Names for the People of God #2—“Child of God”
Series: Names for God’s People
Chuck Sligh
April 10, 2016
BIBLE READING: John 3:1-16 or Romans 8:14-21
TEXT: Turn to Romans 8:16; put a marker there; and then turn to Acts 11:26 – “And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”
INTRODUCTION
JOKE – A college student studied hours for a major exam on birds in his biology course.
Strangely, on the day of the test, the professor had several bird cages at the front of the class with covers over them. When the test began the professor pulled the covers up from the cages just enough to reveal the legs of the birds in each cage. He then instructed the class to identify the birds by their legs.
The student was flabbergasted, as were most of the other students. They had not expected anything like this at all. He did the best he could, but finally walked up to the professor and in frustration slammed his paper on his desk and walked out of the room.
This was a large class in a large university and the professor actually knew few of his students by name, and he noticed that the student hadn’t put his name on his exam. He ran after the student and yelled, “Young man, what’s your name?”
The student paused for a brief moment, and then, in a moment of inspiration, pulled up one of his pant legs and yelled back, “Guess!” and walked out.
Well, names ARE important, aren’t they? In our passage we see that the name “Christian” was first applied to believers in Antioch.
Though today we don’t put much stock in the meaning of names, first century Jews did. The meaning of a name was very important to them.
And when names for God’s people are used in the Bible, they’re not used carelessly. Each name for the people of God is wrought with meaning and significance. When a name was given to a Jewish child, it was usually given in hopes that the child would live up to the meaning of that name.
Do we as Christians live up to the names given us in the Bible? That’s what we want to think about in this series on “Names for the People of God.”
Last week we looked at the first of the names for God’s people—the name “Believer.” Today, I want to look at another name for the people of God.
The name we will see today is from Romans 8:16 – “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
Look at the name given in this passage: Children of God, or Child of God individually.
Now when the Bible applies a name that is common in everyday language, like “children,” it’s used as an object lesson to help us understand our relationship to God, or something about our nature as believers. I would like us to notice three things about physical children that is also true spiritually.
I. FIRST, NOTE THAT CHILDREN MUST BE BORN.
Contrary to popular opinion, children are not delivered by the stork. Children don’t just appear. They don’t hatch from eggs. In order to come into being, children must FIRST BE BORN.
We all understand that birth is necessary to come into being in our physical world. However, birth is just as necessary in the spiritual realm as well. The Bible teaches that to become a child of God, you must be born into God’s family.
Note John 3:3-7 – “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
Note the following two comparisons between physical birth and spiritual birth, or what Jesus called being “born again” and Paul referred to as “regeneration”:
1. First, there was nothing I could do as a baby in the womb to make myself be born.
My parents had a whole lot to do with it, but I couldn’t make myself be born by my self-effort as a baby in the womb. The only thing I did was cooperate with the event at the moment of birth.
In the same sense, no one can be born again into God’s family through his or her good works or self effort. If you are born into the family of God it’s ALL OF GOD. The only part that you or I play in the process of being born into God’s family is to cooperate by receiving the free gift of salvation by faith.
• You cannot DO GOOD WORKS to earn the New Birth;…
• You cannot OBEY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS to get it;…
• CHURCH MEMBERSHIP will not obtain it for you.
• Religion and pious acts will not help you get hold of it.
No, if you would be born again, you must simply ACCEPT BY FAITH what Jesus has ALREADY done for you when He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin without any works or effort on your part.
Illus. – Think about it: When a mother is ready to have a baby, we say she goes into…what? (LABOR!) But who has the labor—the mother or the child?
I can assure you, if you are a mother, you KNOW the answer to THAT question! The MOTHER is the one who goes into labor to bear the child. By the same token, when you are born of God, it was JESUS who suffered “labor pains” (if you will) by dying on the cross for your sins, so that you could be born into the family of God!
2. A second comparison of physical and spiritual birth is that both are events which occur at a certain point in time.
You see, I have a birthDAY—a specific time of my entrance on earth. I didn’t just SLOWLY MATERIALIZE into existence.
We all understand this in the physical realm, but it is equally spiritually: We’re born again into the family of God at a specific point in time. One cannot have “always been a Christian.” A mother carries a baby over a nine-month period, but the actual birth itself takes place in a point in time. Spiritually speaking, we can say the same thing. Though the process leading up to being born again may occur over time, the actual event occurs at a specific point in time.
Illus. – In a certain year (1952)…on a certain day (November 21)…at a certain hour (4:28 a.m.)…and at a certain place (San Antonio, Texas)…a great American was born into this world named Charles Clifton Sligh (that’s me, for our guests this morning)—and the world is an infinitely better place because of it! (I didn’t hear any “Amens”!)
You may not remember all the details, especially if you came to faith in Christ as a child, but if you’re truly born into God’s family, there was a point in your life when there began a stirring in your heart by the Spirit of God, and you heard the Gospel from the Word of God, and you recognized how short you fell of God’s righteous glory and that you needed God and His cleansing from sin, and you realized that the answer to your spiritual need was Jesus Christ, and you became a child of God by trusting in Jesus Christ…and you have a spiritual birthday—a time when you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and you passed from death unto life!
Now let me ask you: Do you KNOW with absolute certainty that you have been born into God’s family, that you have become a child of God, because at some point in time, you placed your faith in Jesus Christ for your salvation? If not, you can become a child of God today. So first we see that CHILDREN MUST BE BORN.
II. SECOND, WE KNOW THAT IT IS NORMAL FOR CHILDREN TO GROW.
Anything living, but not growing is abnormal and unnatural; in fact, it’s alarming! Once we’re born, we just NATURALLY grow. It’s as natural and normal for a child to grow as a cow to moo or a cat to purr.
Did you know the same is true of the Christian? Once you’re born into the family of God, God wants you to grow up and mature.
2 Peter 3:18 says, “But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
In the physical realm, there are certain things necessary for growth to occur. The three most necessary elements for proper growth to occur are proper diet, water and exercise. If you’re to grow as a child of God, these same elements must also be present spiritually:
1. First, you need a PROPER DIET –
What is the Christian’s spiritual food?—THE BIBLE is the Christian’s spiritual food.
Peter says in 1 Peter 2:2: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” A Christian CANNOT grow without a proper diet of God’s Word.
Illus. – What would you think of a couple that only fed their child twice on Sunday and once on Wednesday, and no other time during the week? Why, you would say they were terrible, negligent parents. You would call the authorities, because a child could never grow and function as a normal human without nourishment.
But many Christians do just that when they never open their Bibles except when they come to church on Sundays and homegroup during the week. No, in order to grow and function properly, you must have a regular input of spiritual nourishment ON A DAILY BASIS.
Brethren, you and I need to get into God’s Word DAILY. Have a time EVERY day where you feed on God’s Word and seek His face and get your marching orders for the day.
2. Just as critical as a healthy diet is to proper growth is WATER.
The Christian’s water is the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 exhorts us: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; BUT BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT.”
In the Greek, that phrase be filled literally means, “be being filled.” It’s called the present imperative tense in the Greek, which is a command to do something continuously or repeatedly. To live in the physical world, I must have a continuous, steady supply of liquids—and in the spiritual world I must be continuously and repeatedly filled with the Holy Spirit.
Illus. – What would happen if I stopped drinking liquids?— I’d begin to lose strength, wouldn’t I? You can’t go too long without water. The body must have it to survive.
The same is true of the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. To be filled with the Holy Spirit means letting Him control you.
When I’m living in my own strength and desires and wisdom, instead of being controlled by the Holy Spirit, then pretty soon I get spiritually weak. I cannot survive long in the Christian life living in my own strength. I must constantly surrender to the Holy Spirit and be controlled by His spirit and power…or I will shrivel up spiritually.
By the way, this is the key to overcoming wrong habits in your life.
Illus. – If you try to do work in the physical world without water, you can’t do it for very long.
You wouldn’t have the strength to continue except for a while. And if you try to conquer your habits or live the Christian life in your own power, without the strengthening and stimulating power of the
Holy Spirit, you are destined for eventual defeat! Eventually you’ll lose strength in your own power—and you’ll fail.
You MUST have the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit. Then and only then can you say with the Apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Phil. 4:13).
Yes, you CAN conquer your habits—but only if you are daily, moment-by-moment, being filled or surrendering control of yourself to the Holy Spirit.
3. The third basic element of growth is PROPER EXERCISE.
Illus. – If you kept a baby in his crib all day every day and tied him down so that he could never exercise, he’d never grow and develop his muscles, and never learn to crawl or to walk or to run and he’d be stunted in his development for the rest of his life.
So it is for the child of God. Many a Christian is nourished daily by the Word of God and has found the sustaining power of the water of life—the Holy Spirit of God. But they’ve never grown to spiritual maturity! Why?—Because they’ve not had the spiritual exercise of service to God.
Christians get proper exercise when they SERVE.
Too many Christians are couch potato Christians. They sit on their seats of do-nothing and do little or nothing to advance the cause of Christ. What a tragedy!
No, God wants every Christian to serve Him! You serve Him every time share the Gospel with someone. You should certainly serve Him in His local church. It may be as a TEACHER in K.I.D.S. Church or Sunday School. It may be by being a singer or musician on the worship team. Certainly, doing your part serving in the nursery is a vital area of service, especially in a military church with so many little ones. It could include serving as an usher or cleaning the church. It may be any of these—but EVERY Christian should have SOME place of service in his local church.
So we’ve seen two main points so far about children that we have applied to the Christian life: Children must be born and second, it is normal for children to grow.
III. THIRD, CHILDREN MUST BE DISCIPLINED.
No parent is a good parent who lets his child run loose and uncontrolled. If you truly love your child, you will discipline him. The Bible says, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes [that means “early”)].” (Proverbs 13:24)
If you truly love your children, you’ll discipline them because you love them, and you want God’s best for them, and you want to teach them how to do right and you want to protect them from the dangers of self-destructive behaviors. And so it is for the child of God as well.
Go with me to Hebrews 12:5-11 [EXPAND AS LED] – “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint [i.e., “lose heart”] when you are rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loves he chastens [or “disciplines”], and scourges [i.e., “punishes”] every son whom he receives. 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not? 8 But if you are without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards [illegitimate children], and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh [i.e., “our earthly fathers”] who corrected us, and we gave them reverence [i.e., “we respected them”]: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of [our] spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous [sorrowful]: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who are exercised thereby [i.e. “trained by it”].” – The writer of Hebrews gives four right responses to the God’s chastening in our lives:
1. First, he says, don’t despise it – verse 5, says, “despise thou not the chastening of the Lord...” (EXPAND AS LED)
2. Don’t quit when it happens – verse 5, “...nor faint when thou art rebuked of him...” (EXPAND AS LED)
3. Endure it – verse 7, “If ye endure chastening...” (EXPAND AS LED)
4. Submit to it – verse 9 [paraphrased] “Furthermore we have our earthly fathers corrected us, and we respected them: shall we not much submit to the Father of our spirits, and live?” (EXPAND AS LED)
CONCLUSION
“Children”—What a great name for Christians!
1. Are you a child of God?
That is to say, have you been born again? Have you been born into God’s family by trusting in Christ as your Savior? If not, then do not delay this most important decision in your life. Turn to God this morning and ask Him to save you and make you a child of God.
2. What about you who are already children of God? – Are you growing in the Lord, or have you become stunted and stopped growing in the Lord?
Do you have a daily time of feasting in the Word of God? Are you gaining victory in your life by being continually filled with the Holy Spirit by constantly surrendering to his control in your life? Are you a witness for Christ in both your LIFE and your LIPS? Do you have a place of service in your church where you are EXERCISING your faith?
3. And how are you responding to God’s discipline in your life?
Are you rebelling against it? Are you angry at God just for being a good parent? Or are you submitting to it and learning from it?
Let’s live up to our name as “Children of God.”
