It says in Romans 8:15 that “you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ” Abba! Father!” This adoption we have into God’s family is difficult to grasp. I still call my earthly dad, dad and my earthly mom, mom. The process of adoption we have in the world today is a legal process. At some point, an adopted person legally goes from being under the care of one family to being under the care of another. But this spiritual adoption that Paul describes is different, we retain our family here on earth while at the same time we join a much larger family. We are adopted into Christ’s family, his church, and receive all the blessings of his inheritance. In fact, Paul will later say that we are joined with all who have been chosen by God. This means that every person who ever had a saving faith in God (before Jesus’ death and after) is considered a brother or a sister to us.

We know what the process of earthly adoption looks like, but how does this spiritual adoption work? John 1:12 says that all who receive him, who believe in his name, have this right of spiritual adoption. It says that we must believe, we hear the gospel message of forgiveness and put our faith in Christ and his righteousness. But what a blessing it is to know that, just as a family chooses the child it adopts, so to does God choose his children. You may say that God’s choosing seems unfair, but I wonder how many adopted children who were taken out of desperate situations and brought into a home of love and kindness and protection will say the same?

“And there they continued to preach the gospel” - Acts 14:7

Each Tuesday a different reflection on the gospel and its continual effect on our lives