Adopted By Our Creator

My wife and I have two children, Joshua and Tiffany.  Because today is Josh’s birthday, some thoughts are in the forefront of my mind. Josh is adopted, and Tiff is, well...homemade. From the very beginning we told Josh he was adopted. We didn’t want him to face any “surprises” later in life. We taught him how special it was to be adopted, since Jesus was adopted by Joseph, Moses by Pharaoh’s daughter, etc. 

We realized perhaps we were taking the whole “you’re special because you’re adopted” thing a bit too far, when one day Josh told Tiff, “You were only born.  I was born AND adopted.” At the tender age of three, Tiffany started crying and moaned, “I wanna be adopted too!”

There really is something special about being adopted. Knowing you were intentionally chosen to be part of a new family, is a really big deal! God certainly agrees. When we say “yes” to Jesus, God instantly adopts us into His family. Ephesians 1:5 informs us, "God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ." Romans 8:15 expands it further. "You received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children." Then in verse 17, "Since we are his true children, we qualify to share all his treasures for indeed we are heirs of God himself. And since we are joined to Christ, we also inherit all that he is and all that he has." Wow! I don't even understand what that means, but it sure sounds great to be adopted by the Creator of the universe! Adoption in the Roman world was a really big deal. A father could not disinherit an adopted son. A natural child might not fare so well. 

Remember that, when the enemy whispers his lie that you don’t matter to God. Remember that, when others put you down. Remember that, when the world repeatedly tells you that you're worthless. God’s eyes scanned the earth, and he chose you! You are an adopted child of Almighty God!