This is part two of a little mini-series I am doing. You can read part one here.

Just a quick re-cap. Last time I talked about why adoption should matter to all of us. In short, it is because adoption matters to God! And the Bible talks about why adoption matters to God. I promised I would try my best to expand on that a little bit. for your encouragement and my own.

So. I’ve said that we can know that adoption matters to God because God, in His word, speaks to us about adoption. He is the loving heavenly Father who has adopted His children unto Himself! This is a foundational theological truth.

I am not talking about human adoption here. I am talking about God’s adoption of those who are saved. We know that those whom God has saved have been adopted as His children. He has called them, chosen them, made them His children, by no work or merit of their own. This language of being adopted as God’s children comes from Ephesians 1.

Ephesians 1:3-6
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

God purposed, through his grace, to adopt us! This is amazing. He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons (and daughters). This is a really mind-blowing thing to think about; that the God of the universe calls us His children!

And in Romans 8…

Romans 8:14-17
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 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!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 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.

Are you one who is led by the Spirit? Are you a Christian–one who is predestined, called, justified, and (will be) glorified (as in Romans 8:30)?? Then guess what?? You are an heir! With Christ! Sons and daughters of the King! And the Spirit bears witness to this fact. That means that no one can argue with it. It is truly amazing.

God’s heart for adoption shows his love for us.

1 John 3:1
See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

God calls us His children! This is adoption! Furthermore, …

Psalm 68:5
Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation.

This is how God is. He is the Father of the fatherless. And “the fatherless” was how we all were prior to salvation, right? When God saves us, we become Children of God! We become Children of Truth and Goodness and Love! That is adoption.

In my next post, I hope to touch on some of the applications for us that come out of this love for adoption. I’d love to know your thoughts on God’s adoption of us as His children!