(During the summer, I will not be producing our usual daily devotionals. Each week, I will only produce one group study based on the Sunday message. Daily devotions will resume - God willing - on Monday 5th September)
On Sunday, we looked at the amazing subject of being a chosen, adopted child of God. We saw that to enjoy our Christian life, we must remember so as to reframe everything in light of our new relationship with God as our Father. Paul writes,
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment – to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3-10)
John writes, what is probably the most famous text on being a child of God:
‘See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.’ (1 John 3:1-2)
1. GOD WANTS US LIVE IN THE JOY OF BEING A CHOSEN CHILD OF GOD
God has made it clear that He wants us to understand His identity as our Father and our identity as His children so as to live in joy and faith. He wants us to know it so as ‘praise His glorious grace’ because of His immeasurable and unmerited love.
2. REMEMBER YOUR ADOPTION
To live in the joy of being a chosen child of God it’s vital that we understand and remember our adoption. Fear, worry and poor success criteria threaten us regularly. Understanding the work of God in adoption enables us to praise and be secure in all contexts.
Adoption reflects the Greek and Roman practice of adopting someone to be your legal heir. Our adoption as God’s children has three elements:
I. PAST: In eternity past, the Father ‘predestined’ and ‘chose’ us for adoption according to His love and grace. It’s not something we earned so it’s not something we can lose!
II. PRESENT: Adoption means that everyday in all circumstances we are loved by God and have access to Him.
III. FUTURE: To be adopted is to be an heir of God. What will we inherit? In essence, we will inherit the glory of God in all things. All things being restored and us living in the glorious presence of God eternally. Our reading from Ephesians, in the ESV version says:
“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:11-12 ESV)
I John 3:1-2, speaks of seeing Him and becoming like Him. Romans 8:15-17 teaches that if we are His children we will ‘share in His glory’.
3. REFRAME
Our new identity to God as His child, His new identity to us as Father, and the new identity of the church as family needs to be worked out in daily life as we reframe everything in light of this identity. All feelings, experiences, loss, gain, the future, what defines success… is to be reframed in the light of our adoption.
APPLICATION
In order to remember so as to reframe all things in the light of our adoption, let me encourage you to read, meditate and pray out of 1 John 3:1-2 every day for the next week; try to memorise it also.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION OR PERSONAL REFLECTION
Did God speak to you about anything from this blog or Sunday’s message?
J. I. Packer, writes, ‘In adoption, God takes us into his family and fellowship, and establishes us as his children and heirs. Closeness, affection and generosity are at the heart of the relationship. To be right with God the judge [through justification] is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater.’ (J. I. Packer. Knowing God. Page 233). Why is adoption the greatest privilege of the Christian?
Why does remembering so as to reframe everything in light of our spiritual adoption keep us joyful and faithful in all contexts?
We are to reframe everything in light of our adoption; how do we reframe prayer? How do we reframe our inheritance? How do we reframe suffering? (Hebrews 12 is all about this)
SIV (Serve, Invest, inVite) - Why would building our lives on spiritual adoption by grace be effective in helping to bring others to Jesus?
SIV (Serve, Invest, inVite) - Do you have any non-believing friends that you would like to pray for?