Bible Text: 1 Peter 2:9 | Speaker: Darlene Sala | Series: Encouraging Words | I think adoption is one of the most beautiful, loving events that happens in this sometimes-painful world we live in. Here is a child in an orphanage who has no parent to care for him. But someone comes along who says, “I want this child to be mine. I want to show him love and provide for him. I want to be his mom—or dad.” What a wonderful thing!
Say, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, did you realize that means you have been adopted into the family of God? Yes, God has chosen you to be in His. Peter says, “You are a chosen people… a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).
When a baby is born into a family, the mom and dad have to take whatever they get, right? They can’t send him back for a different one. But in adoption a child is chosen. A mother explained it this way to her adopted child: “Most babies come from their mommy’s tummy, but you came from my heart.”
You, friend, came from the heart of God. Ephesians 1:5 says that we are “adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”
In New Testament days, under Roman law, an adopted son received the full rights and privileges of a natural-born son, even he had previously been a slave. If he had committed any crimes, they were forgiven and he could never be prosecuted for them. He received a new name. He inherited the father’s estate on equal terms with the natural-born children and could never be disinherited.
When you become God’s child, you too receive the full rights of a son (Gal. 4:5). If you don’t already have that relationship, ask Him to take you into His family. Then you too can call Him “Father”–your heavenly Father, who truly cares for you.