Day 3 – Loved and Adopted by the Father

Day 3 — Loved and Adopted by the Father

Opening prayer

Father in heaven, draw near to me as I read your Word today. Help me to listen carefully, receive gladly, and trust more deeply in the love you have shown me through Jesus. By your Spirit, assure me again that I am your child. Amen.

Headline

Christianity is not only knowing the truth about Jesus, but being adopted through Jesus as a dearly loved child of God.

Romans 8:14-17

Comment

Yesterday I wrote about the first treasure I discovered when I became a Christian: truth. I came to understand who Jesus is, what he had done for me on the cross, and why I needed him.

But Christianity is not less than truth, it is wonderfully more than truth.

That was something I learnt through another Christian friend at university. Her name was Judith. Like Jim, who had helped me understand the truth of the gospel, Judith was one of the leaders of the College Christian Union. But she was very different from Jim.

Jim was analytical and direct. Judith was warm and relational. Jim helped me see the truth of the gospel. Judith helped me experience something of its love.

Judith loved Jesus very deeply. And this was because she knew herself to be loved by Jesus, and by God the Father. Her own father had died when she was a child, and it was as if God had stepped in. Once she told me how, in prayer, she would sometimes feel as if she was being hugged by God.

If that sounds strange to you, it sounded strange to me too. At least at first.

But through Judith I began to discover the second treasure: the love of God.

By the end of 1987, my faith had dropped a foot from my head to my heart. I had come to see that being a Christian was not only about knowing true things, but about being brought into a relationship with God as my Father.

I once heard someone describe the gospel like this: “The gospel changes God’s courtroom from a criminal trial to an adoption ceremony.” That captures beautifully what I was beginning to understand.

Through Jesus, I was not only acquitted. I was adopted. I was not merely forgiven and sent away. I was welcomed home.

That is the wonder of today’s reading. Paul writes:

“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.” (v.15)

The language of “sonship” may sound strange to modern ears, but Paul is not excluding women. In that world, the son was the heir, the one who received the full family status and inheritance. Paul is saying that in Christ, men and women alike receive that full status. All who trust in Christ are children of God and heirs of his promises.

This is astonishing. God does not merely tolerate me. He does not keep me at a distance as a forgiven criminal. He brings me into his family. He gives me his Spirit. He teaches me to call him Father.

Paul continues:

“And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” (vv.15–16)

For some of us, the word “father” is complicated. It may be full of warmth and security, or it may carry sadness, absence, disappointment or pain. But the Bible does not call God Father because all earthly fathers are good. It calls God Father because he is the perfection and fulfilment of what fatherhood was always meant to be.

And there is more. If we are God’s children, then we are also his heirs:

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” (v.17)

That means God’s love is not temporary, fragile or uncertain. In Christ, we belong to him now, and we have an inheritance with Christ that cannot be taken away.

Why does God want you to hear this today? Perhaps because you need to remember that the gospel does not only change your status before God; it changes your relationship with God. In Christ, you are not merely forgiven. You are loved, adopted, welcomed and secure. And if you are secure in the Father’s love, then you are freed to share that love with others.

Reflect

• Do you tend to think of Christianity more as forgiveness from God, or relationship with God as Father?
• What does Romans 8:14–17 teach you about the Spirit, your adoption, and your inheritance with Christ?
• How would your prayers, confidence and witness change if you more deeply believed that you are God’s dearly loved child?

Action

Take a few minutes today to complete this sentence in your own words:

“Because I am God’s child, I can…”

Closing prayer

Heavenly Father, I praise you that through Jesus Christ I am not only forgiven, but adopted as your child. Thank you for giving me your Spirit, by whom I may call you Father. Help me to know your love more deeply, rest in it more securely, and share it more gladly with others. Amen.