ounce or two of sorrow or loneliness or regret. • You have experienced small bit of struggle with your family, with your neighbor up the street, or with your guilty conscience. • You wish you could act differently than you do, because you know your behavior is hard on your family. • You have been required to cope with troubles and hardships that you never asked God to give, but they still arrive like credit-card applications in the mail. • You think your past was somehow better than your present. • You can sense the increase of age in your bones and see the lines deepening on your face. • You wish things had worked out differently, because you are not right now where you once hoped you would be. • Barring all these other things, maybe you can stick your hand into your shirt and feel that you still have a heartbeat. If any of these things are so, then God’s pure and holy gift of PREDESTINATION will help you. God’s gift of PREDESTINATION will help you today and it will help you again tomorrow and it will help you every day for the rest of your life. God’s gift of PREDESTINATION promises you that your future will be better than your present and better than your past. God’s gift of PREDESTINATION is food and drink, clothing and shelter, comfort and hope for your eternal life. God’s gift of predestination is the full extent of your Baptism. PREDESTINATION is the eternal shape of Jesus’ bloody cross and it is the final result of His empty tomb. PREDESTINATION is the head stone that will stand above your grave until the Last Day. PREDESTINATION is the promise that God will not take away. God has said it twice, so double your listening! You have been “predestined… for adoption though Jesus Christ.” You “have [also] obtained an inheritance, having been predestined.” Everything you experience between now and then is nothing more than waiting for the train to arrive in the station. _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
