Adopted By God

Good day dear friends. It is another opportunity to share more on God’s grace in Christ Jesus and we are now at Galatians 4:

“But I say, that the heir, so long as he is a child, differeth not from a servant, although he is lord of all; but he is under supervisors and stewards, until the time established by his father. So also we, while we were children, were in subordination under the elements of the world. But when the consummation of the time arrived, God sent forth his Son; and he was from a woman, and was under the law; that he might redeem them that were under the law; and that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Galatians 4:1-5

The last snapshot of God’s grace we viewed was about the equal footing we all have as sons of God in Christ Jesus. The opening verses of this section then move a step further in the divine logic to explain our position as heirs and our adoption by God.

When people are adopted into families, it usually means that people who originally or naturally do not belong to those families are placed in those circles and become members of such families. While this in itself is a gracious act, God has gone further than that in His dealing with us as His children.  

In ancient Greek and Roman traditions, adoption was a very special occasion in the family. In a grand ceremony sons in the family were adopted when they reached the age of maturity. From then on, such sons became legal heirs of the family and had full rights to the family inheritance. Adoption therefore was a legal term. In disputes over inheritance, the questions would not simply be about natural paternity as it is in our own days but about whether such “adoption” rites and ceremonies had been performed. Only properly adopted sons could lay claims to ownership of the family estate.

The description is comparable with what obtains in some societies in present day. People below certain ages (18 years in most countries) are termed “minors” and cannot exercise some rights that other citizens have, for example legal participation in electoral processes like voting. In God’s family, believers are not “minors”; we are not slaves or “unadopted” sons who do not have full rights of sonship. 

God here is speaking to us about the wonder of His love for us. He has grafted us into His olive tree as wild and unnatural we were. In addition, He has also given us full rights of sonship. We are joint heirs or co-heirs with Christ Jesus (Romans 8:17); Christ’s position is our position, His possession is our possession, His privileges are our privileges. All of this is so because God by His grace has adopted us into His family.

This, my friends, is another snapshot of God’s inexhaustible grace. My song for the week is “Children of God” by Third Day. Enjoy your week and come back again next week for a new post.

"Children of God" by Third Day