God's Family - The Adopted Family

Pastor Stephen examines the biblical concept of family, tracing its growth from Adam and Eve to the establishment of the Israelite nation. He emphasizes that sin distorted the original family structure, creating a necessity for divine reconciliation through fellowship with God and active participation in the church. A significant portion of the discussion focuses on "the mixed multitude" and "adopted family" members like Rahab and Ruth, who were outsiders granted access to God’s favor through faith and devotion. He highlights that while the Old Testament required strict holiness and sacrifice to approach God, modern believers are fully adopted as heirs through Jesus Christ. Ultimately, the passage serves as a call for Christians to live as fearless ambassadors of God’s victory and favor. Under the new covenant, believers are encouraged to openly demonstrate their spiritual joy to inspire others to join the family of faith.

Transcript

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And we're talking about God's family. We're taking some ground as it pertains to God's family. We've sorted out from the beginning. We see God's family coming to fruition with Adam and Eve, all the way through Noah and Cain and Abel, and then through Noah, all the way to Jacob and the 12 sons of Israel. We've noticed some major developments in how God has designed and purposed families. God's instruction to be fruitful and multiply. It allowed families to grow from two to countless across the face of the earth. We can see it's God's intention from the beginning that families are to enjoy companionship, are to enjoy the accomplishments and the blessing of being together. Can you say amen? But these only come to fruition as we allow God Himself to resource families. And with sin entering into the world, we see families even echoing today in 2026. Families and the construct of it has been distorted. As people begin to allow the sin and begin to allow flesh to dictate their decisions and their future. How can families accomplish their assignment outside of fellowship with God? It's impossible. We need to be in fellowship with God. How can families stay connected to the lifeline necessary to flourish into who they were created to be? It's impossible. That's why it's important for families to be in church. It's not just about, oh, we got so many in church today. I love seeing families in church because it's a surrender. It's a surrender to say, God, what do you have for us today as a family? God, what are you speaking to us as a family? I'm grateful that all of us as a team were able to open up kids' ministries and a school and all these different things because we want to see the family flourish and learn and grow into all that God intended them to be. Taking back that distortion that the enemy has tried to poison families with. And amidst the dysfunction of sin and chaos that it caused families, God calls one family, and we see that through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, one family to be the key to restore families once and for all. To restore families to the way that they were intended to operate. We see that family, and we recounted this, turned in from a small group of 70 into millions of people as we see them march out of the land of Egypt and headed toward the promised land. God's promise to this family was that their descendants would be as many as the stars in the heavens. And when God promises you something from his word, you can count on it. Because it's going to come to fruition. It's going to happen. On Mount Horeb, God reveals himself to Moses in a different way, a way that is necessary for families to reach their promise. Through a burning bush, God reveals himself as the I am, as Yahweh, as the one who hears the cry of his people and will come down and rescue them. We see from here on out that God is very much a present God. A God who desires a relationship with his people. If you've put God over here or God over here, realize that God wants to be right here. God wants to be a part of your every day, of your every morning, of your every afternoon, of every minute, of every second of your life. God wants to be involved. God walking with the Israelites as a cloud by day and a fire by night. God parting the Red Sea. God providing water, manna, and meat. God was not just a supreme being, sovereign over everything, but God showed himself, and we talked about it last Sunday on Friendship Sunday. God showed himself as a what? A friend. God is a friend. Exodus 34. In your Bibles, verse 6. Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord your God is what? Compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in faithfulness and truth, who keeps faithfulness to thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of his law and sin. Yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of fathers on the children and on grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. A relationship with God was necessary for God's people to accomplish their assignment. But that relationship comes at a cost. As revealed in the burning bush, we see that God is what? God is holy. Can you say God is holy? And we really need to get this into our spirit. Say it again, God is holy. Realize that on your own, man is not holy. Man is not holy. How can man carry on a relationship with one who is so perfect, with one who is so holy? How could a relationship be possible? We see even in Leviticus, a whole sacrificial system is set up where a constant sacrifice would need to be made for the sins of man. Why? So we could just be worthy enough to receive the blessings of God. God will give, and we recounted all this in the Old Testament as Moses is walking through the wilderness to the promised land. God gives Moses instructions. You want to be in my presence? You want to be with me? You want to be back to that reconciliation place? Then there needs to be a tabernacle, there needs to be a place where I can dwell amongst my people. And Israelites would have to take this tabernacle and move it from place to place to place. Then the Ark of the Covenant would be constructed to represent the power of God and be placed within the holy place of the tabernacle. All of these practices and these pieces are designed why to make God's people worthy enough, holy enough to even have the power of God around them. Almost impossible acts to allow God's presence to reside amongst his people. Impossible acts in order for God's supernatural protection, supernatural victory, supernatural blessings towards them. How else could man's sin come even close to God's holiness? If you read, and I think it's so it's so amazing to see even the priests would who would serve in the tabernacle and make pray uh sacrifices to the Lord, they had to wear bells on them so they could be heard entering into the holy place so they would not die. Understand what the power of God is, understand the holiness of God, because in 2026 we've strayed so far away from holiness. We strayed so far. We receive the blood of Jesus Christ, we receive that grace, and we just continue to live in the dirt, in the shame, and the sin that is all around us instead of setting ourselves apart, instead of living and following the words that are found in Scripture in multiple places to be holy as I am holy. A reminder for us. The priests, they had to wear a breastplate designed to represent the twelve sons of Israel. How else could man even approach God's holiness and not be consumed? And with God on their side, God's family journey through the wilderness and into the promised land. And as they make their way into the promised land, we see another development and the expansion of God's family. And we're going to talk about that today. If we go back to Exodus chapter 12, and we revisit that moment where we see the amount of people that are leaving Egypt. If you turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 12, verse 37, it says, Now the sons of Israel journey from Amazines to Sakoth, about 600,000 men on foot, aside from children. And then in verse 38, you see here it says, A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, and a very large number of livestock. See, this in this verse is where they estimate about over 2 million people, maybe even 4 million people walking out of Egypt. But this included, and you see right there, a mixed multitude. Can you say mixed multitude? This mixed multitude of people that were included were people who said, you know what? I'm gonna go with the Israelite people. I'm gonna go with these uh people that seem to have a supernatural working on their side. This mixed multitude would probably have been some Egyptians or people from other nations that would have recognized the favor of God upon the Israelites. They could have been servants, they could have been workers, or they could have just been people who wanted to be included with God's people. They would have witnessed the plagues against the Egyptians, they would have counted the Israelites growing in number, even though Pharaoh says treat them more harshly, but they kept growing in number and growing in number. This mixed multitude of people would have been saying, I want whatever they're having. I want to do whatever they're whatever God they're serving, that is the God that I want to be upon my life. That's the favor that I want to walk under. And so they would walk out of Egypt that day towards an unseen promised land. God recognizes this multitude amongst his people when they celebrated the per first Passover. God tells Moses in verse 30, in verse 43 of chapter 12, he says, and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover, this is the ordinance of the Passover, no foreigner is to eat it, eat it, but as for every slave that someone has purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. But if the stranger But if a stranger resides with you and celebrates the Passover of the Lord, all of his males are to be circumcised, and then he shall come near to celebrate it, and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised male may eat it. The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who resides among you. Do you see what God's doing here? God's saying, yes, this mixed multitude, they can celebrate, they can partake, but they need to be set apart like you're set apart. They can't just be doing their own thing. They still have to fall under the instruction of the Almighty God that I may recognize them as God's chosen holy people. Strangers, people outside of God's chosen people may celebrate and partake only if they commit to being consecrated to God. They would become what we're gonna call this morning the adopted family members. Can you say the adopted family? These people would walk out with the Israelites, they would walk through the wilderness, and I love, if you read up on this mixed multitude of people, it actually makes me laugh. Because when the Israelites were complaining about food and water, it was the mixed multitude that kind of stirred this kind of anger up. I'm gonna read it in Numbers 11, verse 4. Now the rabble, which would be these people, now the rabble who were among them had greedy cravings, and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, Who will give us meat to eat? And I laugh at this because this reminds me of when I was younger, and I would go over to Mike and Gail Susie's house. We were only six years old when we moved to Johnson, Rhode Island, and so the Susies became automatic friends because they had three kids, we had six, so it's a perfect blend there. No, but they had a lot of kids our age. So I would go over to the Susie's house, and the Susies always had a stash of pantry food. It was very different than the Fava household. When we would go grocery shopping, the groceries were gone that night. We would open up everything, we would eat everything. We had to go to the supermarket every day. So when we got to the Susie's house, there was a pantry there. And I would say to David, David, you know, you should go ask your mom if we can open up those tortilla chips and salsa. David, why don't you ask your mom if we can eat up those pizza bagel bites? How many remember the pizza bagel bites? Pizza in the morning, pizza in the Gigi, David would go for us, and then Gigi would say, No, we're gonna eat dinner soon. Or no, I'm saving those for something. Okay, that's fine. Eventually, me and David just stop asking, and we would just go into the pantry and eat whatever we want. But I would I would have been considered the rabble at that point. The rabble who is just stirring up conflict, who is just stirring up trouble in the house, the outsider coming in and causing the concern, especially as it related to food. I was pretty good at that. But we see just as much as I was the rabble, the Susis considered me a part of their family. I'm actually going over their family for lunch, or over their house for lunch today, because the Susis are just good like that. And so the Israelites welcomed the outsider as they were automatically joined in on the favor and protection of God. As the Israelites make their way into the promised land, the this adoption into the family of God, it thickens a little bit. And we can see different encounters, different stories under the leadership of Joshua. The Israelites have their sights set on Jericho. How many know the story of the walls of Jericho? And God tells them to go and take possession of the land. I've already given you the land, go and take your territory. And that's something that we talked about. God has already given you that land. You just have to go and take possession of it. Within the walls of Jericho dwells a courageous woman named, do you know, Rahab? Say Rahab. We've talked about Rahab not too long ago and her giving as a seed that would secure her protection and her future. But as Joshua's spies enter into Jericho, they find this woman who would be known as the prostitute, who would hide the spies on her roof to escape the king of Jericho. Rahab was an outsider. She was not part of the Israelite favor, she was not part of the Israelite people. She was not a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. But her acknowledgement for who God was, this God of the Israelites, it compelled her to find a way into God's favor. And we see this in Joshua chapter 2, and you can read this with me, verse 8. Now, before the spies lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to them, And watch the reverence that takes place here with Rahab. I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of you, for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And when we heard these reports, our how our hearts melted, and no courage remained in anyone any longer because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and on earth below. Amen. Has anyone ever said that about your God? Has anyone ever said that about the God that you serve? I've seen God do miracles in your life. I've seen how you talk about them. I've seen how you have so much joy and so much peace and so much. I've heard so much about this God that you serve that I need to be a part of it. Has anyone ever said that about you? Rahab says, Your God is the God of heaven and earth. In the New Testament, Hebrews and James highlight Rahab as a woman of faith. A faith in a God she only heard about, but she needed to be under his covering. Why? Rahab wanted to be on the winning side. She wanted to be on the winning side. We know Rahab's life is spared during the Jericho battle, and Rahab is adopted, can you say adopted? Into the Israelite blessing. She's not an Israelite, but she comes under the covering and she's adopted into the family. And we find out later, and it just wows me every time I read the story, but she's even being she's even counted in the lineage of Jesus Christ. Imagine that. Just because she wanted in. Not too long after Jericho, we find another group, and I love this story. It's a great example. Another group of people trying to sneak in on the family of God. And I always find it fascinating in Joshua chapter 9. The Gibeonites, the inhabitants of Gibeon, also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to I, but they on their part acted craftily and went and took provisions for a journey, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys and wineskins that were worn out, split open and patched, and worn out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn out clothes on themselves, and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled. It's just, if you read the full story, the Gibeonites were nervous that the Israelites were going to come and conquer them. So there craftily they dress up like their inhabitants from a far-off land who just need help. And they went to Joshua at the camp of Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country. Now then make a covenant with us. Acting like they were foreigners, the Gibeonites made a treaty with Joshua and the Israelites. Joshua soon finds out that these inhabitants were in the promised land, and they knew they were going to be wiped out, so they lied. Why would they do this? In Joshua chapter 9, verse 24, we see, and they answered Joshua. Joshua says, Why would you do this? Since your servants were fully informed that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you, we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and did this thing. And now, behold, we are in your hands. Do to us as it seems good and right to your sight to do. This he did to them and saved them from the hands of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them. But on that day Joshua made them gatherers of fireword and labor to draw water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord to this day in the place that he would choose. And if you read further, while the Gibeonites were, and let me uh just stop on this for a second. This is one of those moments where God says, Joshua, why didn't you ask me before you went and did this? And it's a very important lesson for us because God is walking with Joshua, but now Joshua just starts doing his own thing and it ends up being problematic. But God says, Joshua, you should have came to me and asked me about this before you made a covenant with them. But we see while the Gibeonites are not adopted into the full inheritance of the Israelites, they too are able to step under the protection and provision of God's family and settle into the promised land. The last one I'll talk about today is a woman by the name of Ruth. Can you say Ruth? And we know the story of Ruth, the Moabite woman, through her marriage to Boaz, is adopted into God's family. It would be her act of love and her giving that puts her also in the lineage of Christ. But it would be her desire to be with her mother-in-law Naomi. We're gonna talk about this in a little bit and talk and take Naomi's God as her own. Why would Ruth do this? Why would Rahab do this? Why would the Gibeonites do this? There was something special about God's family and what belonged to them. Realize this when you step into God's family, when you give your life to Jesus Christ, when the Holy Spirit, when you allow the Holy Spirit to do a work inside of you, realize that there is something special about God's family. There is something special about God's family and what belongs to them. Here's the thing about God's family, and we See it through the Israelites, they're surrounded with victory. They're surrounded with favor. The thing about God's family is they are unstoppable because they are sons and daughters of the Most High God Yahweh who dwells with them and is constantly working on their behalf. I want to tell you this morning, are you a people of victory? You say that, but yet you walk around with a cloud over your head, like every day's raining. I say again, God's people, God's family, are you a people of victory? Amen. Declare it and walk in it. Walk like that's who you are. I ask you this this morning, God's people, are you a people of favor, of God's favor? See this mixed multitude, Rahab, Gibeonites, Ruth, they wanted in. They desired to be adopted into the family and become recipients of his favor. And we know that this is only a glimpse of the of the a glimpse into the access God would give outsiders into his family. We know, and we're gonna take communion today. But God's love for all of humanity would be revealed through the sending of his son, Jesus Christ. But I want to tell you this: before Jesus came on the scene, people had to go through great lengths to just stand around and carry wood and water to be recipients of God's favor. I'm gonna say that again. Before Jesus came on the scene, people just wanted a glimpse. I'll carry water, I'll carry wood, I just want to be part of the favor. But I tell you this morning, we don't have to sneak into God's family anymore. We don't have to sneak into God's favor. We don't have to sneak and cross our fingers and hope, no, no, forget about all that stuff because your hope is in Jesus Christ. You don't have to worry about tomorrow. You don't have to hope that God is gonna come through because he will come through for you. Galatians chapter 4, verse 4 through 7. But when the fullness of time came, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive what? The no, you could do better than that, that we might receive the adoption of sons and daughters, because you are sons. God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying out, Abba, Father, therefore, and I want you to say this with me this morning, therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Amen. Listen, I've seen people who admire royalty, they'll roll out the carpet for royalty. I see people who admire celebrities or political figures. I see people talk about them. They just want to be in the room with them, they just want to park their car, they just want to shake their hand, or just maybe walk by them or stand in the same room or pour their water. They want to walk outside their house or hear what they have to say. Here's the thing: there was a time in history when people did the same for God's people. Where people did the same for God's people. There was a time where people just wanted to be counted in the crowd of God's people. I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you this. Do you think you give the best example of what God's family really looks like? Do you think you create an example? And sometimes God is doing really great things in your life, but for some reason you don't want to show it. God has restored, God has blessed, God has shown favor, but for some reason you don't want to show it. I'm praying that there's a release and a fearlessness to be an ambassador for Christ so that people can experience the victory that you've experienced. So that people can say, I want what she's got, I want what he's got, I just need to stand in the presence of God. It's funny. There's so many people, especially today, who are so spiritually illiterate, biblically illiterate, they have no idea. And if you just gave them a glimpse of what God can do in their lives, but listen, a sad cloud over your head is not gonna do it. We need to show the presence of God in our lives, show what God is doing in our lives. There was a time where people wanted to be around God's people, they wanted to be counted in the crowd. But listen, as we go and proclaim the goodness of God, God has given all of humanity full access into his family, where each and every one of us can be adopted as sons and daughters of God, we can be full heirs to the power and healing and provision that his children were created to possess. I'm gonna close this morning. We're gonna do a couple things. First, I want to pray if there's anyone who has not given their life to Jesus Christ, whether watching at home or in the room, listen, there was a time where you could not enter into the fullness of what God had because sin separated us. But now through Jesus Christ, now through Jesus Christ, we can jump into the fullness of what God has for each and every one of his created. And that's you. And if you would surrender your life over to Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to do the work, and maybe there's somebody who you've given your life to Jesus Christ, but you know, you just haven't really been full in. You have had no desire to even step toward that sanctified life that he talks about. Can we shut our eyes as a family together? Heavenly Father, I pray if there's someone here who does not have a relationship with you, God, I pray that they would have the boldness to surrender their life and say, God, I give my life to you. I believe in your son Jesus Christ, I believe in what he did on the cross, I believe in the blood that was shed. I believe that I'm a sinner, God. A sinner who needs saving. And so, because of your son and believing in what he did on the cross, I believe, God, that my sins are forgiven. I'm sorry. God, come into my life, rearrange some things, do a whole new work, and allow me into the full promises that you have in store. God, I want to be a part of the victory. God, I want to be a recipient of your favor. God, I want to walk in a hope and an assurance, God, that it doesn't matter whether you're taking me home today or tomorrow or 80 years from now. God, that I would have a hope. That I know where my eternity lies, I know where my home is, I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand. Make me a new creature in Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. I want to say one more prayer, and then we're gonna do something different before communion. I'll talk about that. But I want to just pray for those who maybe you feel like you haven't been the best example, you haven't really shown the victory that you have as a believer. I'm gonna ask God that the spirit would just stir a fearlessness inside of you, that the Holy Spirit would just take over in those moments of fear, in those moments of timidity. Can we bow our heads again? Heavenly Father, Lord, we know that we've been adopted into your family and we're grateful. God, and I know there are more, there are more, and there are more lost people who need to know who you are. God, I wish that people could see the work that you've done in my life. God, I wish that they could see the miraculous that has happened in my life. I wish that they could see the joy that I experienced deep down. I wish that they could see the peace and the assurance, God, I feel like I do a bad job expressing who I am as a child of God and what you've done for me. God, I pray for fearlessness over each and every person. God, that as they go into their workplace, even as they go home today, God, that just this supernatural God presence would take over them, that you would fill them with the joy of the Holy Spirit. God, that the Spirit would be so strong and overflowing within them. God, that there would be no more timidity in the name of Jesus, that they would have a fearlessness to tell people about the healings that have taken place, about the joy that is going before them, about even though it's been a difficult road, I know that God's got me and I know I got the victory. God, I thank you for the testimonies that are on their way. As that fear is released in the name of Jesus. We give you praise and we give you glory. Thank you for calling us sons and daughters, adopting us into your family. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.