Grace Changes Everything, November 30, 2025

Well, good morning, fellowship. Say good morning to the chapel and those who are joining us online from central Arkansas or somewhere around the state, country, maybe somewhere around the world. We're glad that you're here with us this morning. And if you have a copy of God's word, you can go to Galatians chapter three. We're going to be continuing our series in Galatians. Grace changes everything. Galatians chapter three, we're going to spill over into chapter four for just a few verses this morning. And hopefully, I believe that we'll be encouraged by God in his word. And I would love to pray for us if we haven't had a chance to meet, by the way, my name is Brandon Bernard, one of the teaching pastors here at fellowship. We like to remind our guests, even as those who are attending fellowship, we're one church in multiple locations, now seven campuses. And so we're so thankful for all that God's doing in this place called fellowship across central Arkansas and even our parts around the world, but we're thankful for what God's doing. And as a guest, thank you for being here with us today. It means a lot that you would join us online, that you would join us here in this place today. And I pray that God will encourage your heart. Matter of fact, I want to pray over you this morning. Pray for us as we dive into God's word and as his word dives into us. Let's pray together. God, thank you for this morning. Thank you for waking us up. Your word says that it's in you that we live and move and have our very being. And so all of us are here and we're breathing because of your grace to us. No one's here by accident this morning. No one's joining us online by accident.

Lord, your purposes are working to speak to all of us who are here today and listening today. Lord, thank you for how your word says to satisfy us this morning with your unfailing love that we may rejoice and be glad for all of our days. God, my heart this morning, I just want to pray for those who maybe feel dissatisfied right now. Lord, for those who are lacking joy right now. And I pray that you would strengthen them, that you would help them, that you would show them that you are the all satisfying God, that anything else besides you is insufficient to really satisfy the longings and desires of their heart. And I pray that you would show them what a gracious and loving God that you are. And I pray for joy, God, that you would give us joy, even as we sing many times over the next few weeks, joy to the world, Jesus, your coming was joy. And I pray that we will experience that joy even today. Lord, would you strengthen those who are serving our kids right now and our special needs friends and those that are loving our church family in that way? Would you strengthen them and help them as they share the good news of you, Jesus? And we pray for our community, Lord, that you would be with our leaders, strengthen our leaders, our fire police, all the first responders, Lord, that you would strengthen and help them. And Lord, we pray more than anything that the gospel would spread here in Central Arkansas, here in Little Rock and beyond. Lord, for the glory of your name and for the good of the people. We pray that you'd speak to us today by the power of your word, through the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name we pray, amen, amen. So Galatians chapter three and chapter four, we're going to read just a few verses into that. And the title of our message today is called When Grace Takes You In. When grace takes you in, it invites you in, it calls you in, welcomes you in.

When grace has set his heart and affections, I say his because Jesus is the face of grace. And when grace sets his heart and affections on you, chooses you, takes you in, before you knew it, he comes and he receives you into his own. And so it's a beautiful picture in this passage in Galatians about when grace takes you in. A few months ago, I was listening to a sermon by a pastor and he had preached this, I guess, a few years ago. And he was talking about a time he had visited another church. He was off on a Sunday and he was in a different state and he was visiting a church. And he said that basically the service pastor, I guess, that got up when he was greeting the congregation that day, he started off the day by asking the questions by saying, how are y'all feeling today? And he said, when he said that, because I think he knew he meant well, he's like, how am I feeling today? He's like, well, actually, if you're asking me... Ask me that right now, I'm feeling pretty lousy today if you're asking how I'm feeling. And then he went on to say this, which I thought was really interesting. And he wasn't disregarding like feeling, but he said this, don't ask me how I'm feeling. Ask me what I know about God and what God knows about me and what God is saying to me. And again, it's not about disregarding how you feel, we care about how you feel, but the question is really, what does God say about you? What does God know about you? What does God want to speak to us today? And I believe that everyone's here for a reason, for a purpose,

and God's word wants to speak clearly to us. We've been in this beautiful book of Galatians and we've been talking about the struggle between the Jews and the Gentiles and the things that they've been talking through and how they wanted to add things to Jesus, like for faith in Christ, for eternal life, like they wanted to add that it was Jesus plus something else, some form of legalism that would somehow help them earn the love of God or receive or know the love of God. And so it was Jesus plus all these other things. And we've even talked about how that's translated into our day and time and how we can say it's Jesus plus baptism or Jesus plus church membership or Jesus plus good works or Jesus plus all these other things that help us have a relationship with God, when in fact, Galatians says with an exclamation point that it's not Jesus plus anything else, it's Jesus plus nothing. It's Jesus alone. He's the one who saves us. His grace changes everything. So in the context of this, Paul is gonna share with us the verses we're gonna read today about who we are in Christ, who we are, and what God says about us, what he says to us and what he says of us and who we are in Christ. And so it's a beautiful strengthening passage. And so it's less about how you feel today

and it's more about what does God want you to know from his word about who you are in Christ. So let's read verse 26 of chapter three all the way through verse seven of chapter four. And here's what Paul writes. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither slave nor free. There's no male and female for you all are one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. Which by the way, saying that would be a big thing, especially to the Jews to say, and if you're Christ and you're Abraham's offspring, and even to the Gentile, you're Abraham's offspring like this standing heirs according to promise. Verse one of chapter four, I mean that the heir as long as he is a child is no different from a slave, though he is owner of everything. But he's under guardians and managers until the day set by his father. In the same way, we also, when we were children were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son born of woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

And because you're sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts crying Abba Father. So you're no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. This is definitely a passage that's not about how we're feeling, it's about what God says of who we are in Christ. And so this morning, as we look through this passage, I wanna say this, I'm not going in direct order of the passage, so that's gonna mess some of you off because that's, you know, you're an in order type person. But really, as we look at the whole passage together, and as we kind of put the pieces together of what it looks like when grace, right? Grace, right? The redeeming action, the sovereign love of God in the redeeming actions of Jesus. The sovereign love of God in the redeeming actions of Jesus. That's how we are defining grace here. When grace takes us in, what does that look like? How does it happen? Why does it happen? What happens when grace takes you in? So this morning, I want us to look at that on your bulletin. You can kind of see how it's broken down there. And I'll just jump right into the first thing. Really kind of comes from verse four of chapter four. In the fullness of time, right? In the fullness of time, God's timing is perfect. So when you say, how did this happen?

Why did this happen? How does grace take you in? It says, in the fullness of time, that God's timing is perfect. Now, this is interesting because for some of you, this may be the very thing that God wants to speak to your heart today, because some of you are wondering, some of you hear that statement, that God's timing is perfect, and you're thinking about your life right now. You're thinking about the situations that surround you. You're thinking about maybe the last few months, the last few years, and maybe you're thinking about one specific situation, and you're going, man, God's timing is perfect. It sure doesn't seem like it. It doesn't seem like his timing's perfect, but it is. His timing is perfect. It may not be your timing, it may not be on your timetable, but God's timing is perfect. And isn't it interesting, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son. That's what we're talking about here in this passage. And isn't it interesting that here we are the first Sunday of Advent, the first Sunday of Advent that talks about the arrival of Jesus, the coming of Christ, what that looks like. It's almost like we planned this. And yet, what's interesting is that the book of Galatians

takes us to this moment to say, in the fullness of time, Jesus' arrival, his timing is perfect. Matter of fact, not just for the Advent season, but when you think about the cross. We preached through the book of Romans last year. Many of you will remember this verse, Romans 5, 6. For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. While we were still weak, while we were still sinners, at the right time, God sent Christ to die for the ungodly. So you see the timing of God is perfect. Even when he sent Jesus in the fullness of time there, that's a reference, even in some ways, when you think about physically, you think about the Roman roads, you think about the language, you think about how Jesus entered history into a time when the good news of the gospel could spread even beyond that local region, the fullness of time, and then even beyond that, God's seeing the bigger picture. God sees the bigger picture in our lives, and his timing is perfect. Second thing is this, how it happened. God sent forth his son. God's plan is supernatural. God sent forth his son. He sent Jesus. That's what we celebrate in the Advent season. We celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ, son of God,

God in the flesh, that he left heaven, came to this earth to live a perfect, sinless life. God sent his son. This was his plan, his idea. Jesus was a part of that plan even before the beginning of time, because God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit always existed, have always been, and God's plan is supernatural. This is God's doing, and we see it even in particular because he says, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman. We talk about the virgin birth, supernatural. Here's what it says in Luke chapter one, verses 30 through 35. And the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. And he will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him to the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Can you imagine an angel shows up to this young girl and says, don't be afraid, you found favor with God, and you're gonna conceive in your womb, and you're gonna bear a son, you shall call his name Jesus.

She is overwhelmed in this moment. And Mary says to the angel, how will this be since I'm a virgin? Like, how's this gonna happen? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. Supernatural, it's a miracle. Matthew 1, 20 through 25, the same context of the same story, but as he considered these things, Joseph, right, as Joseph considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife. He was about to divorce her. He was thinking about divorcing her. He says, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, you shall call his name Jesus, for you will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive, bear a son, they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. And when Joseph woke from his sleep,

he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. Just reminding us of the virgin birth, the miracle of Jesus leaving heaven and coming to earth, God using a servant like Mary, and you see this whole situation, and God's plan is supernatural. Supernatural. But here's the third thing. So you think about the how and the why it happened. Here's why it happened, to redeem us and adopt us. God's provision is gracious. So in the fullness of time, at just the right time, because God's timing is perfect, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under law, his plan is supernatural. And then you think about why, to redeem us and adopt us, God's provision is gracious. Now, we're gonna talk about this in a few weeks as we enter into a Christmas series for a couple of weeks, but the reason that Jesus came was to save sinners. The reason that Jesus came is to redeem us, to buy us back, to realize that we were lost in our sins and that we needed a Savior. That's so beautiful because this room is filled with two types of people today. People who are listening online right now,

two types of people. There are those who are sinners who are not saved by grace yet, sinners who have not put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and sinners who have been saved by grace. Now, we're not gonna make people raise their hands or yell hallelujah or anything like that, but we've got people who've been saved by God's grace, who've been trusting in Christ and the finished work of Christ on the cross, and then you've got people who have not accepted Christ. So the reason that Jesus came was to redeem us and to adopt us, to bring us into his family. God's gracious provision. Listen to what it says in Ephesians 1, 3-10. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Okay, I want you to listen to what God's word is saying to those who believe and trust in him. I want you to hear this. Not just words on a page, but listen to this. He's blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has blessed us in the beloved. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. If you think about according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. Listen, God chose us in him before the beginning of time. He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons and daughters. He's lavishing his love on us. He does this through the blood of Christ that was shed for our sins. We receive by faith, this grace that he gives us. It's a picture of when grace takes us in. And he offers that to us. Romans 8, 14 through 17 says, for all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ,

provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. This is so crucial to what God is saying about who we are in Christ. Now, again, I'll just say this one more time. There are some of you this morning who are not in Christ, that you're not a believer in Jesus Christ. You may know about Jesus. You may know about his coming, his arrival. You may know about his death on the cross. You may know that he was raised from the dead and the tomb is empty. Like you may know certain facts about Jesus. You may have grown up around the church or even in the church, but it's one thing to grow up in the church. It's another thing to grow up in Christ. And some of you may not be believers in Jesus Christ. And maybe you didn't realize that you are a sinner, but we all are sinners. We're born as sinners, separated from God. And the only thing that can bridge that relationship to God is what Jesus Christ did on the cross. And so we are in, when we're born as sinners, we need to be adopted into his family. We need to be shown grace and love and mercy. We need his initiating love towards us. And that's what it means. When grace takes you in, this is God's plan. When it talks about his supernatural plan,

this is his initiation. This is what he's doing, what? To redeem us and to adopt us into his family. I received a lot of phone calls in my life, just like you have, too many to count. Some I'm thankful to forget. But there's two phone calls I remember really, really well. One happened in 2010, one happened in 2015. And the voice on the other line simply said this, you have your referral. Now that doesn't mean a lot to many of you, but it meant the world to me and Julie. Because those two phone calls changed everything for our family. When we received the phone call that says, you've got your referral in 2010, what they were saying is, is that there's a little girl who's in need of a family. And Julie and I said, yes. We want you. We choose you. And that's when Emily, love, came into our life and changed our family. We thought we were done because two months later we were pregnant with our fourth. We went from two to four in nine months. Not sure I recommend that. We thought we were done, but God was not done with us. You know, it's interesting how God used our oldest, Caleb. You know, we talked about, man, I have three sisters,

I have a mom, I have a girl dog, I need a brother. And God used him in many ways to stir our heart and our affections. And in 2015, we went back to China and we got the call about a referral and we got to choose a little guy named Micah. And God brought him into our family. So when you think about adoption and you think about inviting them in, you choose, you set your affections on them. You bring them into your family. They take the family name. They have all the rights that all my biological kids have. They have all the blessings that my biological kids have. They've been invited and adopted into the family. And that's what Jesus Christ has done for us as sinners in need of a home, in need of salvation, in need of hope. And he brings us in. When grace takes you in, it changes everything. It changes everything. It changes everything, changes everything. And we're able to call him Abba, Father. The intimate relationship. He came to redeem us and adopt us. And for those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ, we should never, ever, ever forget that. He's adopted us into his family and he's shown us this amazing grace. And that's what I wanna talk about

for the rest of the time that I have. I wanna talk about what happens. We can talk about how it happened and why it happened. I mean, it happened in the fullness of time. God sent forth his son. He did this to redeem us, to adopt us, his gracious provision, his perfect timing, his supernatural plan. But what happens now? What happens when grace really takes you in? What does it even look like for us? How are you gonna leave here today? How are you gonna leave here any different than when you came in here today? So grace takes us in through faith in Christ. Right, we can get a little bit scared about words like predestined and he chose us in him. And we can start going down theological trails and start talking about that. The scripture makes it very, very clear that it's by grace you've been saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Not anything that we've done, but everything that God has done for us in Christ Jesus. So it's God's initiating. It's his grace that comes to us, sets his affections upon us. And sometimes people might say, well, man, how do I know? How do I know if God is setting his affections on me?

Here's how you know this morning. He is opening his arms and inviting you to receive him right now. He is. His love is being made manifest to you right now in this moment. It's his grace that you're even sitting in this place, breathing, hearing that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. And if you put your faith and trust in him and believe in him, you will not be disappointed. You in fact will be saved. And if that's you this morning, man, you can take this little thing on the bottom of your bulletin and tear it off just like this. And you can fill it out and say, I would love to know more about what it means to be adopted in Christ. I would love to know more about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. If that's you today, fill that out. You can fold it just like this. When you leave, there are giving boxes and you can just slip it in the giving box and we will have someone that will follow up with you. If you can't wait for that, we would love to have a conversation with you at our Connection Center, or I'll be down here in front.

I would love to have a conversation. We have pastors and staffs at our Connection Center that would love to talk with you about this. The beautiful grace of God, faith alone in Christ for salvation. And I already mentioned this about how his plan was supernatural. It was Puritan John Owen who said this, faith is supernatural or it's nothing. It's supernatural or it's nothing. Without the supernatural work of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, salvation is impossible. If anyone comes to faith in Christ, it's supernatural. If you grew up in a Christian home and you heard God talked about and you saw the life of Christ modeled in front of you, and you heard the songs of Jesus and you sang worship and you attended church and you were a part of all these kinds of things. If you walked that life and you've had this faithful teaching for all your life and you've come to faith in Christ, it's still supernatural. If you didn't grow up in a home with knowing God, if you didn't grow up in a home with a Bible, if you didn't grow up in a home with a Bible, grew up hearing about Jesus and somewhere down the road, a friend shared with you about the love of Christ. Someone that you didn't know

shared the love of Christ with you. Somehow you came across a Bible and you read about the love of Christ. If that's your story and you came to Christ, it was supernatural. I agree with John Owen. Faith is supernatural, it's nothing. But here's what happens when grace takes you in. Three things I'll share with you. The first thing is this. When grace takes you in, you receive a new identity. A new identity. And identity is so important. People struggle with identity. You know, it's not just, we used to think that it just used to be for like teenagers because they don't know who they are sometimes, right? Or they're living like several different lives and they're trying to wrestle with, man, who am I really? Or maybe if you're a young adult and you're in your early 20s or mid 20s, or I don't know how far we go with young adults these days. Some of you are like, I'm a young adult, but you're not, you're 45. So I mean, like it's a, we go with these stages, but it's interesting because people will say, I just don't know. I'm trying to figure out who I am. People seeing therapists and counselors

and they're trying to, man, who am I? People having midlife crisis in their mid 40s or in their early 50s, or now they're empty nesters and the kids are gone and you're stood there, you know, standing there looking at your spouse, you're kind of going, man, I feel like I've lost who I am because maybe my identity was in my kids or maybe your identity has been in your work or maybe your identity has been in your status. It's like, it's not just for the young, it's for the old, it's for everyone in between. We somehow wrestle with our identity, like who are we? And that's why this is so beautiful because when grace takes you in, there's a security, there's a confidence, there's a courage that comes with it. When grace takes you in, you get a new identity, shows you who you are. The scriptures say it very clearly, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, therefore, if it is not your identity, it is not your identity. The scriptures say it very clearly, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, therefore, if anyone's in Christ, he's a new creation. The old has come, sorry, the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. Paul makes it really clear. He says, if anyone's in Christ, if you're in Christ, Christ is in you, you are in Christ. It's a beautiful, it's called the union, union with Christ. So it's a sacred term.

It's such a beautiful term about union with Christ. And that's what Paul started out in verse 26 when he says, in Christ, in Christ Jesus, you're all sons of God through faith, been baptized into Christ, having put Christ on. And so that's what's so beautiful is when you, when grace takes you in, you receive a new identity. And it says that you're clothed in Christ, you have put on Christ. Here's what it says in Colossians 3, 9 through 14. Paul writes, do not lie to one another, seeing that you've put off the old self with its practices and you've put on the new self. So he's talking to people saying, listen, you've come to Christ and you've put off the old practices, the old sins, like the old, like you're dying to the old self and you've put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. And here there's not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave free, but Christ is all and he's in all. Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love,

which binds everything together in perfect harmony. When grace takes you in, you receive a new identity. And part of that new identity is you're putting on, you're clothing yourself in Christ. What does it look like to clothe yourself in Christ? Well, it happens by the power of the Holy Spirit, but you put on love, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another. Don't you understand? If you're a believer in Jesus Christ this morning, you have a new identity and you need to live in your new identity. And when people hang out with you this holiday season, when people are working next to you, when people are going to school with you, when people are around you, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, they should see in you humility and kindness and patience and compassion and bearing with one another and forgiving one another and loving one another. People should see this in you and me as believers because we're clothed in Christ, because we're living out our new identity. The problem with some of us is we're in Christ, but we're still wearing our prison clothes, so to speak. He uses this slave mentality. He uses these things here to say, you know, this is what, you're not this, you're a son. You need to step into your new identity.

I know Mark mentioned this last week and I'm glad he did. A few weeks ago, we went to the Hawkins unit, to the guys who are listening on the Pandora app. Hey, thanks for listening. We're glad you guys are with us this morning. But you know, we went and worshiped with those guys and many of them are believers in Christ and God's working in their life. But you know, I can't imagine if the time comes, when the time comes for them to be released from prison, I don't think they're gonna show up here at fellowship wearing their prison clothes. in clothes. I think they're gonna leave them there because they wanna walk in a new freedom. And the problem with some of us is that we've received Christ but we're not living in our new identity. Our identity in Christ, we're in Him. Here's what the scripture says about being in Christ. You're adopted as sons and daughters. You're forgiven. Some of you are having a tough time forgiving yourself but Christ says you're forgiven in Him. You're set free. You're loved. Some of you feel guilt and shame in your life. You feel unloved but that's not your identity as a believer. You're very loved. You're chosen.

You're an alien and stranger like you're a citizen of another country. This isn't the home. You're a royal priesthood. You're a new creation. You're redeemed. You're reconciled. You're bought with a price. You're alive. You're no longer spiritually dead. So many things that the scripture says about who we are in Christ. We need to be living out our new identity. We're united in Christ. So when grace takes you in, you receive a new identity. Here's the second thing. When grace takes you in, you receive a new family. You get a new family. Now, this doesn't mean you say goodbye to your old family per se but some of you are the only believer in your physical family. And so as much as you love your physical family, the one thing you don't have in common is Christ. And so what makes it interesting is that the family of God becomes that family for you. It doesn't mean you walk away from your other family. You actually pray for them, love them, engage with them. You want them to know Christ. For those of us who are in families

where we have people who believe in Christ, that's a beautiful thing but it just expands our family because now you've got a bigger family, a family of Christ. It's a beautiful thing. You know, when you think about what Paul was writing here because he says there's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither slave nor free, there's no male and female for you're all one in Christ Jesus. And if you're Christ and you're Abraham's offspring, which is, hey, I'm part of Abraham's promise. I'm a part of the promise that God made to Abraham that he was gonna make him a great nation. I'm a part of that great nation because of our faith in Christ. That's what unites us. One thing we said in our notes together as teaching pastors was there's no place for ethnic division, no place for socioeconomic division, no place for gender division when it comes to our value to God. Even if the world values different people differently based on those external things, God doesn't. We're baptized into Christ first and foremost and that's our primary identity that makes us equal to everyone. That's what's beautiful. So it shouldn't matter about the color of our skin or it shouldn't matter about our socioeconomic background or it shouldn't matter about where we come from.

Like when we're in Christ, we're in Christ. The ground is level at the foot of the cross and we all come and we're equal and we become heirs with Christ and we're brothers and sisters in Christ. That's what happens when grace takes us in and we become a part of the family of God. Now, I do wanna make this statement because sometimes this passage can be mistaken, misunderstood, misinterpreted. And I wanna warn you, I want you to be aware of that. I read something from John Stott that I thought was really, really good because when it says neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, no male and female, you're all one in Christ Jesus, like someone could take that and really twist those words. And I love what Stott said about this because he said, this great statement of verse 28 does not mean that racial, social, and sexual distinctions are actually obliterated. He goes on to say, Christians are not literally colorblind so that they do not notice whether a person's skin is black, brown, yellow, or white, nor are they unaware of the cultural and educational background from which people come, nor do they ignore a person's sex, treating a woman as if she were a man or a man as if he were a woman. Of course, every person belongs to a certain race and nation.

Of course, every person has been nurtured in a particular culture. And of course, it's either male or female. When we say that Christ has abolished these distinctions, we mean not that they do not exist, but that they do not matter. They're still there, but they no longer create any barriers to fellowship. And I appreciate what he said in that. To say that when we receive Christ, it's not that there's not male or female, there is. It's not that there's different races because there are different races. What he's saying is, is that in Christ that doesn't matter because now it matters that we are sons and daughters, that we believe in him and we are part of the family of God. I've said this before, I'll say it again, Revelation 7, 9 through 12. This is the heaven's family photo. After this, I looked and behold a great multitude that no one can number from every nation, all tribes, peoples, languages, standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches. their hands, crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And all the angels were standing around the throne, all the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne.

They worshiped God, saying, amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power might be to our God forever and ever, amen. The family photo of heaven, every tribe, every tongue, every nation. When you receive, when grace takes you and you receive a new family. Here's the last thing I wanna say. When grace takes you in, you receive a new inheritance. So you receive a new inheritance that we have been given so much in Christ. Now, inheritance, by definition, in a lot of ways, like wealth that wasn't ours, that we didn't earn, but was freely, lovingly, graciously given. Who doesn't want a good inheritance? I mean, I think we all would love a good inheritance. I mean, if my parents, you know, were to leave me $5 million, that would be a great inheritance. That's not gonna happen. I mean, if you're listening, that'd be great, mom and dad. But knowing that there's an inheritance there, if there was someone that says, man, this is gonna be given to you, this is gonna change things for you, and you kind of go, man, this is amazing that this is coming to me at some point. This inheritance. And yet, Scripture talks and makes it really clear

that in Christ, we have an inheritance, that part of it we get to experience now because the Holy Spirit is with us, but the Holy Spirit's always also the guarantee that in the future, there's so much more to come, that we have in Christ, that all of God's promises are yes. And what's interesting about inheritance is that when someone really gives an inheritance, it's something that they earned, that they worked for, that they did, and now they freely give it to you. And so this inheritance that God gives us, it's something that Christ earned on the cross for our salvation, and he gives us that, he gives us that standing, he gives us that position in Christ, he gives us that love, he gives us that grace. It's because of what he's done. And so when you think about the inheritance, this verse isn't on the screen, but listen to what it says in 1 Corinthians 3, 22, 23. It says, let no one boast in men for all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or the present, or the future. I mean, he covers everything. He didn't leave anything out, basically, right? He's saying, listen, whether Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, present, future, all are yours, and you are Christ, and Christ is God's.

He said, listen, you have everything you need in Christ. And what I wanna highlight for you here real quickly, I think it's very important. In verse 26, it says, for in Christ, Jesus, you're all sons of God through faith. He keeps using this term son, and in verse seven, so you're no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. I wanna highlight this nuance for you because it's very, very important. Sometimes in the Scriptures, it'll use a male term, like brothers, son, and in the Greek, what it means is it means brothers and sisters. It means sons and daughters. It means children, okay? And so that's important to know. But in this passage, he specifically uses the word son for a reason. So they didn't change it to say sons and daughters, or all children. It says sons, and there's a reason for that. Sometimes the Bible uses metaphors where, for instance, guys in the room, we're part of the bride of Christ, okay? That feels kinda weird when you hear it sometimes. But when you look at the overarching theme of Scripture, it just says, man, the church is the bride of Christ. So as men, we understand that's part of the role, is we're bride of Christ. Can feel a little confusing at times,

but that's what the Scripture says. And in this instance, sons is referring to son, and we're using this language, and here's why. Because in the ancient lands, the only person that could receive an inheritance was the son, not the daughter. Now that sounds terribly unfair, and it is, and it sounds just like, man, I can't believe that, but that's it. The son was the one who inherited the property. The son was the one who inherited the money. The son was the one who inherited. That's how it happened. It wasn't the daughter that could receive the inheritance, it was the son. So what's beautiful about this passage is, is that Paul is saying, listen, because of the gospel, because of Jesus Christ, guess what? Both men and women, you're treated as sons would have been treated because the inheritance is for men and women. For anyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you receive the inheritance. Man, I thought that would get an amen. I thought that that was gonna get an amen right there. This is something where the gospel goes beyond in that way. And it says, look, this is for anyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And he wanted to make sure the men and the women know that in Christ, you all receive the inheritance

and you are an heir of Christ, whether you're a son or a daughter of God. Now, let's make sure we understand this. Because people say, well, I mean, aren't we all God's children? I heard people are all God's children. And the reality of it is, is to a degree, yes, we are. We're all created in the image of God. Every person on the planet is created in the image of God. But we are not all sons of God. We're not all daughters of God in the sense that we're not all children of God if we've not put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Because Paul says, for in Christ Jesus, you're all sons of God through faith, faith in Jesus Christ. And he sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. I wanna close out by just reading a couple of verses. John 16, seven through 15. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it's to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he'll convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, concerning sin because they do not believe in me, concerning righteousness because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer, concerning judgment because the rule of this world is judged. Jesus said, I still have many things to say to you,

but you can't bear them now. When the spirit of truth comes, he'll guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak. And he'll declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All the Father has is mine. Therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. It's our inheritance and our inheritance is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, I gotta go away and I'm gonna send my spirit to be with you and to live inside you. And that's how you're gonna receive this inheritance. Romans eight, 18 through 25. For I consider this, that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that's to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now, and not only the creation,

but we ourselves who are the first fruits of the spirit, we've grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies, for in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees, but if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Listen, our inheritance, that Christ is gonna make all things new, we're gonna receive redeemed bodies. We're gonna wait eagerly for this adoption that's taking place, that he takes us in. And then the last verse I'm gonna read to you is this. I'm gonna ask the worship team to come on up. First Peter 1, three through nine says this. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, it's undefiled, it's unfading, it's kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials. It's so hard. So the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it's tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor

at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that's inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. We have an inheritance in Christ, an inheritance that's guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. All things are ours. We have Christ himself with us and we're able to fix our eyes upon him and live a life that pleases him. It's his amazing grace. When grace takes you in, it gives you a new identity, gives you a new family, gives you a new inheritance. Let's live by this amazing grace. Let's pray together. Father God, thank you so much for this morning. Thank you for your truth. Thank you that you set your affections upon us and you invited us, chose us, and allowed us by your grace to come to you through faith, to believe. And Lord, I just pray right now for those who may be here who don't know you. I pray that they would understand how amazing your grace really is and that they do stand in need of a savior and that you've invited them to come and be a part of their family.

Lord, I pray for those who are already in the family. I pray that today you will overwhelm us with your amazing grace. Lord, that we will live out of our new identity, excited about our new family, excited about the inheritance that awaits us. We thank you for your love and your grace that has taken us in. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Thanks again for listening to the word of God. We are blessed to reach you throughout the week through whatever platform you're listening on. If you're needing prayer or you want to talk to someone about your walk with Jesus, reach out to us at fellowshipar.com slash contact. Have a great week.