ADOPTED INTO THE BEST FAMILY
GALATIANS 4:4-7 NKJV
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
When I was a two year old my parents adopted my sister. They told her from an early age that they had chosen her to be their daughter. Because these were the days of closed adoptions, she was never able to connect with her birth parents.
But here‘s an interesting note. Because of DNA testing, she connected with her three half-brothers on her mother's side about five years ago. And they warmly embraced her.
Paul is writing to the churches of Galatia. Jewish influences had stepped into these churches in an effort to bring them under Jewish Old Testament laws. Their message was that grace through Jesus Christ was not enough.
This attempt to bring these Gentile believers into bondage infuriated Paul. His concern was that these churches would abandon their faith in Jesus Christ and try to live under the Jewish laws and regulations.
The fourth chapter is Paul contrasting the law with faith in Christ. So he lays out the fact that Jesus was born of a woman and came into the world to redeem or buy back those under the law. In order that we might receive adoption into the family of God as sons. And that would mean male and female enjoying the privileges and rights as sons.
Adopted by God as a son. Not a slave or a foreigner. Not an outsider but a part of God's family.
So much a part of God's family that He sent the Spirit of His Son, the Holy Spirit, into our hearts. We now can call God our very own father. Abba was an informal word for father, denoting a close family relationship. Some scholars have likened Abba to our equivalent of Daddy.
APPLICATION:
The revelation God gave Paul was powerful. It was a divine revelation of what has been done for us by Jesus.
Jesus gave us a wonderful inheritance. And as sons of God, through faith in Christ, we have been made a part of a powerful family, God's family.
We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit to live in us. We have been made righteous in God's sight. And as a son, God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
No wonder Paul spoke of preaching to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father thank You for adopting me into your eternal family. I did not earn or work for this adoption it was all by faith in Christ.