John 1:12 - "To him who received Him, every person who received Jesus Christ, he gave the authority, the right, to become a child of God."
And that word child is the word technon, meaning just a little child, little, just born, newborn. Newborns mess up, all the time; but after a while they grow up - and you hope you're not feeding them and cleaning them up. In the church, you hope you're not feeding people all the time, and cleaning them up. They should be feeding themselves; should be studying the Bible; should be praying, should be hearing God. You shouldn't have to be doing it all for them all the time, because you're growing up.
God wants us to grow. He's got a plan for you. So embrace the plan! Jesus: that stress, I'm feeling, I welcome it! Thank you, Lord. Show me how you want me to grow. How about that? That would be a good response, because I believe you're changing me to be like Jesus.
Bible is very clear, it says: "this light affliction..." Whatever you're going through, the Bible calls it a "light affliction". It's a little wee bit of an upset. This light affliction works for us. It works on our behalf. It works for us. It works an eternal weight of glory, or transforms us, while we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ.
So in the midst of whatever you're facing, get your eyes back on Jesus Christ. Don't get your eyes on the media, and what they're saying; get your eyes on Jesus Christ, what the word of God is saying, and allow Him to direct the course of your life. That will turn you to gradually become like the one that you focus your life on.
Then he has a grand conclusion: Jesus will succeed where Adam fails. Where Adam failed, and left a legacy of separation; left us a culture of an orphan right through the world; left us a loss of dominion and subject to sin and all kinds of sickness and problems... Jesus has overcome all of that, and left a different legacy, a legacy of life, a legacy of hope, a legacy of spiritual strength. He's given all of that, so it's all available to us, all available through the Holy Ghost.
He gives it to all who believe on him. He says: as many as received Christ, you've received the spirit of adoption - the spirit that bears witness to our spirit. We're Children of God! Who are you? You're a child of God! Are you a son of God? Not yet. I'm on the way.
Let me just finish the grand conclusion...
The Bible says: all of creation is waiting the completion of this plan. The whole of creation, creation itself - it groans! Oh, it's a burden, all these people!
Creation is a living thing; not that we should worship it, but it's alive, and it's responsive to man, and the sin man brings puts a burden on the earth. When there's bloodshed, the blood cries out of the earth.
Romans 8:18 - "I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us."
You have received a taste of that. Christ has gone into you. This is the hope that he will manifest himself in the future for the earnest expectation.
Romans 8:19 - "All creation, it eagerly is awaiting the manifestation of the sons mature, who he has full grown sons of God."
Romans 8:20 - "For creation was subject to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope"
He's saying that a curse was placed upon creation, but God gave a hope that it would be redeemed. All of creation has a hope that one day God will complete his plan, and the curse will be lifted off the creation. The animals will change, the ground will produce, everything will be different. It'll be back like it was before the fall. This is a hope that creation has.