If you turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 2 verses 9 through 13, we're going to be finishing up this section focusing on verses 11 through 13, but I want to read it in context in Hebrews chapter 2 verses 9 through 13. But we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

For it was fitting for him for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from the Father, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, "I will proclaim your name to my brethren in the midst of the congregation.

I will sing your praise. And again I will put my trust in him. And again behold, I and the children whom God has given me." Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you truly are a gracious and loving God. We eagerly wait to see what heaven would be like, to know you close up, to be able to worship you, Father God, truly in spirit and in truth, without the hindrance of our sinful flesh.

I pray that you would open our eyes to the visions that you show us, Lord God, through your word, that our reality would become more and more real in Christ. So I pray for your blessing, your powerful spirit, Lord God, would lead, and the grace of Jesus would guide and lead.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You know, obviously every part of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is inerrant. But when you study the Bible, you'll see that there are certain things that kind of are highlighted. Just like if you're writing an essay or reading a book, there are certain chapters that you know that all the previous chapters kind of built to set up.

And then there are other chapters that kind of point back to that. Well, that's obviously the gospel. Even reading the Old Testament, it builds to set up for the coming of Christ. Everything that we know after that is pointing back to what Christ has done. But even within the gospel, there are certain things that are highlighted, that all of the suffering, all of the beating and death and resurrection, even within the gospel, there is a peak in it that all of the gospel itself points to, and all of the rest of the gospel points back to.

The text that we're looking at today is one of those texts that highlight that. So I can't emphasize enough how important this is. And again, what we've been studying in the book of Hebrews, everything that we've been studying in the book of Romans really is highlighted in what he's saying in this text.

So if we're not careful, you can just read this through and just kind of add that to many other things that you understand about the gospel. But again, I'm asking you to pay very close attention because this is at the heart of the gospel. If you miss this and you get everything else, you could easily miss the gospel itself.

We've been talking about what Jesus has done, his suffering, and how he did all of this and sacrificed all of this to bring many people to glory in Hebrews chapter 2.10. "For it was fitting for him for whom are all things and through whom are all things, bringing many sons to glory to perfect the altar of their salvation through suffering." Again, you could just read that and just kind of skim through it and say, "Well, he did all of this to bring many sons to glory." The heart of the gospel is what he just said.

The point of his suffering, he says, is to bring us to glory. The Bible describes the sin of mankind as what? All have sinned and fall short of what? His glory. So all of mankind, all of the sin, all of the state of human beings is summarized in falling short of that glory.

So when he says in Hebrews chapter 2.10 that he suffered and died and was resurrected, became one of us, all for the purpose of what? To bring us back to that glory. It is at the heart of the gospel. Salvation isn't simply not going to hell. If you see salvation is simply not going to hell, Jesus died for us, I'm justified, so let's just live until we get to heaven and heaven will be better.

It's good here, it'll be better over there. Salvation isn't simply not going to hell. Salvation is not about how hard this life is and if Jesus comes in, he makes it better. That we have security and peace and he allows the husband and wife relationship to grow stronger and raise children in a good godly environment and build a church where we can share of one another.

That is not the salvation. Those are all byproducts of salvation. The core of the problem is that the glory that God has created us for was tainted because of sin. And so all of salvation is summarized is to bring us back to that glory. So all of that is a setup.

Everything that we've been studying is a setup to what he's about to say in verse 11. So what is that? If the whole point of salvation points to restoring us back to glory, what is that glory? And we have to be careful that we don't project our idea of glory.

Like yesterday we won the women's softball championship and it's like, "Oh, we experienced some of that glory." Or you do a great job in your presentation or you're working hard as a salesman or an engineer and something great happened and you were acknowledged and so you got some of that glory.

We have to be careful that we understand how the Bible describes this glory and that's exactly what he does in verse 11. There's two things that he says here that describes this glory in detail. One, he says to be brought to glory means to be united with Christ. He describes this union as a union between two brothers, that we've become brothers because of what Christ has done.

Hebrews 2.11, "For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctifier are all from one family." In other words, we have become united with Christ because of what he has done, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren. This union with Christ, Charles Spurgeon said, "There is no joy in the world like union with Christ.

The more we can feel it, the happier we are." John Piper, talking about the same union with Christ, "Union with Christ is the center of our salvation and our sanctification and central to all of our deepest joys in this life." So again, it is not an exaggeration to say this union with Christ is at the crux of our salvation.

And then John Murray, again, writing about union with Christ, he said, "It is the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation. It is not simply a phase of application of redemption, it underlies every aspect of redemption." So this idea of being united back in this family as Jesus as our brother is at the core of our salvation.

The whole point of his death and resurrection, the whole point of his suffering is to bring us to glory, and this bringing us to glory means that we are united back with Jesus' glory, which we fell short of. And it says, "When this glory happens," what does the Bible say?

"When a sinner repents and he is restored, all of heaven rejoices." Now, why do they rejoice? If we simply see it as a sinner who is deserving of hell, and God forgives them and then they are restored back, why are they rejoicing? You know, the best way for us to understand this, if we do not see our union with Christ as restoration of family, like brothers, we don't understand the affection.

We don't understand the affection, the personal affection that belongs and that's at the core of our salvation. The gospel was never meant to be taken cognitively alone. At the core of it, there's a set of doctrines, there's teachings that we acknowledge and say, "Well, we believe that." But if that's all it is, what does the Bible say?

It's demonic. Because even the demons will acknowledge who God is, that He's an almighty God. But the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is a Christian, this set of doctrine that they believe it's for them, and that this union with Christ is restored and they become one family.

And the reason why the heaven rejoices is because this family is reunited. Years ago, back in the '80s sometime, I remember watching a program where many Korean families who were separated during the Korean War, because Korea was so poor, during the escape from North Korean army coming, and many families, like we have so many young families here with young children.

Can you imagine packing up everything that you own in your car and just going, and in the process of going, you lose one of your kids and you don't reunite with them? I mean, the whole country experienced that. Husband and wives, grandparents with uncles, and even children. Mothers who had five, 10-year-old children got separated crossing one of these rivers, and by the time they got to the other side, they don't know if they drowned to death, they don't know if they got killed, they don't know if North Korea and South Korea, when they got separated, if they got dragged into North Korea, they didn't know.

So for 30 years, they lived longing to be reunited either here or in heaven or somewhere, 'cause they didn't know what happened. Well, I don't know why it took 30 years for a reporter to come up with this idea, and this reporter said, "You know what? Now that the country has television and is able to communicate a little bit better," he had an idea that he's gonna take the pictures of children and parents and uncles that they were separated, and they started posting it up on the wall.

And so all these families, hundreds and thousands of people who lost their children or separated, began to go back to these walls and they found out many of these families actually lived in the same city. And young children who were separated from their moms when they were 10, 11, even young as five-year-old, 30 years, they didn't see their parents, and then this...

I saw the program where they were being reunited. Can you imagine the sadness of seeing your child last time as a five-year-old, and then next time you see him, he's a 35-year-old man? Or seeing your mother as a 35-year-old, and then seeing her as a 65-year-old? And the tears of sadness, but at the same time, the tears of joy of being reunited with their family.

And the Bible says that when a sinner repents and he is restored, the reason why they celebrate is because the glory that God has created mankind for, this family unit, was destroyed. And to be restored back to this glory, Jesus comes to restore us to him that we may be restored into this family.

That's why this union with Christ as our fellow brother is at the core of the goal of salvation. It isn't just not going to hell. It isn't just going to heaven. It's being reunited to this family. That's why it's emotional. That's why when a sinner comes to Christ, it is not just a declaration of doctrine.

I believe that I stand here or I stand there. There's a child who lost his family being restored back. I saw the Bible repeatedly over and over describes our salvation as union with Christ. Galatians 2.20, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me." When Jesus was crucified, we were united with him. When he was buried, we were united in his burial. When he was raised, we were united with him that we may be united with him in life.

In fact, this union is so intimate. In 2 Corinthians 2.14, it describes us as the fragrance of Christ. There's a few of us in this room who's been married for more than 20 years, right? And some of you 10, 5. But the longer you live together, you really become one.

You start to look alike. You start to have similar taste. And then eventually, you start smelling the same. Because the same soap, you use the same soap, you use the same, you know, same shampoo, the same soap to wash your clothes, you use the same thing. So eventually, you don't realize it because that's all you smell in the room.

But after a while, you even have a similar aroma, okay? I know I'm milking that illustration, but you know what I'm talking about, right? You see couples who've been together for a long time, they actually start to even look alike. It describes our union with Christ as so intimate, he says that our presence in this world is the what?

Fragrance of Christ. In fact, in Colossians 3.3-4, our future life and glory is directly tied to Jesus' glory. For you have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Our hope, our joy, our life, all of it is directly tied with Christ because we have been united with Christ in His death and His resurrection. That's why an individual who says that he is a believer and yet does not have a relationship with Jesus Christ is an oxymoron.

That's a contradiction because the whole point of salvation is to be restored in relationship. So I know it's a cliche that it's not a religion, it's about a relationship, but it's a cliche for a reason because it's true. It's a cliche that is abused, it is misapplied, but at the core of the message, it's truth.

It is not simply about coming to church. It is not simply about doing the right things. It's about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ because that's how it is described in the Scripture. To be restored back in glory means to be restored back in our union with Christ. But here, it doesn't end there because our union with Christ causes us to be united with the Father.

To be brought to glory means to have God as our Father. Verse 11, "For both he who is sanctified and those who are sanctified are all from one Father." Now this idea of God as our Father, that's the distinction between a Christian and a non-Christian. A Christian and a non-Christian, the distinction is a non-Christian sees God and he believes that God exists.

And he may believe that God is wise. He may believe that God is almighty and powerful. But a non-believer will never see God as his Father. That's the distinction. It is not a distinction between a believer of God and an unbeliever of God. So we see that very clearly in John chapter 8, in verse 32, where Jesus is talking to Jews who had believed him.

He says, "If you abide in the truth, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." And they get angry. "What do you mean we'd set you free? We were never enslaved." And they go back and forth. And then in verse 44, it says, "You do not believe what I say because your Father is the devil." God is not your Father.

So the distinction between a Christian and a non-Christian is not one who believes and professes right doctrine, but is one who is able to call him or her Abba Father versus somebody who just says that he believes in this being. Karl Barth says of this, "Perhaps you recall how when Hitler used to speak about God, he called him the Almighty.

It is not the Almighty who is God. We cannot understand from the standpoint of a supreme concept of power who God is. The man who calls the Almighty God misses God in the most terrible way." Hitler, obviously, was not a believer. Who would ever defend his faith? And yet, he was not an atheist.

In fact, he himself declared that he believed in the Judeo-Christian God, and he called him the Almighty God. What Karl Barth is saying, to call him Almighty without knowing him as a father, all it produces is terror. It does not produce salvation. Now, let me ask you, when you think of something very powerful, what do you think of?

Some of you guys may be thinking Spider-Man, Superman, Iron Man. I'm talking about reality, not fantasy. When you think of something powerful, very powerful, I don't know how many of you have ever experienced a hurricane or a typhoon. I mean, it is scary. You know, I had a glimpse of that when I was a young child, and our family went on a trip with our cousins and uncles, and we were at a coast, and a typhoon came in.

And what freaked me out wasn't the typhoon. What freaked me out was adults freaking out, because I was a young kid, and they were scared to death because this typhoon came in, and they saw trees being blown over, and from a distance, we could see houses getting knocked over.

And we were in this small, tiny house, and similar houses are being blown in a distance, and all our uncles and older cousins, they're freaking out. And I look out the window, and I see this crazy stuff happening, but I was a little kid, but seeing the adults freaking out freaked me out.

You don't normally think of a typhoon or something powerful like that and think, "Wow, I'm glad the typhoon came because there's a leak in my roof, and maybe that's gonna fix it." You don't think of order when you think of power. When you think of... How many of you experienced an earthquake?

I'm not talking about a light shake. When I was in college, I lived next to a train track, which I do now also. So a little movement doesn't bother me. I don't even wake up for that, 'cause I've gotten so used to it. Some of you guys may remember, most of you will now, but some of you will remember the Northwood earthquake, and that was huge.

4-5 freeway just collapsed. We knew somebody who bought a house right before the earthquake, and the house just cracked in half, and everybody who had homes back there saw damage. But to me, that wasn't the biggest earthquake, even though on record it was the biggest earthquake in a long time.

But there was another earthquake prior to that in 1987 or something, the Whittier earthquake. And when that Whittier earthquake hit, I was maybe a sophomore in college, and I was standing at the Biola parking lot, and I saw the parking lot wave. I don't know, some of you guys may know, some earthquakes shake like that, and some earthquakes wave.

This was one of those wavy ones. And I just got out of my car, getting ready to go to Old Testament survey class, and I stood there, and I initially heard the rumbling, and next thing I knew, the car on the other side of the parking lot started rising.

And then it started doing this wave, right? And then I saw the building that I was standing next to start to swerve. And I said, "Oh my gosh, this is it." I was waiting for the earth to open up and something disastrous happened. And it happened for a while.

And I saw my fellow classmates who already got into the classroom opening up windows and jumping out. It was on the first floor, so it wasn't that dangerous. They might have used that as an excuse to leave the class, but they were coming out of the class, and I remember all of us were just freaking out, right?

When you think of something that powerful, you don't automatically think peace, joy. There's a reason why people don't want nuclear plants around their homes, even if it is built for a good reason. Because if something goes wrong, the power that is contained in this nuclear plant can wipe out the whole city.

We don't automatically think that something that contains this much power is safe. So to view the Almighty God, I mean, we're uncomfortable with a typhoon. We're uncomfortable with tsunamis and earthquakes. The God of the universe who created all things, the Almighty God, doesn't induce peace and joy and hope.

All it produces is terror. And that's where natural man in his natural state is completely blind. Because in his natural state, somehow he is convinced that if he dies, that he's going to confront this almighty power, and he's going to be introduced to glory and peace and life. Why would they think that?

It's complete deception. Because naturally, when we think of any power, we would be concerned what is going to happen if we confront this power. That's what Karl Barth means when he says, "If all we know God is the Almighty God, not only is it a mistake, there's horrendous consequences." The Bible describes him as an almighty God.

In fact, prior to this passage, he said, "All things are made by him and for him." All creation was created by his hands. But along with that, God is continually introduced to us as a father. Exodus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Israel is called repeatedly, "My firstborn son." Deuteronomy 1.31, he carries his people as a father carries his son.

Deuteronomy, in Hebrews 12, he disciplines his people as father disciplines his son. In Psalm, Jeremiah, Malachi, he has compassion, his father has compassion on his son. And Isaiah himself prays in Isaiah 63, "You are our father." Despite this repeated presentation of the Almighty God as the father of Israel, there is no record of a single Jewish rabbi who prays to God as father before or after Christ.

And that's why it was so strange that the first Jewish rabbi who comes and prays to God as Abba Father is Jesus himself. In fact, exclusively, with the exception of one, every time he prays to God, he prays to him as father. And when the disciples asked Jesus, "How should we pray?" He says, "Pray in this way, 'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.'" It was such a foreign concept to the Jews, even though it is peppered all throughout the Old Testament Scripture, that they thought it was blasphemous.

How can a mere man claim him to be the father, not realizing the division between a believer and non-believer is the Father and just the Almighty? In fact, the Jews are so afraid of his presence and making a mistake that they wouldn't even pronounce his name. They don't even, even to this day, is it Jehovah?

Is it Yahweh? Because they didn't pronounce his name. Every time his name was put in Scripture, they said, "We're going to say Adonai, just in case we make a mistake and God strikes us down." Michael Reeves, in his book, "Delighting in the Trinity," says this, "For it is only when we see that God rules his creation as a kind and loving father that we will be moved to delight in his providence." Our worship, our obedience, our hope is to be based on his love.

Longing for heaven is not just longing to not have hardship or sorrow or to be lonely. Longing for heaven is a longing for the Father. Our desire for obedience, he calls for love. That's why the greatest commandment, all the commandments of keeping the Sabbath holy, taking care of the poor, everything he says is summed up in this one commandment.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Why does the God Almighty want to be loved? Respected, feared, revered, obeyed? But he said loved. Loved. Why does he want to be loved by sinful creatures? Why does he want to be loved? Not just respected and feared, but to be loved.

Who are we? What are we? The only thing that makes sense is because he sees us as his children. And that's why he says, "You can have all these things. You can give your body to be burnt. And if you do not have love," what does he say? "It's nothing." Because at the center of what God desires from our salvation is love.

Because he is our Abba Father. There's three ramifications of this restored relationship with God the Father. One is that this love relationship is restored. In John 3.35, "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand." He's talking about the Son. And again, John 5.20, "For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself is doing." So, repeatedly, over and over again, he said, "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased." As to be united with Christ means to be united in this love relationship with God the Father.

And that's why the Bible describes in John 3.16, what motivated God to send his only begotten Son? He so loved the world. It was love. It was his compassion. As he saw his lost children like prodigal children who went away to restore that glory, so when he comes back, "What do I need to do?" To love.

That's what he requires. That's a father asking the son. You can have a child who obeys and does all these things, but then not have love, then, you know, that contradicts the relationship with the Father. That's why it says in John 14.31, "But so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded me." His obedience was to demonstrate that love.

In 1 John 3.1, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called the children of God, and such we are." Look at the love that he has bestowed upon us. The fact that we are called the children of God. When he says, when the author says, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving in your hearts," what is the core of that thanksgiving?

What is the motivation behind that thanksgiving? Because we're being called to the Father's house. When the Bible says, "To enter the throne of grace with confidence." Yes, he's the king, he's the almighty God. But even if the governor, right? Even if the governor, and I'm not even going to say the president, even if the governor calls and says, "Hey, come to the governor's mansion, and we have the authority to go because we are invited," we don't enter there with confidence walking and saying, "This is the governor's house.

You put on your best dress, and you're humbled, but you don't go there with confidence." You know, my office upstairs, you know, it has sofas, right? And so that's where, you know, we have our leadership meeting. But, you know, typically, you know, it's closed. Every once in a while, I'll go in there, and I'll see one of my children lying down on my sofa.

And I have a refrigerator there, and I have some water, and sometimes some soda in there, and they'll just take it out and drink it. Never got my permission, right? They don't ask me. They just do it. So sometimes, they're there, something's missing, or I'll see a bag sitting there, and I know it's one of my kids.

You know, I don't go in there, "How dare they put their bag in my room?" It's because it's their father's, because I'm their dad. So that room is just an extension of the house because they do that at my house, right? They don't ring the doorbell when they come into the house.

They come in with confidence. They open the door, and they just come right in, and they open the fridge. They eat. They take showers. It's because that's their father's house. When the Bible invites sinners to come into His presence with confidence, He's not simply inviting us to the throne.

He's not simply inviting us to the Almighty God who rules the universe. He's inviting us to the inner room of Abba Father. Because we have been united with Christ, we have been united with our God, the Father. So the father-son relationship is a love relationship. Second, the father-son relationship is naturally glorifies one another.

In verse 12, it says, "I will proclaim your name to my brethren. In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise." Naturally, the father-son relationship glorifies each other. That's why it says in John 17.1, Jesus says, "Jesus spoke these things, and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, 'Father, the hour has come.

Glorify your son that the son may glorify you.'" And again, in Hebrews 1.3, a passage that we studied again, Jesus is described as a radiance of His glory, the Father's glory, and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Some of you guys have children who play baseball or softball or soccer or basketball, and some of them are really good at it, right? And typically, if you see sports stars, right? And then right now, we're getting into the NBA Finals, and some of you guys may remember the Portland Trailblazers and the Warriors are playing.

He had two Curry brothers who were wearing two different uniforms, and the father wore the one son's uniform, the mother wore the other son's uniform. And there was a lot of hoopla, a lot of attention paid to these two parents. They didn't do anything. All they did was have these children.

But the reason why there was so much attention given to them is because it's their kids. And they're sitting back, and every time they did something fantastic, the camera would go to the parents. How are they reacting? Now, why do they do that? You know, if one of the kids makes an awesome shot, you know, the parents are like, "That's my genetics." You know, that's years of the father's training in the gym.

The mother's athletic. I hear that the mother's very athletic, and so you kind of see a glimpse of their upbringing and, you know, their mannerisms and all this stuff, and kind of going back to the parents because it points to them. That's what the Bible says. When we are restored into this relationship, our father and son relationship, naturally, what we do magnifies him.

And when he's magnified, we are magnified. And that's why the Bible says, "Be holy because he is holy." The motivation behind our holiness is not to appease this holy God. It's because our sins and our ramification of sin has been justified, and we had this relationship with God restored.

He says, "Be holy because your father is holy." Reflect his holiness in your life. Reflect his grace in your life. So, naturally, this relationship with God glorifies one another, and that's what sanctification is. So, if you do not see him as your Abba Father, if the love for God is not present, then this command to be holy because he is holy is like, "Well, why should I be holy because he's holy?" It's because we have this love relationship.

Third and finally, the father-son relationship invites us to put our trust in him naturally. In verse 13, "And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children whom God has given me." Seeing God as almighty and only as almighty, one, it brings terror, but it is very, very difficult to trust him.

Because when God says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you," if you're hearing that from an almighty God, we know that he is capable, but we don't know if he desires it because he's an almighty God. And the only way that that promise becomes our promise is if we hear it from the Father.

So, an individual who does not have an affectionate relationship with God the Father hears that command of, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you," you hear like a banker making a promise. If you invest your money here, you know, that there's going to be enough interest, and by the end, you'll get some money.

Do I trust this bank? What is their track record? What have they done in the past? What if the market crashes? So, all the commands of God are nothing more than things to observe and to test and to see if the balance sheet makes out. And then if it seems like it's a good investment, and then it seems like if I do this, this is going to happen, okay, then I'll do it cautiously.

Let me give you the distinction between a father-son relationship and somebody not. Like when I was younger, again in Korea, you know, like me and my friends, and I must have been no more than about four years old. So, me and some of my friends went up to the roof.

It's not really a roof, you know, but it's pretty small. It's probably no more than maybe about six feet tall. My dad is not a tall man. He's about my height. And he saw us playing up there, and it was pretty dangerous. So, as soon as he saw us up there, he said, "What are you doing up there?

That's dangerous." So, he's asking us to come down. And the only way for us to come down safely at that point was to go down that direction. But we were small children, so my dad basically looked up at me and he said, "Jump." Again, this is not from second floor.

This is about six feet. So, if my dad puts his hand up, it's enough for me to just kind of lean forward and for him to grab, right? So, it wasn't a, like, life-threatening thing that I'm doing, right? But my friends looked at me, I mean, they don't know this, man.

It's a risk for them, you know? So, they're being cautious, but because my dad, I know who he is, right? I mean, this wasn't a big risk. And so, when he told me to come down, I just kind of leaned forward, and he caught me, and he brought me down, right?

Because that's my dad. That wasn't a local, you know, like, policeman or just anybody. It was my dad telling me to come down. My other friends looked at that and said, "Huh, maybe we can trust him." But they didn't jump down the way I jumped down. I just kind of leaned forward, my dad grabbed me.

They kind of stuck their feet out, you know what I mean? Holding on to the roof and kind of dragging themselves down as far as they can, and then hopefully this strange guy is going to catch them on the way. And just gingerly, one by one, slowly, they crept down, and my dad helped them down.

The reason I share this story is because so many Christians live their lives because they don't see God as their father. So, they're testing him, like they're testing the water. Is it safe? Can I trust him? If I entrust him with my finances, if I entrust him with my family, is it really going to be okay?

And just are slowly creeping into that. And as a result of that, there's no joy. Every commandment becomes a burden. It's not a father who's calling him into his life. It's not a father who's calling him into his inner chamber. It's the Almighty God saying, "Do it." That's a distinction between a Christian who is living his life and his obedience is producing joy, versus another person who is living his life, obeying, sacrificing, and all it produces is burden.

Father and son relationship naturally calls us to trust him. James 1:17, "Every good thing given in every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." God himself, his very nature, he gives good things. In Matthew 7, 11, "If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him?" To see God as our Father naturally produces trust in him.

Let me wrap this up with this illustration. Let's say you're driving a car and you happen to get lost in this really horrible neighborhood, right? A relationship. You can make of it whatever you want. You get lost in this neighborhood, and I'm not going to name the neighborhood just in case, right?

You're in this horrible neighborhood where it's known for their gang activity, there's drugs, there's prostitution, all kinds of things that are happening, and it's unsafe. You would never go there, right? But for some odd reason, you're going to go get some churros or something, and you got lost. Just as an example, right?

We were somewhere like that yesterday. But let's say you got lost. And all of a sudden, you're driving, and it gets dark, and you're trying to find it, and this is, you know, you don't have GPS in your car, and every turn that you make, it gets worse and worse, and you're starting to feel anxious.

"Oh, shoot, I better hurry and get out." Next thing you see, this is big semi behind you with this high beam on and coming after you. And so your mind is racing, like, "What is this? Is this a drug lord? Is this a gang leader? Like, what's going on?" And so you're trying to evade this truck, and every turn that you make, that the truck is, like, coming and it's gaining.

And so you're trying so hard to get away, and then you make a wrong turn into this alley, and then you get trapped. And next thing you know, the semi is coming with the high beam on, you can't see who it is, and you're imagining, "Oh, these things, this is maybe the end of my life.

We're trapped," until the truck comes right by, and then the driver comes out, and it's your dad. And you realize your dad was coming to get you because he heard that you got lost in this bad neighborhood. But this isn't no ordinary dad. This is the almighty dad. The gangs are afraid of this guy.

Drug lords are trying hard to avoid him. It's that dad. He's the captain of the police dad. He comes out of the car, and at the moment you get a sight of that dad, every anxious thought that you had disappears. And all you hear from him is, "I knew you were lost.

Get in the truck." And once you get in the truck, you're safe. There's nobody coming after you. Everybody's moving out of the way. That's how salvation is described for us in Scripture. He knew we were lost, and the almighty God, that all things were created by him and for him, became nothing.

He walked among us. He brought us to himself, called us his brother, and then reintroduced us to the father. And now, that's why he says, "Live up to the calling." The calling has been given to you freely. He didn't give it to us because you had potential. He didn't give it to us because if I got you, that you have so much more that you can do for me than the other people.

We weren't diamond in the rough. The Bible says we were dead in our trespasses. And there's only way that we can find our way back is the father to come and get us. And now that you're in the truck, he says, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." That's what the salvation is, to give us rest in the father's arms.

And that's why our sanctification is called to live up to what he has given us. How could we not love this God? If we really believed it, how could we not obey this God? How could we not worship this God? How could we not declare this God and glorify this God if we really believe this God?

Let me conclude with this passage, Romans 8, verse 15 to 17. "For you have not received the spirit of slavery, leading to fear again, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'" The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.

And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Let's pray.