Romans 8:14-17 - The Trinity Makes Us Family - May 30, 2021

Every year we set aside the first Sunday after Pentecost to marvel at the majesty and mystery of the Holy Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the heavenly things (John 3:12) Jesus referred to in the gospel lesson that no eye has seen and no ear has heard and no human mind has conceived (1 Corinthians 2:9). Even a systematic confession of this doctrine – like the Athanasian Creed – isn’t an attempt to explain the Trinity, but rather is simply a summary of what the Bible teaches – nothing more and nothing less – leaving the mystery where it will always remain: far beyond our comprehension. The essence, the unity, the independence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one of the many truths we can accept only through God’s gift of faith, not by reason.

So why spend an entire Sunday on a doctrine that is literally beyond comprehension? How can a feeble sinner like myself write a sermon on a subject that is, admittedly, far beyond my comprehension? Well, I didn’t. The Apostle Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, did. In a way, Paul leads us to look at the Trinity from the point of view of a child. Do children understand all the connections between the people they will eventually learn to know as their relatives? Can they comprehend how their mother and father met and what their wedding was like? Do they understand what their parents know and are capable of and how they were thinking about them long before they were born? Of course not. But what children do learn, very quickly, is that there are two people in particular who come when they cry, that two people in particular change their diapers and bath them and feed them, that there are two people in particular who are always there for them and always doing what is best for them. While young children can’t understand the essence and extent of the relationships of the families they are born into, they do understand who it is that is active in caring for them. In Romans chapter 8, Paul guides us to a better, fuller faith in the mystery of the Trinity by showing us that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all active in making us Family – a family we join not by birth or marriage, but by adoption.

When we think of adoption in our culture, we usually think of the adoption of infants and children. But in the Roman culture Paul lived in – and in other cultures around the world today – adults (and especially adult males) are often adopted into other families. For example, in Japan many of the family companies (Suzuki, etc.) are run by adopted sons. This practice keeps the company in the family name even if there is no biological son either available or capable of running the company. In 2011, 90% of the 81,000 adoptions in Japan were of adults. [1] In this case, adoption results in some drastic and immediate changes – changes an adult would notice and immediately understand. He knows that his new privileges, status and responsibilities are a gift; a direct result of his adoption into a new family. When the Triune God adopted us into his family through faith in Jesus, we also experience immediate changes in our lives. These changes are what Paul highlights in these verses.

Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. The first change we experience is that instead of being led by the devil or the world we are led by the Spirit of God. Are you led by the Spirit? Consider this: Why did you choose to come to worship today? It’s a beautiful day, right in the middle of the long Memorial Day weekend… there are countless other things you could be doing right now. So why did you choose worship? You were led by the Spirit. This happens more often than we realize. Every time we say no to sin and yes to righteousness (Titus 2:12), the Spirit is leading and guiding our lives. When begin and end every day with prayer, when we give thanks to God before every meal, when we place the needs of others before our own, when we work diligently even though we could slack off – those are all evidence that the Spirit is in charge and is leading us through life. How does the Spirit lead us? Is it like the GPS in our cars? Does He whisper in our ears or appear to us in visions? No – at least the Bible hasn’t promised that to us. Remember, we’re thinking in terms of a family here. How did your parents lead you when you were a child? Through their words (Why haven’t we all jumped off a bridge by now? Because we remember our mothers warning us not to jump off any bridges, even if all our friends are!). The Holy Spirit leads us by speaking to us. The Bible is not a book of fanciful tales imagined by men, but, Peter writes: no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were being carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). The Holy Spirit speaks to us, leads us through the Word. The fact that you are here – being led by the Spirit of God to receive the Word, is proof that you are a [son] of God. And that means that you – whether male or female – are entitled to all of the privileges of sonship. 

One of those privileges is that the Spirit changes our relationship with God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again. The first question is: why were we / why would we be afraid of God? Paul says fear is the result of a spirit of slavery. What is that? It’s the natural religion of all people – the innate idea that we must earn salvation ourselves, by our own good works and obedience to the Law. If that’s true, think of your life over the past week – how do you feel standing here before a holy, righteous God? How could you feel anything but fear? If your relationship with God depends on your obedience, how could you feel like anything but a slave to a Law you can’t obey and a God you can never satisfy?

But through the Gospel the Spirit leads you in the exact opposite direction: you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, “Abba, Father!” Children learn almost immediately that they don’t have to make an appointment to meet with their parents. They don’t wonder if 2am is a good time to get them out of bed. They aren’t afraid to ask for anything – especially when they’re hurt, scared or in danger. They are confident that their parents love them and will listen to and answer them and give them what is best. That is the kind of confidence the Spirit instills in us through faith in Jesus. Not fearful of punishment but confident in God’s love and mercy and wisdom, so that we can approach the triune God as boldly and confidently as dear children ask their dear Father. (Luther’s Explanation of the Address)

At the same time, contrary to what many think, this new, intimate relationship with God as our Father is not a right every human being has from birth; Scripture makes it clear it is a privilege possessed only by believers (Isaiah 59:2; Jeremiah 14:11-12). Why? Because only through faith in Christ can we believe the extent to which God our Father loves us: that he knew us and chose us before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-6), that he stitched us together in our mothers’ wombs (Psalm 139:13), that long before we were born he sent his Son to pay the ultimate price to redeem us – and he did all of that when we were his enemies (Romans 5:8). But the Father’s love overcame all of that and redeemed us from our slavery and adopted us as sons. And now, because of the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work in our hearts, we can confidently come to the Creator’s throne and boldly ask him for anything, for in Christ, he is our dad, our Abba, our Father.

But the Spirit’s work doesn’t stop there: the Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children. At one time or another, we all ask: “am I really God’s child?” When do we ask that question? I think there are two main situations: 1) When we’ve done or said something terrible; when guilt and shame overwhelm us; when we fear that we have disqualified ourselves from any relationship with God; and 2) when life takes a turn for the worse, when we suffer some accident, some tragedy, some sickness or disease that would seem to prove that God has abandoned us. How to we respond to those circumstances? Sometimes we can tell ourselves: “yes, I love God and trust Jesus, I am his child.” And when we say that with confidence, that is the Holy Spirit working with our own spirit. But when we are really in trouble, we need more than self-assurance. And that’s when the Spirit steps in with the assurance that we aren’t God’s children just because we say so, but because God says so. How? Where? Through the objective means of grace. Just as a child can point to his birth certificate as proof that he is his parents’ child – so the Holy Spirit points Christians to their baptism, their spiritual birth certificate, which proves that they are members of God’s family – and which nothing can change. When Satan and our own conscience try to convince us that our sins have disqualified us from membership in God’s family, the Spirit sends men to announce that our sins have been absolved, forgiven, removed forever from God’s sight (John 20:22-23). When we fear that we are illegitimate children Jesus gives us his own body and blood to remind us that through him we are as legitimate as he is.

We are led through life by the Spirit, the God of the universe calls us children, and there’s one more wonderful benefit we possess by virtue of our adoption into the Trinity’s family: Now if we are children, we are also heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. By his use of the term heirs, Paul alludes to a topic most of us would probably rather not think about: the writing of a last will and testament. It reminds us of death and sorrow and loss. On the other hand, if a rich uncle dies, we are probably eager to hear if we made it into his will. In this last verse the Holy Spirit convinces us that we have something better than a rich uncle. God has actually named us, confessed sinners, in his will. And he hasn’t just promised us a tiny portion of the inheritance – a couple of dusty knick-knacks – he has actually named us as fellow heirs with Christ. Most married couples have a joint bank account. If you do, it means that you have access to 100% of the balance. Everything that belongs to Christ belongs to us. We have access to all of God’s blessings, all of His promises, his entire inheritance and his mansion in heaven. And the best part is that this is one account that we didn’t have to work year, one day or even one minute to fill – because our brother Jesus did it all. Jesus earned all of God’s riches for us by dying in our place and rising from the grave. His holy blood washes our debts away and his perfect life is credited to our account. Now, even though we will share in his suffering in this life, we have his guarantee that we will share in his glory in heaven.

Until we reach that glory, the Trinity will continue to be a mystery we will never understand – one that we can only confess and believe. But by the adoption we have received through the means of grace, our place in the Trinity’s Family is secure. The Spirit leads us. The Father calls us his children. And we are Coheirs with Christ. What more can we say? How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of [the Triune] God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1) Amen.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_adult_adoption