The theme of adoption is throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament God often speaks of taking people that are not His own, and making them His children. The theme is also consistent in the New Testament:
Romans 8:14-17 ESV
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Galatians 4:5 ESV
5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
II Corinthians 6:17-18 ESV
17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."
I John 3:1-3 ESV
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
We have been adopted, we have the Holy Spirit of adoption, and we are most certainly Children of God. God wants to be a Father to us, and He wants us to be children to Him. Shall you reject such a perfect offer? Rejoice in these truths today, as you praise, thank and trust God with your day to day issues.
God Bless You,
Dennis
Showing posts with label Ephesians 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ephesians 1. Show all posts
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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
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
Accepted: I am a saint, a holy one
Ephesians 1:1 NKJV
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:
Paul uses the term saint a number of times and it basically means Christian. The expression 'holy one' may also be used. It is not talking about a great person who died, but rather a Christian who is or has been through this earthly journey.
Being called a holy one references the fact that a true believer is sanctified. When a believer is holy, they are sanctified and set-apart. Believers are set apart to God for His glory and purposes, and away from the world and the kingdom of darkness. If you are thinking of holy ones being righteous, that is incorporated in justification and is absolutely true - being clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
There is another aspect of being a saint. As we rejoice in our 'set-apart' standing and relationship, we must remember that we are called with a purpose. Paul here references the saints who are not only in Ephesus, but are also faithful in Jesus Christ.
In Romans 16:2, Paul tells the Romans to receive Phoebe unto themselves "in a manner worthy of the saints". This carries two meanings: first, because Phoebe is a saint, she deserves to be received with Christian love, secondly, because the believers in the church at Rome are saints, their behavior toward her must be that of Christian love. Saints take care of each other for the pleasure of Christ.
As we have talked about saints, you may have had the Roman Catholic list of saints banging around in your head. That is a totally different thing. Those saints have supposedly earned (merited) enough righteousness that they have made it to heaven. This is an extreme deviation from Scripture. No one will make it to heaven other than by the righteousness (merit) of Jesus Christ.
Wishing you God's richest blessing, fellow saint.
Dennis
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:
Paul uses the term saint a number of times and it basically means Christian. The expression 'holy one' may also be used. It is not talking about a great person who died, but rather a Christian who is or has been through this earthly journey.
Being called a holy one references the fact that a true believer is sanctified. When a believer is holy, they are sanctified and set-apart. Believers are set apart to God for His glory and purposes, and away from the world and the kingdom of darkness. If you are thinking of holy ones being righteous, that is incorporated in justification and is absolutely true - being clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
There is another aspect of being a saint. As we rejoice in our 'set-apart' standing and relationship, we must remember that we are called with a purpose. Paul here references the saints who are not only in Ephesus, but are also faithful in Jesus Christ.
In Romans 16:2, Paul tells the Romans to receive Phoebe unto themselves "in a manner worthy of the saints". This carries two meanings: first, because Phoebe is a saint, she deserves to be received with Christian love, secondly, because the believers in the church at Rome are saints, their behavior toward her must be that of Christian love. Saints take care of each other for the pleasure of Christ.
As we have talked about saints, you may have had the Roman Catholic list of saints banging around in your head. That is a totally different thing. Those saints have supposedly earned (merited) enough righteousness that they have made it to heaven. This is an extreme deviation from Scripture. No one will make it to heaven other than by the righteousness (merit) of Jesus Christ.
Wishing you God's richest blessing, fellow saint.
Dennis
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