Thank you ensemble for ministering for us tonight
Would you open your Bible please to the book
of Romans the eighth chapter Because last week
it was noted in the newspaper that Queen Elizabeth
Named former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
to the Order of Merit Which is the highest honor
in Britain similar I suppose to a our Medal of
Honor here in the United States. And at the same
time, she made her husband, Dennis Thatcher,
a baronet. Isn't that exciting? A baronet is
near the bottom of the royal hierarchy between
a knight and a baron. Sounds something like a
chess game. But it says that because of this,
he can be known now as Sir Dennis. And she may
be known as Lady Margaret. And the title for
her husband is inherited and so their son can
be known as Sir Mark, although their daughter
cannot inherit a title so she's just plain Carol
it says. Titles. The title that is given to Jesus
Christ that we're studying is so much more important
than the title bestowed by the Queen of England.
It is a title given by God, the title Firstborn.
The highest place, the position of preeminence,
the privileges of the honored Son, they all belong
to Jesus Christ. Unger's Bible Dictionary says
the expression Firstborn stands for that which
is most excellent. This title deals with Christ's
honored position as the eternal Son of God. It
expresses His dignity, His nobility, His majesty,
all of which are uniquely His. There are other
dignitaries, there are other nobles in our world,
there are other majesties, but His is unique
among them all. He is the firstborn. And tonight
in Romans 8 .29, we see another aspect of that
title. It says, for whom he foreknew he also
predestined to become conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. The association of this title,
firstborn, with the phrase among many brethren,
means that Jesus Christ is the leader, the sovereign,
the Lord, if you please, of the redeemed. It
seems to me that in the context of Romans 8 .29,
there are several thoughts that come to mind
regarding this fraternity of many brethren. First,
think with me about the privilege of this fraternity
that is called many brethren, the firstborn among
many brethren. What grace this is that you and
I should be called Christ's brethren And yet
that is a name that he himself gives to us Turn
with me, please to the resurrection passage of
John 20 the Gospel of John the 20th chapter Here
Jesus speaks to Mary You remember that she tarried
outside the tomb And he spoke with her. She did
not recognize at first that it was he. And then
he called her name. And immediately she recognized
that this was her teacher. And in verse 17 of
John 20, Jesus said to her, stop clinging to
me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend
to my Father. and your father and my God and
your God. The Lord Jesus referred to his early
disciples and through them he refers to us as
his brethren. And he said, I am ascending to
my father, your father, my God and your God.
Notice he does not say to our father and our
God. Because we call God father in a bit of a
different sense than Jesus does and he is our
God in a bit of a different sense and yet we
both call him father and We both call him God
and Jesus calls us in that sense his brothers
And then again in the book of Hebrews the second
chapter we see this same Idea the same wording
put into the mouth of Jesus Christ in quoting
from the Psalms, Hebrews chapter 2. In verse
10, it speaks about our Lord's work in bringing
many sons to glory. And then in verse 11, it
says, for both he who sanctifies and those who
are sanctified are all from one father, for which
reason he is not ashamed. to call them brethren,
saying, I will proclaim thy name to my brethren.
In the midst of the congregation, I will sing
thy praise." Here he is speaking about his joy
as the risen Messiah and Christ, and he is speaking
about his joy being in the midst of the church.
And he says, I will proclaim thy name to my brethren
in the midst of the congregation, he says, I
will sing thy praise. In verse 14, it goes on
to say, since then the children share in flesh
and blood, that's a phrase that means genuine
humanity, he himself likewise also partook of
the same. What this tells us is that Jesus Christ
became truly human, the miracle of the incarnation,
the Christmas story. This word partook means
that he partook of that which was not naturally
his own kind. He partook of something that was
by nature foreign to him, that is humanity, flesh
and blood. Eternal spirit was his nature and
is his nature. And yet in coming into the world,
he partook of that which was not naturally his,
but which he created, humanity, flesh and blood.
And so the eternal God joined himself to full
humanity. In doing so, organically and genetically,
he now is fully related. to the race of Adam.
He calls us brethren. As we said last week, I
think it was, the word brother means out of the
same womb. And being used in the plural as it
is in our text in Romans 829, brethren, it signals
a community, says Vine in his dictionary, a community.
based on identity of origin and life. We are
brethren. We are a community of people, and that's
one reason that in our statement of mission we
call ourselves a community of believers. There
is some diversity among us, but there is one
thing that we share in common, and that is our
origin of life. We are from the same womb of
God, if you please. We are brothers. Yet it is
not merely in a natural relationship that Jesus
called us brethren, though he is truly human
as we are, but in a spiritual relationship. Because
in coming into the world he became representative
man. He is the Lord from heaven. He is the last
Adam. The dictionary of New Testament theology
says this regarding our text. Romans 8 .29 makes
it clear that this new standing as brothers has
been made possible by the firstborn of brothers,
Jesus Christ, who died for them all. Because
he became our brother, we are brothers among
ourselves. Here in the North, it's not too common
to refer to each other as brother, but that's
very common in the South. In our church, most
of us go on a first -name basis, which I think
is fine, but in the South, where things are maybe
a little more formal in some senses, you are
called brother so -and -so or sister so -and
-so. Well, it is the fact that Jesus Christ became
our brother that enables us to be brothers and
sisters in the family of God. We don't often
sing about this particular concept of being a
brother. There is one hymn, however, that does
talk about Christ our elder brother. It's a very
uncommon hymn. I happen to know about it because
it is the school song of Moody Bible Institute.
It's a song that causes tears to come to the
eyes of our staff whenever we sing it in staff
meetings. They are deeply moved by this school
song. Right, Paul? Amen. Now, our staff knows
by heart the last verse. But the first verse
of this hymn that's entitled, One with the Lord,
which was written by James M. Gray, says this.
One with the Lord. and one with one another,
joined by our faith to Christ, the elder brother.
Blessed is our fellowship, ever growing fonder,
promise of better things in glory over yonder.
Christ, our elder brother. And what grace is
found in this word many? He is the firstborn
among many. Brethren, it says. Many share this
honor. By nature, all of us deserve to be damned
by our sin, but God intervened. God in His grace
has delivered us from what we justly deserve
that we might be called the brothers of Jesus
Christ. Many brothers. The number of the redeemed
will ultimately fill the New Jerusalem. There
will be no empty places, nor will there be anyone
without a room. There are no extra rooms. The
fullness of the elect will occupy the home that
God is preparing for his family. And he says
that there will be many. And so what privilege
it is for you and for me to be numbered among
those who are in this fraternity. What a privilege.
But then think with me as we look at our context
here in Romans chapter eight regarding the plan
for this fraternity. He mentions that Jesus Christ
is the firstborn among many brethren, but before
that, It says, whom he foreknew, he also predestined
to become conformed to the image of his son.
There's the plan you see. God's ultimate purpose
in redemption is a humanity that will rule and
reign over the new creation. A humanity which
will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
In this word conform, there are two thoughts
that I want to point out. First of all, this
conformity is inward and not merely superficial.
It has to do with the deepest part of us, the
essence of who we really are in our identity.
It's inward. We are being conformed. We Christians
are not who we were born to be. We are somebody
else. We are new persons and Every day God is
at work in our lives Conforming us further to
the image of Christ this morning. We look at
2nd Corinthians 318 Where it says that we are
being changed and there as I pointed out the
word is our English word Metamorphosis it means
to change the inward reality to something else
This is depicted in a moving way in one of the
video tapes that we recommended to you a few
weeks ago from the Moody Inspirational series.
I don't know if any of you have purchased those
videos that have been available in our bookstore,
but there is one of them that deals with peace
and in there is a section of video that captures
the beauty of the monarch butterfly. And through
time photography they show a cocoon in which
there is this creature that is going through
the process of metamorphosis. And then they show
this beautiful butterfly bursting out of the
shell in which it lived. It did not enter the
shell as a butterfly, it entered as a caterpillar.
But over the process of time, there was an inward
change so that the very reality of that creature
was altered, and it came out while the same little
creature in a different form. That's what God's
doing to you and me. Our bodies are like a cocoon.
And inside of us, God is working a miracle of
confirmation, transforming us to the very likeness
of Jesus Christ. What an amazing thing. This
conformity is inward and not merely superficial.
This conformity is complete and not merely partial.
It's starting on the inside. But as we suggested
this morning, someday it is going to completely
consume us. In a moment, in a transforming moment,
our bodies are going to be changed. And if the
Lord calls us home before that moment of Christ's
return in the rapture and our bodies are laid
into the grave and they begin to disintegrate
and the atoms of our bodies then go back into
dust. In an instant of time, at one day, some
future day, at the sound of the trumpet, those
atoms are going to be brought back together,
but in a different form. And that form is going
to be like the body of Jesus itself. And out
from the grave will come a new creature, a transformed
body. a spiritual body. Just as we have borne
the image of the earthy, we shall bear the image
of the heavenly. Never will we become deity,
but we will truly be conformed to the likeness
of Jesus Christ. And God's lifetime purpose for
us is to take every circumstance that we go through
in life and to use that toward that end. That's
what Romans 8 28 is all about. We know that God
causes all things to work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are called according
to his purpose, and this is his purpose. Every
circumstance of life is cooperating and working
together toward God's ultimate purpose. The suffering
we go through has sanctifying value. It is part
of the 2 Corinthians 3, 18 experience where we
are being changed from one level of glory to
another and to another and to another. That is
God's purpose. How wonderful that God is able
to take every experience of life and use it toward
that end. That's the plan for the fraternity.
What a privilege we have to be a part of it.
This is God's plan. Finally, let's look at the
process of the fraternity, where there are five
acts of God in salvation that forms the Brotherhood,
this fraternity of believers. Salvation is here
in these verses looked at from God's perspective,
not man's. Man's is surely mentioned in the book
of Romans, where the emphasis is upon faith.
and faith alone being the means whereby salvation
becomes ours. But here he emphasizes God's acts
in saving us. He says in verse 29, for whom he
foreknew. There's the first act, God foreknew.
The word means more than that God knew, had knowledge,
or knew ahead of time. The idea behind it is
that God chose or God appointed. The apostle
is here looking at God's elective decision. The
same word is used in 1 Peter 1 .20 regarding
Christ who was foreknown before the foundation
of the world, that is chosen by God to be his
lamb, his sacrifice before the foundation of
the world. Salvation is not left to chance. It
is not haphazard. It is not detached. It is the
act of God's initiative. And the whole idea behind
God foreknowing is full of warmth and love. The
idea of knowing. is the idea of intimate relationship.
As in the Old Testament, two people would know
each other, a man and a woman would know each
other. And here it says that God in the same
sort of intimacy and love has foreknown us. He
has chosen us to be His own. It is a love that
expresses intimate relationship with another.
That's how God has known us. The second act of
God is found in the next word there, for whom
he foreknew he also predestined. Predestination
always in the scripture has to do with God's
children. It is incorrect. to say that God has
predestined people to be lost, although there
are people who have gone to that extreme in their
doctrine. That is incorrect. Predestination always
has to do with salvation, and it is for the children
of God. The idea is that those whom God has chosen,
he is also predestined. The word predestined,
that verb means to mark out with a boundary ahead
of time. And the idea is that God has predestined
that those who have been chosen will without
fail one day be just like Jesus Christ. Nothing
less than that. And not one missing whom God
has chosen. For everyone who has been chosen
by God is predestined by God to be conformed
to Christ's image. Now those two acts of God
occurred from our perspective before we were
born, before we came into the world. But the
next three acts of God from our perspective occurred
during our lifetime. The next one is verse 30,
whom he predestined, these he also called. We
were alive, of course, when that call came to
us. The word call means to summon. In Romans
1 .16, the church is called by the apostle, the
called of Jesus Christ, the called ones, those
who have been summoned by God to receive what
he wishes to give to them. There are two... aspects
to this calling of God. There is a general sense
in which God calls all people. Then there is
a special call, termed the effectual, effective
calling of God that comes to those whom He has
chosen. And it is impossible for a person to
resist this. The general call of God can be and
is resisted. And the fact is that if God did
not give us the second effectual call, none of
us would respond to God. Our sin is such that
we would continue to rebel against Him. But I
thank God that those of us who are believers
tonight can look back in our lives and we can
know the approximate time at least when God's
call came to us and we responded. I'm not among
those who believe that you have to know the time
and the place if you haven't experienced it.
But we can know that God has called us, summoned
us to salvation. The next verb is found in the
next clause. He says, and whom he called, these
he also justified. Another act of God. Again,
it occurred in our lifetime as we look at it.
To be justified means to be declared righteous
in God's eyes. This is not a matter of conduct.
It's not a matter of character. It's a matter
of legal standing before God. It means that God
has completely changed the way that He looks
at us. He now sees us in Christ. He sees us in
relation to His Son with whom He is well pleased,
and so He is well pleased with us. Because there
is only righteousness in Christ, God sees only
righteousness in us. He has justified us. Then
there is one more verb, the fifth act of God
in salvation. Whom he justified, these he also
glorified. Now this is in the same tense as the
other verbs. But it's interesting that this is
not something that we've experienced yet. From
our perspective, this is yet future, and yet
it is so certain that God speaks of it as have
already happened. He says He has glorified us.
One commentator quoted by Everett Harrison says,
this is the most daring verse in the Bible. because
what it says and guarantees is that every person
whom God has foreknown and predestined and called
and justified is one day also going to be glorified.
He looks here way ahead to the future, to the
consummation of the whole process of sanctification.
In this chapter, he says that we have been saved
for the hope in verse 24. This is the hope he's
talking about. That one day we should inherit
the glory that has been given to us as the family
of God, the heirs of God. Notice the family terms
that are used back in verse 17. Heirs of God,
fellow heirs with Christ. Verse 18 says, I consider
that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared. with the glory that
is to be revealed to us. One day, three or four
weeks ago, God laid that verse on my heart and
told me by that impression to share that with
Gene Jordan. So the next time that I stood beside
his bed, I said, Gene, there's a verse that God's
laid on my heart for you, and I read that verse,
and he was able to quote part of it because he
had memorized hundreds of verses. in his life,
and he knew where it was from, Romans chapter
8, and he says, oh, what a great word from God.
The sufferings of this present time, however
severe they may be, are not even worthy to be
compared with what God is going to give us. And
he says, even the creation around us waits eagerly.
For our revealing for this day when we will be
glorified Why is that? Well because the creation
is now suffering because of our sin It is now
in futility But someday the creation is going
to be set free verse 21 from its slavery to corruption
into the freedom of the glory of the children
of God. So that even the creation out here around
us is one day going to experience a level of
liberty it has never known since the Garden of
Eden when it was subjected to futility. And if
we could be on the right wavelength, we could
hear it emitting groans. Do animals suffer? Yes,
they suffer. Do plants suffer? Sometimes. When
we forget to water them, like I do in my office.
They don't suffer in the same sense, of course.
The scripture seems to indicate that the whole
creation is groaning. It is eagerly waiting for
this future day when God's final act of salvation
will be accomplished in time and space. And the
sons of God are glorified because at that time
the creation itself is going to burst into a
new period. of liberty, and it will enjoy some
aspects of the glory of the children of God.
God loves his son so much that he wants a heaven
full of people just like him. Leslie Allen, who
was a teacher at the London Bible College, said
that God is creating a family modeled after his
unique son. That is the destiny of all who are
the objects of his personal love. Jesus Christ
is the firstborn among many brethren. He is the
preeminent, supreme one. Are you part of the
family of God? Are you born again from the womb
of God's love by the Spirit and the Word so that
you are a member of this royal lineage? Who wants
to be a baronet? I don't even want to be a coronet.
Who wants to be a prince or even a king or a
queen when you can be one of the brethren of
Jesus Christ? And because of that, an heir of
God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. How do
you know if you're part of God's family? Well,
he tells us in verse 28 that it's those who love
God, the called. The called are those who love
God. Now, it doesn't mean that we're saved by
loving God. We are saved by faith. But when one
is saved by faith, the result is that he loves
God. That's the point. The Old Testament idea
that is involved here, loving God, you can trace
this in the Old Testament if you want to, but
let me just say that it means those who love
God are those who wholeheartedly give themselves
to God's purpose and identify with his aims.
That's what loving God is. It's those who wholeheartedly
give themselves to his purpose and identify with
his aims. Those are the called of God. That's
how you can know you're a child of the Lord.
That's the proof of it, that love for him in
your life. I'd like for us to sing a chorus in
closing. It is found in our hymnals 138. I wish
we had the whole... song here, but this is one
of the Gaither songs that we have the chorus
to. It's called The Family of God and expresses
what I hope you enjoy tonight, and that is the
gladness that you're a part of the family of
God. And join errors with Jesus. Let's stand
together as we sing. I'm so glad I'm a part of
the family of God. I've been washed in the fountain,
cleansed by His blood. Joy tears with Jesus as
we travel. Let's sing it once more. I'm so glad...
to know Jesus Christ as the firstborn among many
brethren, to be a part of this fraternity of
faith. We bear his name as we walk out there
in the world, and so let's bear the name of God
well as his family, so that he never has to be
ashamed to call us his brethren, so that we might
walk with him this week. and agree on His aims
and identify with His purposes in the world.
Lord, I pray that we who are of this fraternity
of faith might bear the family name well, that
we might live as the sons of God in the midst
of a crooked and perverse generation. Thank you
for the joy. not only of sins being forgiven,
but the joy of a future in heaven and the glory
that's coming. Thank you for calling us to be
your own. We worship you.