ADOPTION INTO GOD’S FAMILY
You have seen that you are made new.
You have begun to understand that your old life is gone.
Now you need to understand something that defines your identity at the deepest level.
NOT JUST CHANGED.
BROUGHT IN.
Scripture describes salvation not only as forgiveness and new life, but as adoption.
This means you are brought into a real relationship with God as your Father.
This is not a title you give yourself. It is something God has done.
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”
That is not symbolic language.
It is a statement of identity. You now belong to Him.
NO LONGER A STRANGER
Before this, your relationship to God was not the same. You were outside of this relationship. But through Jesus, that has changed.
You are not kept at a distance. You are brought near and brought in.
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”
FULLY ACCEPTED
Adoption also means you are fully accepted. You are not brought in partially or conditionally.
You are not on the outside trying to prove yourself. You are brought in completely.
“he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,”
[ X ] Adoption was not an afterthought.
[ X ] It was part of God’s purpose from the beginning.
Because of this, your identity is no longer based on where you came from or what you have done. It is based on who you now belong to. You are a child of God.
HEIRS WITH CHRIST
This also means you are no longer living without direction or purpose. Children belong to a family. They are cared for, guided, and shaped. In the same way, you are now under the care and authority of your Father.
“and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
This means what belongs to Christ is now connected to you because you belong to Him.
This is not something you earn. It is something you are given. Because of this, you do not approach God with uncertainty. You do not approach Him trying to be accepted. You come from a place of already being accepted.
THIS CHANGES HOW YOU PRAY.
THIS CHANGES HOW YOU LIVE.
Let that be clear. Let that shape how you think. Let that define how you live.