Normally, I don’t have deep philosophical thoughts on the treadmill, but thanks to my daughter, today was an exception. We had just started our morning class, and between the hum of treadmills and the overhead music, we could barely hear each other. My sixteen-year-old leaned over and shouted over the noise, “Do you ever look at me and think, ‘Wow. Isn’t it crazy that, like, I’m your daughter? That I belong to you?’” Under different circumstances, I would’ve asked her where that question came from, but I was breathless and honestly replied, “All the time.”
Raising our four almost grown kids has been my greatest joy, challenge, and accomplishment. Full stop. Even as my nest slowly empties and our lives and roles change, they will always be my children, and I will always be their mom. Adoptive families I know feel exactly the same way. There’s no categorical difference between their bio kids and adopted ones. They are all their kids. And adoptive families proudly display their often multicolored family photos and proclaim, “They are mine!”
Adopted and beloved
If there were such a family photo in heaven, God would look at us, his multicolored, multi-everything family, and proudly proclaim, “They are all adopted, and they are all mine!” Paul says the same is true of every believer — whatever your story, if you are in Christ, you have been adopted.
In Romans 8:15-17. He writes,
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
In first-century Rome, when Paul penned these words, adoption wasn’t primarily about taking in orphaned children—although that was part of it. Adoption was often a deliberate, legal act in which wealthy men would adopt or specifically choose sons as heirs. Fathers sometimes passed over or disinherited their natural-born sons in favor of a chosen adopted one. And the adopted son immediately came into his inheritance. He didn’t wait until his father’s death to enjoy all the benefits of belonging. Once the papers were signed, everything the father owned became the son’s.
The Spirit of adoption
If you are in Christ, you are in the family photo as his adopted son or daughter. How do we know this for sure? Paul says there are two spirits at play in our identity as sons and daughters of God.
Once we lived in a spirit of fear, which made us like slaves who cower in fear of the Master. Slaves don’t cuddle up with the Master at the end of a long day and share their thoughts, needs, or feelings. They aren’t free to run into his arms and call him “Abba! Father!”
But now, the Spirit of adoption works in us and assures our hearts that we belong. We’re no longer afraid of the Master, because now he’s our Abba, Father—our Daddy. The Father chose us, named us his children, and brought us into his family. We know this is true because the Spirit himself reassures us we belong—signing the certificate of our adoption in our hearts.
But belonging is only the beginning.
Joint heirs with Christ
To appreciate all that’s ours as sons and daughters, consider the circumstances of our adoption. Spiritually speaking, we were homeless children living on the streets. Dirty, lonely, vulnerable, and without any resources. Daily survival was all we knew, and we had no future, no hope, and no way out. Until a wealthy, generous, and unfathomably kind Father noticed you and chose to adopt you as his son or daughter. You did nothing to deserve this honor, and you have nothing to offer him in return. But that doesn’t bother the Father—in fact, he likes it that way. He scooped you out of the filth of the streets and welcomed you into his happy, beautiful home and family.
But this is a now-and-not-yet reality. In Christ, God adopted us. He didn’t just rescue us out of the slums of sin (which would’ve been more than enough!), but he has given us everything he owns. The not-yet part is that we have an inheritance waiting for us in heaven.
In his lavish kindness, the Father will one day place a jeweled crown on our heads and seat us next to his other Son, Jesus Christ. As joint heirs with our brother Jesus (Heb. 2:11), all that belongs to him is now ours. Our inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading and kept in heaven for us (1 Pet. 1:3). But most of all, our portion will be God himself—and for eternity we enjoy our inheritance of knowing and enjoying him (Ps. 16:5-6).
Marveling in the middle
As adopted sons and daughters, we see the all-surpassing value of belonging to the family of God, but there’s also a condition attached. As we identify with Jesus in his suffering, we will also share in his glory. This is how we bear the family resemblance. This pattern uniquely marks us as his children. Peter said it too: “Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Pet. 4:13). Suffering is the path that leads to glory, and this is the family way.
There’s really only one response to news like this: we marvel. Marvel like my daughter on the treadmill, who for one sweaty moment considered what it must be like to look at your kids and call them mine. And marvel that as a child of God, everything you have now, and everything you will have later, is yours because you belong to the Father who rescued, adopted, and elevated you as part of the family. There’s glory ahead, but there’s also glory in the waiting.
God has adopted us into his eternal family, and we can call him “Abba! Father!” He’s ours, and we are his. What marvelous grace!
Your sister in Christ,
Cara
Related Posts:
On Union & Adoption:
- The Most Important Doctrine You’ve Never Heard Of
- New Spiritual DNA: The Spirit of God Lives in You
- How Your Hidden Life with Christ Makes You Richer Than You Think
- Adopted & Beloved, the Banqueting Father & His Hesed Love
Romans 8 Series: This is the 6th post in this ongoing series.
P.S. Enjoying God is and will be our eternal inheritance. I invite you to enjoy him now in my new book: The Pursuit of Holy Leisure: Enjoying God in Everyday Places.
P.P.S. Do you want to memorize Romans 8 with me? Download these free memory cards to aid in your memorization!