Congratulations…You’ve Been Adopted!
he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, Ephesians 1:4[1]
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!" Romans 8:15
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5
Adoption…Same Word…Different Meaning
When we hear the word “adoption” we may have a flood of images come to mind. We usually think of a couple bringing a young person into their household. The idea is usually of someone who is willing to take in and orphan and raise them fully as their own. This is a beautiful image, but this is not what these passages are talking about. When the authors of the Bible talk about adoption they talk about it in their context.
So what was Adoption all about then?
Surprising as it may seem the idea of adoption in the Greco-Roman times was a process that happened with adults, and not with babies or children. Furthermore, it was not just limited to people who weren’t natural sons. This is a crazy reality for us to handle, but that’s what makes “adoption” not really the best word for this concept. The Greek word used here literally means “placing of an adult son,” and referred to a ceremony and a time in life when a father gave someone full rights as an adult to his estate. This person could have been a natural son, or he could have been someone born to another family. This was a common custom, but one had to be careful of what choice he made.
Why is this such a big deal?
Adoption was a permanent situation then. We would find some of the rules and regulations regarding adoption surprising, because it was such an important process. Certain facts about “adopting” someone, or placing them as an adult son:
1) It is permanent. A natural son didn’t have any guarantees, but the adopted son did.
2) It cannot be changed EVEN IF a natural son is born to the family.
3) It was so important that the government had to approve certain adoptions.
4) The adopted son got access to the family name, accounts, and resources.
5) Past debts, family and obligation of the adopted were erased forever.
6) The adopted person immediately had responsibility to act as part of the family.
So we see that the adoption that is true of us is much different, and much more amazing than how the word is used today. Imagine the people in Rome, Ephesus and Galatia reading this for the first time with their Jaws on the floor, unable to believe that God would actually ADOPT them! Save us yes, let us be servants, yes, but PLACE US AS SONS! That is simply too good to believe!
What is all of this “adult” business about?
We are adopted the moment we believe, remember this is a study of all the things that become immediately true of us the moment we put our faith in Christ Jesus for salvation. How can we go from being separated from God to being adopted as adult sons in no time at all? Don’t we need to spend some time in babyhood, then move to adolescence and finally become adults after a great deal of work and sweat? Don’t we need to obey the law until we are really good at it and then we can move forward? No. In a previous study we saw that believers are free from the law, so it cannot be that. The reality is that in Christ we are already fully functioning adults. If a person has been a believer for 50 years or 5 minutes the same things are true of them and they have the same ability to “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Gal. 5:16) The pattern that is shown in scripture is that immaturity is related to our carnality, not our chronological age (1 Cor. 3:1). The reality is that this is part of our Position in Christ. Regardless of how we behave, or whether we always act like this is true of us, when God looks at us, who are in Christ, He sees us as completed, perfected, adopted as a mature adult child.
So this is it?
If our adoption is fully true in our position, why don’t we always live it out? The reality is that these truths are only understood by faith, and it is possible for a believer to go through his or her entire life never knowing the great resources that he or she has in Christ (Eph. 1:3-14). However, that believer will not understand all of the wonderful gifts are ours in Christ, and may well not live the victorious, abundant, full life that God wants them to live. We are perfected in our Eternal Position, and we are being conformed to the image of Christ in our Daily condition.
Applications of Your Adoption
This, like every truth that we have been blessed to look at in this study defies one simple easy application. Finding out who you are has more applications than there are situations in life. Because you are adopted you can know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that:
You are permanently His – You have been claimed by God in Christ Jesus. He has adopted you as His adult child, knowing you through and through.
God took immeasurable care in choosing and planning for your adoption – The sacrifice of Christ completely provided for your adoption, it was costly, but that is how much God cares for us.
You have access to the family account – You have been put on the family account. You have access to every resource you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), and every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3-14).
You are a Responsible Adult – You are now responsible to behave absolutely perfectly as it is in keeping with the family nature and customs that you have been adopted into. Do you feel good about that? You shouldn’t. You must realize starting from this moment that God doesn’t want your “best effort” because perfect is still the standard. Perfect was the standard for your salvation, and perfect is the standard for your continued life in Christ. You couldn’t do it for salvation, you cannot t do it as you live your life. Your only option is to rest in Him, and let Him live His life out in you, the only other option is failure.
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