Deo Gloria
May 26, 2024
Sermon for Trinity Sunday
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Romans 8:12-17
Theme: You are Children of the Triune God!
- The Father is your Abba.
- The Son is your co-heir.
- The Spirit is your leader.
Do you realize how lucky you are? Actually “lucky” isn’t the right word. Do you realize how blessed you are? Muslims live in fear and uncertainty because they don’t know what you know or have what you have. The same is true of Hindus. They live in uncertainty and despair because they don’t know what you know or have what you have. And Mormons too—they also live with a sense of doubt and despair at times because they don’t know what you know or have what you have. You know who the true God is. You know what he has revealed about himself on the pages of the Bible: that he is one God and yet three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And yet, it’s so much more than that. Not only do you know who the true God is, you enjoy a close, personal relationship with him and enjoy his blessings each and every day. Today in these verses from Romans ch. 8, the apostle Paul highlights this close relationship you and I enjoy with God and some of the blessings that are ours as a result. You, and I, are children of the triune God!
A Muslim can never call God his Father. Do realize that? For him or her to do so would be considered sacrilegious. It would be degrading and demeaning to Allah. Allah is far too great, far too high, far too exalted for some lowly human being to call him their Father. Hindus would never call God their Father either. For them God is this vague, undefinable Brahman that you can’t know in a personal way and who really isn’t interested in you and what’s going on in your life. And Mormons, well, they do refer to God as Father God, but they’re really confused about the identity of Jesus Christ and they don’t know where they stand with God so they constantly are trying to earn his favor and live a life worthy enough so they could live with him in heaven someday.
You and I, on the other hand, can call God our Father. We do call God our Father, with complete confidence and trust. In fact, we not only call God our Father; we call him Abba—Abba, Father. Paul said it in v. 15, didn’t he? “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.’”
So what gives us the right to do that? How is that you and I have such a close, personal relationship with the God of heaven that we can actually call him Daddy? Well, it’s certainly not because that’s the way were born. You and I were not born into the family of God. Oh, sure, we were born into our earthly family—the Anderson family or the Jones family or the Smith family or whatever family you were born into—but that didn’t make you a member of God’s family. We also do not enjoy this close, personal relationship with God because we have somehow earned it—in fact, just the opposite. Because of our sinful, selfish, loveless, disobedient words and actions, we have done more than enough to be kicked out of God’s family forever. But God, in his grace and mercy, has given you a new birth through the waters of Holy Baptism.
Sometimes people like to pooh, pooh baptism, like it isn’t all that important or isn’t all that special. Are you kidding me? In Baptism God graciously does for you things you could never do or earn in a million years. In Baptism God gives you forgiveness for all of your sins—all of the wrongs you’ve ever done or ever will do. He washes them all away and gives you a clean slate in his eyes. In Baptism God creates faith in your heart, faith to believe in Jesus as your Lord and your Savior. In Baptism God adopts you into his family as his very own son or daughter. Notice how Paul highlights that in two different verses. In v. 15 he states that we have received “the Spirit of sonship.” Literally the Greek says that we have received the Spirit of “the adoption of sons.” In Baptism God adopted you and adopted me into his family, adopted us as his very own sons and daughters, which gives us the right and the privilege to call him “Abba,” to call him our “Daddy.” And then he says it again in v. 17, that we are God’s children. That is amazing, friends. That is astounding. You and I are children of the heavenly Father. The God of heaven is our Abba.
And you know what else that means, right? If you and I are children of God, then Jesus is our brother and a fellow heir of heaven. Take another look at v. 17: “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” Have you pinched yourself, yet? If not, maybe you should ask the person sitting next to you to pinch you. Being a child of God means Jesus is your brother. Yes, the one who conquered sin and conquered Satan and conquered death, the one who ascended into heaven in glorious triumph, the one who sits enthroned at the right hand of God as Lord and King of all—he is your brother. Imagine if Elon Musk was your brother. Do you suppose you might benefit in some way from that relationship—maybe a new Tesla for Christmas or for your birthday? Or imagine if Anthony Edwards was your brother or Michael Jordan. Do you suppose they could get you into a few basketball games or help you improve your basketball skills? Jesus is your brother—the Lord of heaven and earth. Talk about having friends in high places! Talk about comfort and peace for your daily life! Are you facing problems or difficulties in your life? Are you struggling with sin and temptation? Are you struggling with illness or facing major surgery? You’ve got someone you can turn to, a big brother who is more than able to help in any and every situation, one who promises to hear and promises to answer and promises to help. You’ve got Jesus on your side.
And what is more: You’ve got Jesus as your fellow heir. An heir gets the inheritance. So what does Jesus get? What inheritance is he entitled to? Heaven, and everything that goes with: perfect health, perfect wealth, perfect peace, perfect rest, perfect joy, perfect life in a perfect place that never ends. All of the joy and glory and beauty of heaven—it’s all his. And it’s all yours, because you are a fellow heir with him. Granted, you’re not in physical possession of it yet. And yes, there will be suffering in the meantime. Paul is honest about that. He isn’t Pollyanna. He says that we will share in his sufferings here in this life.(v. 17). But we will also share in his glory. One day all of the suffering and heartache and pain of this life will be gone and we will share with Jesus all of the joy and glory and peace and beauty of heaven—all because Jesus is our brother and fellow heir of heaven.
And if that weren’t enough, if it weren’t enough to have the Father as our Abba and the Son as our brother and co-heir, we also have the Spirit as our leader. Paul says it this way in v. 14, “…because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” You and I are not wandering aimlessly through this life with no idea of where we’re going and what we should be doing. No, we have a leader, someone to lead us and guide as we journey through this dark and fallen world; someone who can lead us in the ways of God and help us avoid the ways of sin and Satan; someone who can encourage us when we’re down and comfort us when we’re hurting and strengthen us when we’re weak and quiet us when we’re upset and direct us when we’re confused—the Holy Spirit himself.
So how does he give us this comfort and peace and encouragement and guidance and wisdom and strength? Through his Word. Through the Bible, which underscores how important it is for us to read and study God’s Word on regular basis, how important it is for us to listen to what his Word says and to follow his leadership and direction.
That’s one of the problems, though, isn’t it? All too often we haven’t done a very good job of following his leadership for our lives. In fact, far too often we have ignored the Spirit’s leadership and followed another leader instead. We’ve followed Satan and our own sinful nature. Instead of resisting the desires of our sinful nature, we have given into those desires and indulged ourselves in things like lust and gluttony and anger and rage and gossip and slander and envy and pride and on and on and on. Do you realize how serious that is, friends, how dangerous that is? Do I need to remind you of what Paul says in v. 13? “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Lord, have mercy on us. Forgive us for the times that we have catered to our sinful flesh and indulged our sinful desires and done things that are wrong and evil in your sight. In your mercy forgive these sins of ours and all our sins and wash them all away in your holy, precious blood.
And then for Jesus’ sake and your own good, put to death those sinful desires. Repent of them and turn away from them and follow the Spirit. Listen to the wisdom and guidance and direction he gives you on the pages of the Bible. Follow the wisdom and guidance and direction he gives you on the pages of the Bible. For of this you can be sure: He will always lead you in the ways that are good and right. And he will lead you safely through this life to your eternal home in heaven.
Do you realize how blessed you are? I hope you do. In fact, I hope Paul has done for you today, what he did for me as I studied these verses in preparation for this sermon: that he has helped you see and appreciate more than ever before how blessed you are to be a child of the triune God. Amen.