Calvary Church
Children of God - Dustan Bell
‘We see a growing church, meeting in many locations around the world, helping people to know Jesus, find community and make a difference.’
Locations & Times
Calvary Sunshine Coast
212 Crosby Hill Rd, Tanawha QLD 4556, Australia
Sunday 8:00 AM
Sunday 10:00 AM
Sunday 7th September 2025
“Children of God”
John 14:15–18
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
An orphan is a child left without a father or mother.
In Jesus’ day, the term ‘orphan’ also referred to students who had been abandoned by their master. Like children are dependent on their parents, these students were reliant on their teacher to teach them, guide them, prepare them for life. But once the teacher abandoned them, they felt deserted, forsaken, discarded and thrown away.
In the days leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, his disciples became apprehensive about the departure of their leader as he spoke increasingly of his looming death. Uncertainty and unknowns must have filled their hearts with fear, not dissimilar to the anxieties that weigh upon an orphan’s mind.
To their troubled hearts, Jesus promised, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” In effect, Jesus was saying, “I will not leave you behind like orphans who have been deserted by their parents, nor will I desert you like an unfaithful teacher who walks out on his students and leaves them with no supervision or help.”
We are not orphans because we have an everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6), an ever-living Saviour (Hebrews 7:25), and an ever-present Helper (John 14:16-17).
1 John 3:1
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
If the promise of Jesus and the testimony of Scripture is true, that we are not orphans but rather children of God, this changes the tone of our hearts to faith, confidence and trust.
1. We ought never doubt His promise.
John 14 is part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to His disciples, in the context of the Last Supper. Just hours later he would be arrested by a Roman mob, put to a sham trial, beaten, flogged and then crucified. The disciples must have felt Jesus could not keep His promise to not leave them as orphans.
On Sunday, Jesus not only conquered death, He kept His promise.
2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
2. We ought never doubt His presence.
The disciples enjoyed the privilege of three years with Jesus’ visible, physical presence. Now, the idea of going on in Jesus’ absence seemed too much to bear.
Jesus assured them: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.”
Sam Allberry
So the Spirit is not like a substitute teacher, someone who shows up but with a completely different approach, style, set of priorities, and hangups… The gift of the Spirit is the means by which Christ himself comes to be with us, even while physically apart from us.
By virtue of the Holy Spirit’s presence, Christ himself is with us forever.
Hebrews 13:5
God has said: I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you.
3. We ought never doubt His provision.
Children with present parents generally don’t live with concern about whether there will be food to eat tomorrow. An orphan learns that resources are scant, and you ought not ask for much.
Matthew 6:31–33
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Do you pray as an orphan or as a child of God?
4. We ought never doubt our place.
By nature, we are children of wrath, but we are born again by the Spirit of God and adopted into the family of God.
Romans 8:15
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."
There are no ‘unwanted’ adopted children.
Ephesians 1:4-5
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
If we are adopted, it’s not because we willed it. It’s because our adoptive Father willed it.
John 15:16
You did not choose me. I chose you.
Perhaps a natural child might wonder if they were wanted, but the adopted child never wrestles with this insecurity.
“Children of God”
John 14:15–18
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
An orphan is a child left without a father or mother.
In Jesus’ day, the term ‘orphan’ also referred to students who had been abandoned by their master. Like children are dependent on their parents, these students were reliant on their teacher to teach them, guide them, prepare them for life. But once the teacher abandoned them, they felt deserted, forsaken, discarded and thrown away.
In the days leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, his disciples became apprehensive about the departure of their leader as he spoke increasingly of his looming death. Uncertainty and unknowns must have filled their hearts with fear, not dissimilar to the anxieties that weigh upon an orphan’s mind.
To their troubled hearts, Jesus promised, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” In effect, Jesus was saying, “I will not leave you behind like orphans who have been deserted by their parents, nor will I desert you like an unfaithful teacher who walks out on his students and leaves them with no supervision or help.”
We are not orphans because we have an everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6), an ever-living Saviour (Hebrews 7:25), and an ever-present Helper (John 14:16-17).
1 John 3:1
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
If the promise of Jesus and the testimony of Scripture is true, that we are not orphans but rather children of God, this changes the tone of our hearts to faith, confidence and trust.
1. We ought never doubt His promise.
John 14 is part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to His disciples, in the context of the Last Supper. Just hours later he would be arrested by a Roman mob, put to a sham trial, beaten, flogged and then crucified. The disciples must have felt Jesus could not keep His promise to not leave them as orphans.
On Sunday, Jesus not only conquered death, He kept His promise.
2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
2. We ought never doubt His presence.
The disciples enjoyed the privilege of three years with Jesus’ visible, physical presence. Now, the idea of going on in Jesus’ absence seemed too much to bear.
Jesus assured them: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.”
Sam Allberry
So the Spirit is not like a substitute teacher, someone who shows up but with a completely different approach, style, set of priorities, and hangups… The gift of the Spirit is the means by which Christ himself comes to be with us, even while physically apart from us.
By virtue of the Holy Spirit’s presence, Christ himself is with us forever.
Hebrews 13:5
God has said: I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you.
3. We ought never doubt His provision.
Children with present parents generally don’t live with concern about whether there will be food to eat tomorrow. An orphan learns that resources are scant, and you ought not ask for much.
Matthew 6:31–33
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Do you pray as an orphan or as a child of God?
4. We ought never doubt our place.
By nature, we are children of wrath, but we are born again by the Spirit of God and adopted into the family of God.
Romans 8:15
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."
There are no ‘unwanted’ adopted children.
Ephesians 1:4-5
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
If we are adopted, it’s not because we willed it. It’s because our adoptive Father willed it.
John 15:16
You did not choose me. I chose you.
Perhaps a natural child might wonder if they were wanted, but the adopted child never wrestles with this insecurity.
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