Adoption

 We all know families who’ve adopted a child into their homes. I admire these families. We have adoptive families in our church, and they, along with their adopted children, bring a richness to the body of Christ. Each has a special story to tell. Adoption is a wonderful, voluntary, sacrificial act of acceptance and love.

The Bible tells us that everyone who’s accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour has been adopted into the family of God. We’ve experienced spiritual adoption. Ephesians 1.5 tells us that we’ve been “adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” It pleases God to make us a part of His family. He wants us to experience His love and acceptance.

But spiritual adoption has more to it than simply being accepted by God. It also implies growth toward spiritual maturity. In ancient times a wealthy Roman family could adopt an adult son, granting that individual all the rights and freedoms that that family possessed. Adoption, in that setting, referred to recognising maturity and bestowing the rights of maturity on a member of the family. We actually become a part of God’s family through the new birth. Through adoption we’re granted the rights and privileges of mature members of that family.

One special privilege that we receive through adoption is the right to call God our Father. In fact, we can speak to Him openly, in very intimate terms. In Romans 8.15 we read, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” Abba was an intimate term of affection that a child would use to refer to his or her own father. Because we are children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, we can call God our Father. We can pray to Him and be confident that He hears and answers our prayers.

Another privilege we receive through spiritual adoption into God’s family is the blessing of participating in a spiritual inheritance with Jesus Christ in heaven. Galatians 4.6-7 says, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out ‘Abba Father’. So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” We inherit the riches of heaven because we’ve been adopted into God’s family. We become “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” according to Romans 8.17. Because of our spiritual adoption, we can look forward to a day when we’ll share in the joys of Jesus in heaven.

Think about it. You can be a member of God’s family. You can be adopted by the Creator of the universe. You can become an heir to all that heaven has to offer. You need simply put your faith in Jesus Christ. Why not join God’s family today? Then you can begin to grow into spiritual maturity as an adopted child of God.