We are vindicated!

God adopted YOU & ME … we didn’t adopt Him. Romans 9:8 reveals we are the “Children of the promise.”

When Paul uses the imagery of adoption he’s talking about how the Romans practiced it. In ancient Rome (just like today) the Roman family chose the child they wanted to adopt. As part of the adoption, there was a special ceremony where the adopting father went to one of the Roman judges and presented a legal case to justify his right to adopt the child into his own household.

This ceremony was called the “vindicatio”.

William Barclay says that when this ceremony was complete, In the eyes of the law he or she was a new person. So new… “that even all debts and obligations connected with his previous family were abolished as if they had never existed.”

In other words, once a person went thru this vindicatio ceremony - every debt he ever had was erased as if it never existed. Now look at that word – “vindicatio”.

Does it look kind of like an English word you know? What about “vindicate”, or “vindication”?

One of my dictionaries defines vindicate as “to clear of accusation… to absolve… to justify”

That is what God did for us when we became Christians…he adopted us…He vindicated us.?

* He cleared us of any accusation of our guilt and shame

* And He absolved us/ forgave us all of our iniquities and failures.

* He justified us so that it was “just as if we’d never sinned”

WE WERE VINDICATED by God who chose us to be adopted as His children.

Now, that includes our future in heaven… but it also blessings on this earth right now.

I like this saying: “Faith isn’t just pie in the sky when we die, but is also steak on the plate while we wait.”

Welcome to the family of the restored! You know I love ya, Don

Adopted into a safe place.

-->

I read the true story of a woman who explained that her favorite spot at the local zoo was the “Creatures of the Night”, where nocturnal creatures crawled and flew about.

She said “One very bright day, I stepped into the exhibit and was plunged into total darkness. Almost immediately, a small hand grabbed mine.”

“And who do you belong to?” she asked.

A little boy’s voice spoke in the darkness: “I’m yours till the lights come on.” (Connie Lavoie Readers Digest 3/09, p. 165)

 

-->

Why did he grab that woman’s hand? Fear. And his fear disappeared only when he was able to hold of the hand of that woman.

This is the teaching of Romans for us… We can handle the fear of our lives because we have the right (as adopted children) to grab hold of our Father’s hand.

Many people are afraid to die...but the reality is that living is a scary thing. The news, the market, the opinions, the sacrifices, the mistakes…all lead to a very scary existence.

Now, because God’s Spirit lives in us - and because we have been made heirs of God - we have a new outlook. And it’s found in Romans 8:15. “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.” This is an intimate relationship that carries the weight of all the love, grace, and power that comes with a Passionate God.

 

We are brothers and sisters in God's family. You know I love ya, Don