21st June 2021

Adopted into God’s family

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)

I was in the category of being fostered as a young person. Fostering together with adoption are ways of providing a safe and nurturing environment for children and young people when they are unable to live with their birth family; there may be a variety of reasons why this is so. 

There is however a vast and important legal difference between adoption and fostering. An adoption order ends a child’s legal relationship with their birth family, whereas looked-after children in foster care remain the legal responsibility of the local authority and their birth parents/family.

Fostering can be seen more as a partnership between the carer, local authority and the birth family of the child, all working together for the best outcome for the young person – but it’s important to remember a foster parent does not have the same rights over the young person as their birth family. 

An adopted child, on the other hand, has the same rights and privileges as a child that is born to birth parents. God did not foster us but He has adopted us through Jesus Christ.

Scripture speaks of three types of adoption. There is the adoption of individuals such as Moses who was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:10), and Esther who was adopted by Mordecai (Esther 2:7, 15).

Then there is national adoption. God loved the nation of Israel like a son (Hosea 11:1), and bound them to Himself in the Old Covenant.

Spiritual adoption is an act of God’s grace by which He brings men and women into His redeemed family, and makes us partakers of all the blessings He has provided for them. Through this new relationship of adoption the believer is introduced into the privileges of God’s family. 

God has adopted us, and he will not abandon us (John 14:18). There will be times when God needs to correct His children, but He always does so with love, and He supplies all the needs of His sons and daughters.

Prayer
Eternal Father, thank you for your great love and concern for us. We were once wayward children because of our disobedience, but through the sacrifice of your Son Jesus we have been adopted into your family. Amen.

Study by Dennis Payne

 

About the writer:
Dennis Payne is a Deacon in the Central London congregation of Grace Communion International.

Local congregation:
Grace Communion International Central London
Indian YMCA Student Hostel
Mahatma Gandhi Hall
41 Fitzroy Square
London
W1T 6AQ

Meeting time:
Saturday 2:30pm

Local congregational contact:
Barry Robinson
Email: london@gracecom.church 

Word of Life contact: 
wordoflife@gracecom.church