Celebrity babies have been in the news lately. Tom and Katie’s. Angelie and Brad’s. This year babies were born to Donald Trump and not Ivana. Brooke Shield. Gweneth Paltrow. And Dom and Jen Casey. And Heather Young. That’s quite a...
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Celebrity babies have been in the news lately. Tom and Katie’s. Angelie and Brad’s. This year babies were born to Donald Trump and not Ivana. Brooke Shield. Gweneth Paltrow. And Dom and Jen Casey. And Heather Young. That’s quite a range of families, isn’t it? And then, every day, there are thousands of babies born in poverty-stricken countries in Africa and Asia and South and Central America. Some even in the Wealthy West may not have such a plush family environment to come into the world. There are as many different kinds of families as there are different kinds of people and places and times. But there’s one family where nobody is at a disadvantage. There’s one family where things have always stayed the same—excellent! There is one family which can boast all its young are headed for a bright forever. This is the family whose young are Children of the Triune God * Confident to approach God the Father (15-16) * Heirs together with God the Son (17) * Led by God the Holy Spirit (14) Children of the Triune God are confident to approach God their Father. Paul wrote, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children (15-16).” This confidence is the mark of faith. It is the essence of faith. Without confidence, there is no faith. But that confidence is exactly what sin destroys. Take King Saul, the first king of Israel. He had been selected by God, anointed by God’s prophet, Samuel. He had enjoyed victory after victory guided by the Lord’s hand. But he fell away from God. After years of mayhem, his mistakes catch up to him. He faces his nation’s rivals, the Philistines, on the battlefield. The night before the battle, who does he go to to find comfort and strength? The High Priest who can predict the future for him with the Urim and Thummim? No! He doesn’t believe in God anymore. He goes to the witch at Endor to summon the ghost of the prophet Samuel. Is it any wonder he kills himself the next day as the battle is lost and his nation is about to be cut in half? Or take Judas, after he betrayed Jesus. He is not a believer, because what is he trusting in? His own actions to make amends! The plotting, murderous priests to make things better! He tries to return the blood money he received for betraying Jesus, but they won’t take it—“That’s your business! See to it yourself!” And when he can’t remove that load of guilt and shame over Jesus’ condemnation, he goes out and hangs himself. And we are just as bad as they when we are cultivating our sins, pursuing our devious ways. We don’t want to come clean with God when we are fighting with the spouse. Confession is the last thing we want to do when we are weaving lies to cover our drinking or drug use. Hearing about God’s love in the sermon is the last thing we want when we are nursing that grudge! We have no confidence that God will make our lives better. Only when the Holy Spirit moves us to believe do we trust in, do we confide in our heavenly Father. We call him “Our Father,” and that’s what “Abba” means. I am sure Paul is making reference to the address of the Lord’s Prayer. We go before our God on the basis of his being our Father. He is not a God to fear, but a God to love for his forgiveness to us is new every morning. Oh to be in a family with such resources that whatever trouble you got in to could be fixed, could be set aright! Oh to have such a parent or parents that they would always know what is best for you! But we do have just such a heavenly parent in our God the Father. We are eager and confident to approach him in good times and bad, when we’ve been trying our best and when we’ve been trying not at all. His grace will receive us. Children of the Triune God, Paul says, are heirs together with God the Son. “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory (17).” In most families, children
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Celebrity babies have been in the newslately. Tom and Katies. Angelie and Brads. This year babies were born to Donald Trump and not Ivana. Brooke Shield. GwenethPaltrow. And Dom and Jen Casey. And Heather Young.Thats quite a...
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