If we aren’t all children of God, how do we become children of God? This devotion looks at how we are adopted out of bondage by God to become His sons and daughters.
Nuggets
- We start out in bondage to Satan.
- The promptings of the Holy Spirit lead us to accept the gift of salvation.
- Adoption comes through grace.
- This adoption gives us a Heavenly Father in whom we can be confident.
I was really lucky. A week after I moved up here, my Springfield Dad adopted me.
He didn’t mean to. He made a first-time-you’re-a-guest-second-time-you’re-family remark. Me being me, I started calling them Mom and Dad.
That was 39 years ago. It ended up being one of the best days of my life.
We’ve talked lately about disciples being children of God. That happens because He adopts us. We’ve discussed that in passing before, but I’ve been collecting resources so we could go a little more in-depth.
Let's Put It into Context
“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’” (Rom. 8: 15 NLT)
We know that adoption is a legal process where children are given to people who become their parents. It is rarely mentioned in the Old Testament.
Being children of God is a New Testament concept. Along with the reference that Jesus is God’s Son, Paul uses the term adoption to apply to us. He employs this term “… to describe the status persons receive from God when they have been redeemed by Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:3-7).”
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Roberts reminded us that it is more than just taking children into the family and making them as natural children. There are times when those children are totally different from the family – they have different ethnicities, languages, customs, etc.
But they are taken into and made family. It is in the same way – through grace – that we are taken into God’s family and made His children.
Not a Spirit of Bondage
“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves …” (Rom. 8: 15 NLT)
We start out in bondage to Satan. Spurgeon described it as “bondage under sin, the flesh, worldly customs, the fear of man …”
The product of this bondage is fear. It alienates us from God.
Fear of our condition can lead us to start searching for God. Beddome believed that this fear stems from fear of death and punishment. This is coupled with the feeling of inadequacy to fix it ourselves.
Beddome cautioned that believers could still be subject to this fear but to a lesser degree. It is alleviated by the hope and promises found a God.
Spurgeon contended, though, that we are under bondage to the Holy Spirit. He identified that as the following:
- “Conviction of sin.
- “Assurance of punishment for sin from which there is no escape.
- “The feeling of the inutility of the works of the law.
To me, what Spurgeon identified was the promptings of the Holy Spirit. It does help us to do a better job of obeying God.
Instead, a Spirit of Adoption
“... Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children …” (Rom. 8: 15 NLT)
The promptings of the Holy Spirit lead us to accept the gift of salvation. Salvation is the deliverance from the consequences of sin.
Paul told us salvation does more than just frees us from the bondage of sin. It initiates us into the family of God as His children.
Roberts emphasized what the Spirit of adoption meant. He wrote, “He puts into them, by His grace, a fitness for their glorious relationship. They not only are the Lord’s children, but they feel as such (ver. 16).”
Ooo, baby. That is speaking to me right now. (I told you, God speaks to me first in these.)
How many times do we feel inadequate? Unlovable? Downright worthless?
We aren’t. God had already made us fit for this relationship by His grace. Grace is a free and unmerited gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ that enables salvation and spiritual healing to believers.
We can’t forget to hook this with God’s mercy. Mercy is the unexpected way God responds in love to our needs.
Sheltering in our homes unleashes a whole bunch of emotions. Spring allergy season in the Midwest doesn’t help. Then, we have the new season of Sprinter.
It is easy to start biting on ourselves. God is still right here. He is still telling us we are beloved sons and daughters of the Sovereign King, Who is in control of everything. We have a Father looking out for us.
Go back to what Roberts said. Adoption comes through grace. Grace is a gift. Therefore, adoption is a gift. It has nothing to do with us — except that we have to accept it.
Beddome had an interesting take. He felt the Spirit of adoption was different than the adoption itself. That leads to disciples having different levels of that Spirit. Whatever the level, the outcome is the Holy Spirit reminding us that we are children of God.
Daddy
“... Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father’” (Rom. 8: 15 NLT)
This adoption gives us more than just confidence. It gives us a Heavenly Father in whom we can be confident.
Abba is an interesting term. It is a less formal way of saying Father. We would generally say Daddy.
Now that we are children of God, we can call to Him. Almost all of the other translations have it as cry to Him.
Think about that. When do we cry out? It is when we are scared of the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
We can cry out because God is right there. He is right there to save and protect us.
This cry is our prayer to God. We can turn to Him as naturally as I would to either Dad or my Springfield Dad. We can be confident that God will be right there with us.
Making the Connections
But let’s look at all Daddy implies. It means we have a relationship with God that was built over time. That means we open ourselves up to grow close to Him.
Ooo, baby. Open ourselves up. How many times have human relationships kicked us so that we close ourselves off and don’t allow ourselves to become close?
We can’t base our relationship with God on what we know of human relationships. God is not going to leave us (Deut. 31: 8). He is going to love us with an unfailing love. “You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care” (Job 10: 12 ESV).
Unfailing love? Really?
Yes, really. Paul told us, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8: 38-39 NIV).
But we have to put in the time and effort to make it a strong relationship. If you are looking for a one-minute devotion, God isn’t. He wants us to seek Him.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
We have to make sure we approach God in the right way – are our Father and our Friend. We have to remember that He is the One who wanted to reestablish the relationships with us.
How Do We Apply This?
We shouldn’t approach our relationship with God as a duty. We should sincerely come to Him on His throne, thankful for removing the consequences of sin and restoring eternal life to us.
Connecting this devotion onto the last, we need to mortify our sins. Mortify means to be private investigator, police, judge, jury, and executioner of sin. This is what our Father wants of us.
Why should we want to mortify our sins? Because the Sovereign God calls us to do that to show our acceptance of His gift of salvation.
If we don’t try to change and live as He has called us, God doesn’t think we are serious in submitting to Him. He thinks we are just after fire insurance. He isn’t in the insurance business.
Adoption into the family of God is a wonderful gift. We have to do our part to accept the gift.
Father God. We humbly come to You. We thank You that, first, You designed the plan of salvation before we ever disobeyed You. Then, You followed through with it so our relationships with You could be restored. Now, You watch over us and comfort us when we need You the most. Help us to live as You have called us. We long for the day when we see You face to face. Amen.
What do you think?
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