Accepted: Adopted as God's Child

Eph 1:5 ESV

5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

If you are a Christian you have been adopted. Think about adoption and you will see that acceptance is at its core. Consider a married couple that is not able to have children of their own. They have made the decision to adopt a child. They go through various approval procedures with the adoption agency. They scramble to find the large amount of money needed. Then they wait for the right child to become available. Finally they get a call from the adoption agency that everything is set. The new parents go to pick up the child and bring the child home. These parents have committed in their heart that they want this child to love and care for. They only have partial or limited understanding of who this child is, but still they say, "He is ours!" The child could not do anything to make this happen, but yet the child will receive major blessings through this adoption.

Maybe you have adopted a child, or know someone who has. Is not the adopted child accepted and loved. They certainly are. Now there is no basis to expect that this child will be the most wonderful, well-behaved child in the world. But that does not matter. The love of the parents is a committed love that assures the child's acceptance.

Now we look at our heavenly Father. Our adoption is born out of predestination. That assures us that God's will was the only factor in the decision and that we had absolutely nothing to do with it. God did not look forward in time and see that we are so cute that He just had to adopt us. God adopts His children for His purposes alone, and those purposes are born out of love.

Consider also that when our God adopts us, He knows everything about us. Every sin that we will ever commit is known by Him. He knows we will fail and that we have no righteousness of our own. He knows about His holiness and about His wrath that is due us. Along with our adoption comes the redemptive work of His Son, Jesus Christ. That is how the sinful, adopted children can sit at the dinner table with a thrice holy God Almighty.

Today, if you are a Christian, I encourage you to rejoice in being so accepted by God that He claimed you as His own child. Rest in the love of a perfect Heavenly Father.

God Bless You,
Dennis