Fatherhood of God

Pastor Martin expounds the third and final experiential privilege of adoption — the pledge of God's paternal provision — built on Philippians 4:19 ('my God shall supply every need of yours'). He examines the substance of the pledge, the fourfold pattern of its fulfillment (God's true estimation of our worth, sensitive awareness of our condition, perfect knowledge of our real need, and proven provision for our greatest need in giving his Son), and the three house rules under which it is fulfilled: commitment to the priorities of the household, asking of the head of the household, and harmonious relationships with the other members.

Pastor Martin begins to unfold the nature of adoption by first carefully distinguishing the fatherhood peculiar to adoption from three other biblical senses of divine fatherhood: the eternal Father-Son relationship within the Godhead, the general fatherhood of creation and providence, and the theocratic fatherhood God sustained to the nation of Israel. Only the fatherhood revealed in Ephesians 1:5 and Galatians 4:4-6 — dependent on the Father's predestination, the Son's redemption, and the Spirit's attestation — is the fatherhood of adopting grace. He closes by urging unbelievers to renounce the family of the devil and pleads for the Spirit of adoption to light up these privileges in believers' hearts.