David [00:00:01]:
You know, last week, brother Kevin Davis challenged us to schedule quiet time daily to listen for the Lord’s voice. And he reminded us that God always desires to talk and fellowship with us. We are his children and he is our Father. And today we’re going to talk more about that fact right there, that we are his children and he is our Father. What it means to be crowned by our Father.
David [00:00:52]:
We’ve been talking about being crowned with his goodness the last two weeks before brother Kevin shared. We talked about that you’re crowned with his goodness. And so today we’re going to go further with that and look into who we are, truly who we are in Christ and what we’ve seen over the last few weeks. We saw that a crown is a declaration of destiny from the throne. When you’re crowned, you’re marked for a position, a calling, a mission. When God crowns us, he is declaring, you are equipped, you are commissioned, you are empowered to reign here on earth. That has been God’s intention from the beginning. Hallelujah.
David [00:01:55]:
God wants us to rule and reign here in the earth. On the earth. We also learned that no one can revoke the crowning that God crowns you with. No enemy can overrule it. No circumstance can diminish it. When royalty crowns you with dignity and favor and honor, it means you are seen, you are chosen, you are valued, you are empowered. You were covered by the king’s goodness. It is a blessing from the throne.
David [00:02:40]:
Today we’re going to look into the fact that Jesus came, the reason Jesus came and gave his life for us, to redeem us so we could be crowned as his own. We are crowned as his own so we could be children of God and members of the royal family. Hallelujah. Foreign let’s look at this. I was just reading in my Bible reading recently and was reading the first chapter of John and this verse just stood out to me, John 1:12. And I’m going to read this to you in several different translations so you can kind of get the full context of what John is saying here. But John 1:12, and this is in the King James Version, but as many as received him, received Christ, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. So if we’ve believed in him, received him, believed on his name, then we have the power to become sons of God.
David [00:04:00]:
In John 1:12 in the NIV, it says it this way. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. When we believe in Christ, it’s our right to be a child of God. John 1:12 in the passion translation says, but those who embraced him and took hold of his name, he gave authority to become the children of God. You’ve been given the authority that comes with being a child of God. And then John 1:12 in the Amplified classic says, but to as many as did receive and welcome him, he gave the authority to the power, the privilege, the right to become the children of God.
David [00:05:04]:
That is, to those who believe in, adhere to, trust in, and rely on his name. Let’s think about that for a minute. If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior, believing in his name, he has given you the power, the right, the authority, the privilege of becoming a child of God. Another way to say this is as a child of God, you have the right to and you possess the power, authority and privilege of God. Let me say that again. As a child of God, you have the right to and you possess the power, authority and privilege of God. It’s all yours. Hallelujah.
David [00:06:02]:
Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for blessing us with your power, your authority, the privileges of God. The privileges of a child of God. It is our right. Being someone’s child is deeply significant relationally, socially and spiritually. At its core, being a child of God is about our identity, our belonging, our inheritance, our formation, our security and our spiritual relationship. It’s all about who you are in Christ.
David [00:06:56]:
And who we are in Christ is powerful. And we need to know who we are in Christ so we can fully be who God created us to be and walk in all that Jesus Christ bought for us on the cross. Satan doesn’t want you to know who you are in Christ because then he can keep from you what Jesus bought and paid the price for you to have. Let’s look at this. Being a child of God is about our identity. Who I am comes from who I belong to. Who do you belong to? Do you belong to your father God? Do you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ? To the Holy Spirit? First Peter, chapter two, verse nine in the Passion translation. But you are God’s chosen treasure priest who are king.
David [00:08:09]:
A spiritual nation set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light. And now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world. That’s one of the reasons we’re here with you. God has called us and inspired us to broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world. Hallelujah. And we get to do that every week.
David [00:08:50]:
This verse there in 1st Peter 2, 9 defines who we are in Christ. Our identity is rooted in relationship with the Lord, not achievement. A child doesn’t earn their name, they receive it. I didn’t have to do anything to get my name. My mom and dad gave it to me and I received it. You see, as a child of God, you carry his lineage, his story, and you were connected to him simply by being born into it. And when we were born again through Jesus Christ, we became his child. We see in scripture why this matters.
David [00:09:48]:
This is talked about in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Names, fathers, households, they all define identity. We see it a lot in the Old Testament. Children of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel. To be a child is to be known before you act. Think about that. To be a child is to be known before you act. Who is that? And they say, oh, that is.
David [00:10:39]:
People would say, oh, that’s David Wright. Oh, okay, yeah, I know his father. You are a child of God. Who are you? I’m a child of God. I’m here in the earth representing my father, his kingdom, his plan, his purpose. I am an ambassador for Christ Jesus, sharing the good news of him with everywhere I go. That is your identity. And guys, we’re just scratching the surface.
David [00:11:27]:
This. I may come back and do a whole series just on our identity. I probably could do that with each one of these points and we’ll see what the Lord has us do. But that is our identity. We are identified with our Father God, with the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who lives within us. And with that identity comes rights and privilege and power and authority. You are a child of God. Second thing, being a child of God has to do with belonging, which means you belong to the Lord, so you have a place in Him.
David [00:12:24]:
Children belong before they behave. Well, think about that. Think about that. Children belong the moment they’re birthed, they belong to you. They may not have grown, they may not have learned to behave well yet, but they belong. They’re yours. Being someone’s child means you were inside, not outside. You have a home.
David [00:12:54]:
You have a place, a residence, and that’s where you live. You have access, not distance. You are claimed. You’re not optional. I don’t know. You can’t stay here. You didn’t act well today. You get out in the yard, go down the street.
David [00:13:19]:
No, your parents weren’t telling you that. God’s not telling you that the enemy tries to tell you, oh, you’ve done it now. You messed up. He’s mad at you. No, he’s not. He loves you. Does he want to correct us and. And do right? Yeah, we’re going to get into that here in a little bit.
David [00:13:42]:
But you belong to the Lord. You have a place in Him. And in fact, we have a place in him here. But he said he’s preparing a place for us. Heaven. Hallelujah. You see, this is why belonging is why being disowned or orphaned is seen as being so devastating, because that strips you of belonging. And that is exactly what Satan did in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.
David [00:14:20]:
He stripped them of their belonging, and in the process, he stripped them of their identity. This is why adoption is so powerful. And in Greek society in particular, back when Paul and the others were writing the New Testament, they talked about this because that was a very, very powerful force, adoption. It was very meaningful because when you are adopted into a family, as we said before, you inherited their lineage. All they are, all they have. I remember hearing a story about little boy on the street. He would run in and out of stores asking for something to eat, looking for things. And one day he goes in the store and the owner recognizes, what are you doing in here again? I told you to stop coming in here.
David [00:15:40]:
And the owner’s talking to the little boy and saying, you gotta leave. And around the corner comes this gentleman and he goes, sir, that’s my son. I just adopted him this week. Anything he wants, he can have. Anytime he comes in here. If he asks, just put it on my account. The store owner immediately changed and said, oh, I’m sorry, son, how can I help you? You are God’s child. And because you are God’s child, you belong to Him.
David [00:16:19]:
And as you belong to him, you walk in his favor, his honor, his dignity, with his power and his authority. Wow. With his rights, Jesus came and paid the price so we could be restored to our place, our position of belonging as children of God. And this is what Paul was talking about in Ephesians 2:10. I’m going to read this from the Amplified Classic. Paul said this. For we are God’s own handiwork, his workmanship recreated in Christ Jesus. And that word recreated, I’ll tell you in a minute.
David [00:17:14]:
But it means to be put back into place, recreated in Christ Jesus, born anew, that we may do those good works which God predestined, planned beforehand for us, taking paths which he prepared ahead of time for us. That we should walk in them, living the good life which he prearranged and made ready for us to live. So the meaning of recreated here means fully restored. Fully restored. Nothing missing, nothing broken. Put back into your proper place and position with full power, authority, privilege and rights. Wow. So when it says we were recreated in Christ Jesus and born anew, what Jesus bought and paid for for us was so we could come back into relationship and be God’s own.
David [00:18:33]:
Hallelujah. You belong. You belong to the God of the universe. You were God’s child. Wow. Being a child of God means inheritance. What the Father has will one day be mine here in the earth. That’s the way we see it.
David [00:19:02]:
What the Father has will one day be mine. Scripture says what the Father has, he’s. He’s given to us through Jesus Christ. A child is an heir by nature. It just is. And as children of God, we are heirs by nature and we’re joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
David [00:19:30]:
Inheritance just isn’t material goods. Inheritance includes values. What are the values of your father, of your family? You inherit those values, you live on in them. You carry them on their authority, their blessing, responsibility. You have a place, a position, a calling in a family, and stewardship. How do you take all this and steward it. So that it blesses the generations to come? In Scripture we see inheritance includes also land, promises, covenant and future hope, like I just said, stewarding for the generations to come. Another principle here is children don’t beg for inheritance, they grow into it.
David [00:20:47]:
We are growing into all that God has for us, all he’s provided for us. We are being transformed into his perfect will. Children learn to steward well what they inheritance, so what they. Let me say that again. Children learn to steward well what they inherit so that it is fruitful and it multiplies. God’s never changed since he spoke that over Adam and Eve. He was speaking over all mankind. Be fruitful and multiply.
David [00:21:35]:
And a part of our inheritance is growing and causing things to be fruitful and multiply so that the generations to come are blessed and impacted by it. You are a child of God. You have an inheritance. Romans 8, 16 and 17. This is from the Passion translation for the Holy Spirit makes God’s fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being. You are God’s beloved child. And since we are his true children, we qualify to share all his treasures. For indeed, we are heirs of God Himself.
David [00:22:29]:
And since we are joined to Christ, we also inherit all that he is and all that he has. We will experience being co glorified with him provided that we accept his sufferings as our own. We have an inheritance. Hallelujah. It’s real. It’s real. It’s real. The fourth thing about being God’s child is our formation as a child.
David [00:23:14]:
We are shaped by those who influence us. Who’s influencing you? Here’s a reality that we know. We are formed consciously and unconsciously. There are things that our parents have done. There are things that we’re doing ourselves that’s forming us. And we’re doing that with intention and consciously pouring into ourselves to form us and frame ourselves. But there are things that are happening around us that we’re not even thinking about. And these things form us also.
David [00:23:54]:
This happens through language. What is spoken to us and what we hear in general influences us. It fashions us, informs us. So what are you listening to? What are you speaking? What are you letting others speak over you? Second thing that fashion informs us is the worldview. A worldview is a mental model of reality that we are taught. Or it’s a system of beliefs, of theories about the world and how it works, that we are introduced to a framework of ideas and attitudes about ourself, others, values and life. A whole lot of what if in there, maybe this, maybe that. Your worldview forms and fashions you.
David [00:25:06]:
So who’s influencing you? Again, worldviews influence. The other characteristic here of this is the character of those around us. We are being formed and fashioned by who’s around you. Research shows that if you’re around someone and influencing them for one year, you will change them. Your influence will change them. And the opposite is true too. If you’re close to someone and around them for one year, they’re going to change you. They’re going to form and fashion you in some way.
David [00:25:57]:
Who do you have around you? And the last thing here, our formation is based on our self worth. How do we see ourselves? How do we love ourselves? How do we have faith in ourselves? This is why Scripture repeatedly instructs us to stay in the Word and spend time fellowshipping with the Lord daily. It’s like Brother Kevin was saying last week, stop. Sit quietly and just listen. Fellowship with the Lord. Hear what he has to say to you. He wants to form and fashion you into who he created you to be. We’re on a journey together with the Lord, becoming all that he created us to be.
David [00:27:00]:
And that’s the point. A child is always in the process of becoming. And let me tell you something, we’re Children of God. And we’re going to be becoming in that process of being more, becoming more all the days of our life and throughout eternity. Let the Word of God live and dwell in you in a way that it forms you and fashions you. Paul wrote about this in Romans, Romans 12:2. I’m going to read this from the passion translation. Romans 12:2 here says, Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think.
David [00:28:04]:
This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes. The Holy Spirit will bring us insight, wisdom, revelation, all of these things. All of these things are ours. We can be transformed by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to be all God created us to be, to walk in his perfect plan for us. Then the fifth aspect of being a child is security. We are cared for and defended as God’s child. We are protected. We are provided for and given instruction and correction.
David [00:29:02]:
To be someone’s child means that you are not self sustaining. God is our source and supply. He is in our life every day in so many different ways. If we saw it, we would be going, oh, wow, this is all you, Lord, I don’t. I think I’m doing something. But really, if you weren’t flowing through me, I wouldn’t be doing any of this. We are not self sustaining. As a child, we are allowed to depend on those around us.
David [00:29:36]:
Our parents, our brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends. And as a child we learned this discipline flows from love, not rejection. Hebrews 12, 5 and 6 tells us that discipline is framed as a proof of sonship, not the opposite. Let’s look at that. Hebrews 12, 5, 6 from the passion translation says, and have you forgotten his encouraging words spoken to you as his children? He said, my child, don’t underestimate the value of the discipline and training of the Lord God. Or get depressed when he asks to correct you. For the Lord’s training of your life is the evidence of his faithful love. And when he draws you to Himself, it proves you were his delightful child.
David [00:30:45]:
God corrects us. God disciplines us. God instructs us and teaches us so we can be all he created us to be. That’s his love for us coming out. Come on. He goes, I know how to do this. Let me show you. So many times like little toddlers were going, no, me do it myself.
David [00:31:12]:
Wait just a minute. God loves you in every way. He loves you everything. God does flows out of his love for you because you are his child. And then the sixth thing here, last thing here, this is a child of God. We’re in a spiritual relationship with him. Childship is the highest relational status. We see in the Bible that being a servant speaks of duty, being a friend speaks of closeness.
David [00:32:07]:
But being a child speaks of intimacy and fellowship speaks of family. This is why Scripture emphasizes, like I said earlier, adoption, that closeness, that fellowship, that intimacy of family. That’s why it emphasizes sonship for all of us. That’s why it emphasizes abba, Father. And one of the translations of that word, abba there, means daddy. The Lord God is my daddy, God, and I am his child. Daddy says I go and crawl up in his lap, and he wraps his arms around me and holds me, and I lean into him and snuggle with him. Now, you may wonder what.
David [00:33:09]:
But let me tell you, it’s true. God loves you that much. He wants you to come and snuggle with him, spend time with him, fellowship with him. Being a child of God means you were loved not because of usefulness, what you can provide, but because of relationship. And a relationship that’s based on presence, not performance. Presence, not performance. God wants you with him, near him and fellowship with him. You’re not going to earn your way by your way, accomplish your way, achieve your way into relationship.
David [00:34:07]:
It comes with just simply receiving him, loving him, and spending time in his presence. Romans 8:15 in the Amplified classic says, for the spirit which you have now received is not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage, to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, the spirit producing sonship in the bliss of which we cry abba, Father. To bring this all back around, let’s go back to our foundational scripture that we started with. John 1:12, and this is from the amplified classic. But to as many as did receive and welcome him, he gave the authority, the power, the privilege, the right to become the children of God. That is to those who believe in, adhere to, trust in, and rely on his name. Hallelujah. We are children of God.
David [00:35:28]:
Jesus has given us the authority, the power, the privilege and the right to stand in our place as God’s children. We are kings who are priests reigning here on earth, representing the kingdom of God. That’s who you are. Get up every day and declare, I am a child of God. I have the authority, the power, the privilege and the rights to represent my Father God and his kingdom as I go forth today. Thank you, Lord, for your favor and Your blessing with all those I encountered today. Amen. You are a child of God.
David [00:36:23]:
And knowing that and understanding that is where your understanding and insight into your identity in Christ begins. Praise God. Praise God for it every day. Father, I thank you that I’m your child. Amen. Let’s bow our heads in prayer. Father, we thank you for your word to us. We thank you for this insight, this revelation into who we are in you.
David [00:36:55]:
You have paid the price, Lord, through sacrificing your son, Jesus Christ on the cross for us, that we could come into relationship with you and once again be your children, fully restored to the place and position you created us to be in from the beginning. In fact, your word says you planned all this before the foundation of the world, before time began, you were thinking of us. Praise God. We are your children and you are our father. We love you, Lord, and thank you for loving us every day. And may we go forth and reflect your life, your light, your love to the world around us. May we see your kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
David [00:37:58]:
In Jesus name, so be it. Hallelujah. Praise God. There’s more to come over the next few weeks. Get ready. Pastor Kanye’s coming now with a closing thought.
