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.
Weighing the Facts
As I was reading my last post, I was unsatisfied in my spirit. I felt that I hadn’t completely gone into what it is to be adopted by God, and I didn’t feel that I could move any further in our study, until we dig a little deeper into this subject. Therefore, while the last post served as an introduction of what it is to be adopted into God’s family, this post will delve into what it is to be God’s Child.
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.
Let’s closely examine this scripture. “God decided in advance to adopt us…” Other bible versions word it this way:
He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—
He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself,according to the kind intention of His will…
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will…
God had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would make us His children—this was His pleasure and purpose.
Some versions of the bible say that God predestined us to be adopted by Him through Christ, so what exactly, does predestined mean? According to dictionary.com, the definition for predestined is:
to destine in advance; foreordain; predetermine
Throughout the church age, there have been many arguments and splits within the church based on the doctrine of predestination. Many feel that if we are predestined to be adopted by God, then that negates our free choice. However, that just isn’t so.
When a couple decides to adopt a child, they predestine a child to become theirs. They then choose the child or children they want to adopt, and those children are predestined to become their children. So, after they adopt those children, they take them home and they shower them with love, raising them as their own. Perhaps some of those children love their adoptive parents, and they do their best to bless their parents for the rest of their lives.
However, a few of their adoptive children do not love their parents. They spend their childhood running away from their parents, and when they are grown, they leave their parents for good. It doesn’t matter to them how much love their adoptive parents gave them, nor do they care about their inheritance from them. They only seek to please themselves.
Now, I ask you, although these children were predestined to be adopted by their parents, did they have any choice about whether they would receive or reject the gift of love that was offered to them? In the same way, God decided, to adopt us into His family through Jesus, yet, just like any other adopted child, He allows each one of us the freedom to choose whether they will accept this wonderful gift of love He offers us, or whether we will reject it. What about you? Will you accept the gift of adoption He has offered you?
Before you decide, let’s discuss the benefits of becoming a child of God…
4 But when the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that He could adopt us as His very own children. 6 And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are His child, God has made you His heir.
This scripture lists several the benefits of being a child of God. Firstly, it is important to understand that every man, woman and child is born in slavery. Does this sound crazy to you? Are you thinking, “Wait a minute! I live in a free country.” Perhaps you do live in a free country, just as I do, but it doesn’t change the fact that you, like me, are born enslaved. So, what are we enslaved to? We are all enslaved to sin.
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.”
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
As I’m sure you would agree with the scripture, everyone, including you and I have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard. In fact, we are all born in sin. Did you ever notice that children don’t have to be taught how to misbehave? We have to teach them how to be obedient and how to behave properly, but sin seems to come naturally to them. This is because ever since Adam ate the forbidden fruit, all of his descendants (except for Jesus, the Son of God), are born as slaves to sin.
It all sounds pretty hopeless, except for one thing…
4 But when the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that He could adopt us as His very own children. 6 And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are His child, God has made you His heir.
Do you see the wondrous news? At just the right time, God sent His Son to be born of a woman and subject to the Law. God sent Jesus to buy freedom for us, (you and me) who were slaves to the law and to sin, so that He could adopt us as His very own children.
Now this is important. When God adopted us as His own children, we were set free from our slavery to sin and the law. I am no longer a slave to sin, because Christ set me free, and then God, Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them, adopted me as His daughter! Once He adopted me, He placed His Son’s Spirit within me, so that now, I realize that I am not the same. I am no longer unworthy, because He made me worthy of His love, His protection and His freedom. I now have a heavenly inheritance, because He loved me enough to make me His own dear child, just as Jesus is!
There is so much more to share about this adoption, and what it is to be a child of God. Please join me for the next post, when we will continue our study of what it is to be a child of God.
© 2015
Cheryl A. Showers
Burning Fire Shut Up In My Bones 