Personal Relationship
Galatians 4:1-7; 1 John 1:5-9, 3:1-3
Adoption is a very popular issue in contemporary evangelicalism. Books are being written and conferences are being attended, all with the express purpose of educating people on the issue of adoption. One of the most intriguing and blessed aspects of this movement is the close relationship that many evangelical leaders have drawn between physical adoption and spiritual adoption.
Writing in “Adopted for Life,” Russell Moore recalls the day he had to leave an orphanage in Russia and return to America to wait for the adoption of his two sons to be finalized: “Maria and I could hear Maxim calling out for us and falling down in his crib, convulsing in tears. Maria shook with tears of her own. I turned around to walk back into their room, just for a minute. I placed my hand on both of their heads and said – ‘I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.’ I don’t think I consciously intended to cite Jesus’ words to his disciples in John 14:18; it just seemed like the only thing worth saying at the time.”
Freedom gained: Indeed, God has not left us as orphans, he has adopted us. In Galatians 4:1-7, Paul says that we are sons of God. Paul writes sons, not children, and this is very important. In the first century, daughters would have received little to nothing by way of inheritance from their father. Sons, on the other hand, received all of the inheritance. Paul’s point to the Galatians is that those who have been saved in the blood of Christ are heirs with Christ of the promise given all the way back in Genesis to Abraham.
Forgiveness received: Last week we saw that salvation is not dependent upon works, but solely on the work of Christ. This week, we see in 1 John 1:5-9 that works may not matter for salvation, but the expectation of God is that his children would live as he does. Jesus referred to himself as the light of the world, and as the brothers of Christ through the Spirit, we too are to live as children of light in this dark and evil age. We should reflect the glory of our Father to a lost and dying world.
Love embraced: Sons of God. That is what we are, according to 1 John 3:1-3. Sons of God, not because we deserved it, but because God chose to adopt us as his very own. The Bible teaches us that God loved his children before the foundation of the world, and before the very foundation of the world, you were chosen as his child in love.The great love of God is that he loves us in spite of ourselves, and as his children, he will never let us go. Knowing that we are loved as God’s children should motivate us to do good works that show the Father’s love to the world around us.
Thompson– Lessons by Craig Thompson, pastor of Malvern Hill Church, Camden. Thompson earned his B.A from Presbyterian College and is pursuing a Ph.D. from Southern Seminary, where he also earned his M.Div.