Adopted by God

I have a few friends and family who have experienced the joy and the struggle of adopting. For some, adoption came at a cost—of finances, time and emotional energy—but for each it has brought great joy. Adoption is a beautiful thing and a powerful picture of who God is. Maybe you’re adopted, or perhaps you’re considering adopting? In Ephesians, Paul tells us that adoption was never “Plan B.” God actually had it in mind before He even created the earth! Wow! Listen to this!

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 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 (Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT).

God’s plan was always for us to know the full range of His mercy and grace as His adopted children. Read what Paul writes in the book of Romans:

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).

When God adopts us, He does not leave us in the condition of slaves, bereft of acceptance and love. Instead, He pours His Spirit into our hearts to give us the experience of being embraced in the family. What is remarkable about this verse is the Aramaic word abba, a term of endearment similar to our word “daddy.”

This is the intimate way Jesus addressed the Father in contrast to the culture of his day. This stunned the disciples. Jesus prays in the garden of Gethsemane,

“Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Mark 14:36).

In adopting us, God gives us the very Spirit of His Son and grants us to feel the affections of belonging to the family of God.

Adoption is not just a legal transaction as if God would say, “Ok, I rescued you, now you’re on your own. Go ask someone else for help, or figure it out.” Absolutely not. God gives us His very self, through the Holy Spirit to live in us and this Spirit causes us to love the Father and experience His warm, daddy-like love.

For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16).

There is a deeply personal and spiritual bond between God our Father and us, His children. He wants us to come to Him and ask for His help, His comfort, His guidance, and His care. He wants us to call Him “Daddy.” So, if we are followers of Jesus then we are chosen and adopted as sons or daughters of our heavenly Father. This is our identity—no longer orphaned, alone or forgotten. We are adopted, and our Abba, Daddy Father, has given us His name and His loving embrace. That’s courageous living.

Prayer of Commitment: Daddy, I come to You as Your child. Thank You for receiving me and giving me Your love. I live today with this special identity in mind.