The greatest title that you can ever carry is the one that declares that you are a child of God. When you were adopted into God’s family through the gift that He gave through His Son, you received eternal life and so much more. Today, discover more about what it truly means to be a child of God. When you do so, you will quickly understand the authority that you have and how passionate God is about His relationship with you.
Romans 8:15-17 (NIV)
The Spirit you received does not make you salves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
The process of adoption is a beautiful one. While the way that adoption works may vary from one country to the next, and it has certainly evolved over the years, the general concept is the same. The parent (or parents) who make the decision to adopt a child (or children) choose that child to be a part of their family.
Out of all the children on earth, the parents who adopt a child choose the one that they adopt. This is an especially beautiful moment when you consider how many of the children who are eligible for adoption are unwanted by the parents who conceived them and gave birth to them.
Our adoption into the family of God works the same way. No, there are no legal documents involved, and you certainly don’t need to consult a lawyer. However, God’s decision to bring you into His family is a monumental one and is certainly something that is to be celebrated. When God chooses you (and He has chosen everyone, making the offer for adoption available to humanity), and you accept His offer for adoption, you become a full member of God’s family.
The term “child of God” gets tossed around a lot, and we often fail to understand what it really means. In this passage from Paul’s letter to the Roman Church, he spoke how the Holy Spirit, who facilitates our adoptions into God’s family, breaks us free from bondage and makes us the sons and daughters of God.
Today, you can discover exactly what it means to be a child of God. This is much more than a title that we get to bear. Instead, it is a role that dictates who we are and all that we aspire to be. Adoption into God’s family gives us access to great authority. You are a child of God, and today, you can learn what that truly means.
You Can’t Earn It
Galatians 3:26-27 (NIV)
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.
One of the most important aspects of being a child of God that you must remember is that there is nothing that you could ever do to earn your spot in God’s family. Whether you were raised by your biological parents or are the product of an adoption, you already know that you didn’t really play much of a role in the process. In fact, you didn’t really do anything. You were simply born. That’s not all that different from how things work in the family of God.
Yes, in order to be adopted into the family of God, you must accept God’s free gift of salvation. However, that’s where your work stops. In the same way that you had to be born to be a part of the family that you’re a part of, you must simply accept the offer to be born again. That is done only through faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross.
In this passage from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he confirmed that we are made God’s children through faith. Believing in God and Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection is all that you must do in order to be made a member of God’s family.
Being God’s Child Means You’re Free
Galatians 4:6-7 (NIV)
Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
In Biblical times, it was possible for a person’s children to be sold into slavery in order to cover their debts. While there are plenty of examples of this premise, it is openly discussed in Nehemiah 5:1-5 where people who had sold their daughters into slavery in order to pay the king’s tax were begging Nehemiah for help. Under these customs, when the parent was able to pay off the debt, they could buy their children back out of slavery.
Due to the nature of sin, each of us were responsible for a debt that we had no means of paying. The Bible teaches us that ”the wages of sin is death.” This means that it always requires a life in order to pay for sin. In the Old Testament, that life came from sheep and cows. In the New Testament, the life was the sacrifice that Christ made for all humanity.
The price that God paid through His Son’s sacrifice on the cross set us free from the bondage of slavery once and for all. He paid the price, and all we have to do is accept it. You are no longer a slave to sin, fear, or anything else that would hold you back. Instead, you are a child of God!
You Don’t Have to Be Afraid
2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.
In order to truly understand what this aspect of being God’s child means, you will need to consider this verse in connection with the one that we read earlier. The Spirit inside us, which is the Holy Spirit, is also referred to as the Spirit of Adoption. The same Spirit that Paul is talking about in this passage is that Spirit, and that Spirit gives us power, love, and self-discipline.
According to this letter to Timothy, those principles are the opposite of fear. We often assume that faith is the opposite of fear, but according to Paul, power, love, and self-discipline are traits that work in opposition to fear. That makes a lot of sense when you consider them in the context of adoption.
The power that you have because of your position in God’s family is because of who your Father is. We operate under the same authority that He has because we have put our faith in Him. We love God and love others because of God’s love for us which has led to us being members of His family.
When you live your life in fear, it’s hard to truly love yourself, others, and God the way that you’re meant to. Instead, you focus on the fear and the negative feelings that it can bring about. Finally, fear often makes us make bad decisions. When we’re afraid, we fail to think rationally. However, when we rest in the promise that God is our father and we are members of His family, we are no longer afraid.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for the Holy Spirit and how He adopted me into Your family. Thank You for Your Son’s willingness to lay down His life so He could pay my sin debt and deliver me from bondage. Thank You for loving me so much that while You had a Son, You wanted a family, and You wanted me to be a part of it. Help me to live my life in a way that is worthy of my position in Your family. In Christ’s name, Amen.