Dr. Marc Drake, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Sun Lakes
Dr. Marc Drake, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Sun Lakes
The story is told of an adopted boy who was harassed at school by other kids who were saying that his parents were not his real daddy and mama. Every day, the boy came home crying. Finally, his mother felt like God had given her a solution for the dilemma. So she said to her son, “You tell those kids that your mom and dad chose you out of over 15 others. Their moms and dads had to take what they could get!”
The Bible tells us of another kind of adoption – that of being adopted into God’s family (Ephesians 1:5). As used in Scripture, the word adoption means that God grants family status and benefits to all who are justified by faith in Christ. Just as physical adoption is the means by which a person is taken from one family (or no family) and placed in another, spiritual adoption is the means by which a person is taken from the “family” of Satan and placed into the family of God. Could there be any greater change in a person’s life than that? Not only do we receive forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life (Ephesians 2:8-9), we also become heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ! (Romans 8:17).
Ponder that for a moment. Oh, how great was God’s love that would cause Him to want to adopt such rebellious creatures as we are! There was certainly nothing good in us that would earn us such a privilege; it is simply the astonishing grace of God. Furthermore, this adopted status means that in and through Christ, God loves us as He loves His Son Jesus. But how can that be? Because God has only one kind of love; perfect and eternal. And He has set His love upon us through Christ.
So those who belong to Christ are no longer slaves; they are sons and daughters of the King. Therefore, believers should never seek to get their identity in what they do, but rather in who they are in Christ. Do you know the Savior? If so, you can rejoice daily in the fact that you are God’s child, adopted into His family, secure in His love. You can rejoice in the One who made you on purpose and redeemed you on purpose.