Adoption by God

by Ken and Dottie Phillips

Adoption Defined

Take or receive as one’s own, such as a child; to take another’s child into one’s own family.

Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Ephesians 1:5

You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” 

    Galatians 4:5

In ancient Rome, adoption was sometimes the method used by the emperors to pass on succession to well-trained heirs. For example, Augustus Caesar was adopted by his great uncle, Julius Caesar. Emperors Tiberius and Hadrian were also adopted. All of these proved to be strong rulers because each one was raised and trained to live like a child of his adoptive father. Under Roman law, adopted children had all the rights and privileges of biological children. An adopted child received his father’s inheritance.

Every Christian who has accepted Jesus as his or her Savior is an adopted child of the King of Kings. Our adoption comes at a great cost. God made it possible to be brought into His family through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, on the cross. Our adoption was completed when we asked Him for forgiveness for our sins and accepted Jesus as our Savior. Romans 8:17 tells us that God has made us not only adopted children, but children with an unbelievable inheritance! What a privilege and what a blessing!

That gives us so much reason to thank God for all that He has done for us. There is no way to repay Him for the price He paid to adopt us into His family.

The adopted Roman child gained not only the rights of a blood-born child in his new family, but also the responsibilities. He was expected to study and train to be a worthy member of the family. In the same way, God wants us to live as children of God are expected to live, honoring our heavenly Father. Our instruction and training is given to us in God’s Word.

In Colossians 3:5 we are told by the apostle Paul what we are to get rid of when we have been adopted by God: “Put to death the sinful ways of our old life; sexual immorality; impurity; lust; evil desires; greed and idolatry.”  Since we are children of God, we should act like it.

Our old way of life is to be replaced by activities and desires that show that we belong to the family of God. Paul tells us in Colossians 3:12 that we are to “Put on compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline.” This describes Jesus. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Jesus did what the His Heavenly Father wanted. As adopted children, if we really understood how much He wants to give us, why wouldn’t we want live our lives God’s way?

In Romans 8:15 Paul tells the people in the church at Rome, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons [and daughters] of God.” We need to be led daily by the Spirit of God in order to do the will of God our Father and to become more like Christ.

God is waiting to adopt all who do not know Him as their Savior. To be adopted, all you have to do is admit that you are a sinner, ask God for forgiveness, and then ask Him to come into your life. He will adopt you as one of His children. John 1:12 reads, “He gave the right to become God’s children to everyone who believed in Him. These people didn’t become God’s children in a physical way —from a human impulse or from a husband’s desire to have a child. They were born of God.” So if you haven’t asked Jesus to be your Savior and adopt you into God’s family, why not ask Him now? If you are IN God’s family, just let Him know that you want to be more like Him

PRAYER

Thank You that You want to/have adopted me as Your child. Give me the strength and determination to live for You every moment of this day. May all who I meet tell by my words and actions that I am an adopted child of God.

Adapted from a daily online devotional written by Ken and Dottie Phillips for World Bible Society. Sign up at www.hungersolution.org