In this article I will seek to explore the significance of being adopted as God's child. I will firstly look at how that happens; then turn to a consideration of the misconceptions we may have about adoption into God's family. I will then examine our new privileges and responsibilities as children of God and look at how we can relate to God as our Father and live out our identity as children of God. I will conclude with a consideration of how we can apply these ideas in the context of helping someone else understand how to become a child of God.
How do we become children of God?
Collins Reference Dictionary defines 'adopt' thus:
"To take into relationship, especially as one's child."
In the New Testament the concept of adoption is not so much grounded in Roman law, according to which its main benefit was to continue the parent's line, but in Jewish custom, which conferred the benefits of the family onto the adopted member. It is used by Paul to signify the relationship with God, and freedom from the law, that we are brought into by his grace (See Gal 4: 5)
God's primary concern is relationship, as can be seen throughout scripture starting from the creation account in Genesis. We were created to be in a relationship with God and be in his family from the outset, but due to our rebellion against him, that relationship was broken. The Lost Son parable (Luke 15) gives great insight into how we have rebelled against God and how it is possible to have that relationship restored. What I find particularly striking about it is the father's grace in letting his son rebel and run away from home in search of satisfaction, and the grace in which he accepts his repentant son home again. It is clear that the only criteria required from us to have our relationship with our heavenly father restored is a change of heart towards him (Psalm 51: 17).
John 1: 12 - 13 tells us that
to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
So what does it mean to be born of God? Clearly it is not a hereditary status (Rom 9: 8), or one resulting from human choice. From the above passage we can see that new birth, adoption into God's family, is God's decision and initiative. It is something he has planned for us before we were even born (natural birth that is!).
Eph 1: 5:
he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will
If we think about a natural birth, it is painful (interestingly, the pains of a woman in labour are mentioned more than 15 times in the Bible). Taking us back as sons and daughters meant going through the agony of suffering on the cross, and it is also often a painful process for us as we find ourselves in a new and unfamiliar world (God's kingdom), having to learn God's ways and being utterly dependent on our heavenly father.
Look at John 3: 3- 7
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
It is clear that there is only one way to enter into God's family, and that is to be born again. As we have seen, this is something which God initiates and the Holy Spirit enables us to call on God as our father
(Gal. 4:6 - Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father.").
The Spirit gives us assurance that we are, in fact, children of God (Rom 8: 16) and helps us to understand all that that entails.
Misconceptions
At this point, I would like to focus attention on some misconceptions that we may have about what it means to be a child of God. We can sometimes be tempted to think of God in the light of our own imperfect family experiences, and transfer onto God some of the characteristics that were evident in our own parents. For instance, we may think of God as:
(i) Severe task-master: putting an onus on us to live up to his unrealistic demands.
(ii) Weak-willed: lacking authority, timid, unsure, easy to manipulate.
(iii) People-pleaser: inconsistent and unreliable. Lacking wisdom. Compromising for the sake of 'peace'.
(iv) Indifferent: Not available, not committed to us or willing to invest time in us. A remote provider.
(v) Absent: Not there at all. No possibility of a relationship.
It is also fairly obvious that true unconditional love is something that few of us will have experienced, and it can be hard to come to terms with exactly what this means for us in our relationship with God. I want to spend some time now exploring some of the privileges and responsibilities of being a child of God.
What are our privileges and responsibilities as children of God?
We saw above that the Holy Spirit testifies that we are God's children and enables us to cry out to God as our father. Upon our new-birth, we are given a spirit of adoption, an instant and total change of status (see Gal 4: 6 - 7). Romans 8: 15 says:
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
We are no longer slaves, but sons. In fact, God will not have us back as anything less. One of the amazing things about the father in the Lost Son parable is that he won't let his son get to the end of his prepared speech, where he had planned to ask his father to have him back on the same level as one of the hired men. God accepts us back on his terms, which are far more gracious than many of us would dare to expect! He has paid the full price for our rebellion and now he wants us to be re-instated to full sonship status! As Bruce Milne says,
"The gospel carried an immense appeal as a message which promised to all people, irrespective of rank, nothing less than personal membership within the family circle of God. Nobodies were in a moment transformed into somebodies."
This in turn means that we can have direct access to our heavenly father (see Eph 2: 18 and Heb 4: 16). As Eph. 3:12 makes clear:
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Unlike many an earthly father, our heavenly father is always available and filled with compassion for us. He longs for us to come running into his arms and rest in his presence. We no longer need priests to bridge the gap and intercede on our behalf, because Jesus himself has opened the way to the father and enabled us to have access into the holy of holies.
But the good news doesn't end there! When we become children of God, we also receive an inheritance - we are heirs with Christ and have the assurance of heaven.
Rom 8: 17
Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
We can confidently look forward to a day when God will complete the good work he started in us and when we will be able to worship him perfectly for eternity. What an exciting thing to look forward to! It is worth emphasising again that it is God who has qualified us to share in this inheritance, and not the fruit of our own efforts (see Col 1: 12). Christ's righteousness has been transferred onto us (see Rom 10: 4 and 2 Cor 5: 21)
So we can see that God changes our status and confers on us the privileges of being family members when we are born again into his kingdom. As we saw when we mentioned the Jewish concept of adoption earlier, being adopted into a family means that the adopted member received all the benefits of that family. I will consider some of these things in more detail later, but it is worth highlighting some of the things that we can expect to receive when we become God's children:
Compassion: (see Psalm 103: 13)Protection: (see Proverbs 14: 26)Provision: (see Matt 6: 31 - 33 and Rom 8: 32)Freedom: (See Romans 8: 21)Loving discipline: (see Hebrews 12: 6)We are never forsaken: (see Psalm 94: 14)We are assured by the Spirit: (see Rom 8: 16)
We also receive new responsibilities when we become children of God. I am not going to discuss in detail the responsibilities we have as individuals to walk in the light, turn from sin and seek to be obedient to God's commands. I just want to explore briefly the requirement that we live in unity with each other and love and serve fellow members of Christ's body. We are united by one father and we as believers are adopted into one family (see Eph 4: 3 - 6). Therefore, we have a unique responsibility towards our brothers and sisters in Christ. 1 Cor 12: 12 - 27 talks about how we should operate as members of the body of Christ:
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
Although we are individuals, it is clear that we are to work together and help each other along the road of faith. God has given us different gifts which we are to use to serve and help each other. Our attitude should be one of inter-dependence rather than independence and our relationships with one another should be characterised by the love which God has for his children. There are many scriptures which talk about how we are to help one another, for example Galatians 6: 2 instructs us to 'carry each other's burdens' (see also Gal 6: 10).
How do we relate to God as our Father and live out our identity as children of God?
So we have looked at how we are adopted into God's family and how our status is changed, bringing with it new privileges and responsibilities. I now want to consider further how we can live out our identity as children of God. Firstly I want to look more closely at the character of father God. God combines fatherly and motherly qualities to be the perfect parent. As we have already noted, God will never leave us or abandon us. His love is constant and unchanging (see Psalm 27: 10). As our father, he is our protector and provider. Matt 7: 11 says
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
God is generous in his provision for us and delights in giving us good things and meeting our needs. He also has the power and desire to protect us and keep us safe from the things that would harm us:
Psalm 32: 7:
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Because of his great love for us, he also disciplines us.
Prov 3: 11 - 12:
My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.
Father God is also the source of wisdom and guidance.
James 1: 5:
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
There are also passages in the Bible which allude to the motherly qualities of God and remind us that his character is one of great compassion, gentleness and kindness. Psalm 139 talks about God 'knitting us together in our mothers womb.' I find it quite funny to think of God with a ball of wool and some giant knitting needles, but that's beside the point! I love Isaiah 49: 15:
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
One of the strongest human bonds is that between a mother and her child, and yet here God is saying that God's compassion for us is even stronger than that! (see also 2 Cor 1: 3) Even if it were possible for a mother to reject her child and fail to show kindness to the infant she has given birth to, God never rejects the children that he has given birth to. Deuteronomy 32: 10 - 11 uses the analogy of an eagle shielding and guarding its young to express God's overwhelming love for his children. I love also Revelation 21: 4:
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
The image of God gently wiping away our tears is very poignant and beautiful.
So how are we to respond to God's all-consuming love and compassion? I think it is vitally important to believe wholeheartedly what God says about us and allow the Holy Spirit to help us realise how precious we are to him. It is easy to listen to the voices of the world that tell us we're not good enough, or we are dispensable or useless or unworthy of love, so much so that it can cloud our true identity. It is worth meditating on the scriptures which illuminate God's great love, and savouring the privileges that he has brought us into. Margaret of Cortona puts it simply and beautifully:
"I am his daughter. He said so. Oh the infinite gentleness of my God!"
We are able to have an unrivalled intimacy with God:
"What a friend I've found, closer than a brother; I have felt your touch, more intimate than lovers... What a hope I've found, more faithful than a mother; It would break my heart to ever lose each other."
(Martin Smith, from the song What a Friend I've Found)
This is the closest relationship we will ever have and I find it amazing that God has perfect love for us in spite of intimate knowledge of us.
We are also called to submit to our heavenly father.
Heb 12: 9:
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
Submission can have negative connotations for some people and conjure up images of being oppressed and trampled upon. However, when we dwell on God's character it makes it much easier to see that submission to God is a liberating and attractive prospect. To submit means simply to surrender to one in authority, to hand over the controls of your life to God and allow him to reign in every part of our life. It is much easier to do that having looked at his character and the personal cost that he has sustained to bring us into his family.
Linked in with this is the need to be utterly dependent on God. James Hudson Taylor has written:
"I am so weak that I can hardly write. I cannot read my Bible, I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child, and trust."
The pharisees in Jesus's day, and many religious people today, sadly miss out because they are unable to let go of their sense of self-importance and surrender to God's greater wisdom and righteousness. I love Mark 10:14 which says:
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
It is wonderful to watch little children with their parents: they are not cynical or proud, they do not doubt and they don't reject their parents' affection. They are filled with wonder, trust and an ability to enjoy what their parents provide for them. I believe that Jesus was teaching that this is how we should be in relation to our heavenly father.
It is also important to look to God for guidance, as God sees the bigger picture and has infinitely more wisdom and power than we do. Some things that seem confusing or absurd to us make perfect sense further down the line when we can see God's plan being unveiled. As Elisabeth Elliot says,
"He knows our need and ways to meet it that have never entered our heads."
I remember right at the end of university being very anxious about the future. I was praying that God would help me to see what I should do next and he gave me this picture:
I saw myself as a small child in a field of really tall grass which I couldn't see over. I had no idea which way to go, but my heavenly father was beside me holding onto my hand and because I knew that he loved me, I could trust him to lead me in the right direction. He could see clearly which way to go even though I couldn't.
The realisation that, when I entered into God's family, I had arrived in a place where I belonged was also a very significant one for me. Before I was a Christian, I longed for my life to have meaning and purpose and I felt misplaced in the world. Now I have discovered that I belong in a relationship with God and in his family - that is my true home (2 Cor 5: 8). The Bible makes it clear that God enters in whenever he is invited (Rev 3: 20) and that he wants us to make our home in him and to be admitted into our 'inner sanctum'. Of course, we will feel out of place in this world, because the world at large is caught up in rebellion against God. We are 'in' the world, but not 'of' it (see Rom 12: 2 and 2 Cor 10: 3). One of the most exciting things about being a child of God is the assurance that we are heading for our true home in heaven. Just as in the Old Testament, God led his people from slavery in Egypt to the promised land, so God is leading us from slavery and bondage to a land where we can settle, a journey that will be complete when we reach eternity (1 John 3: 2). As children of God, we can be sure of where we are heading and confident about our destiny and purpose.
How can we help others to understand this?
Many people, if they are honest, will admit to feelings of loneliness and abandonment. You don't have to go far to find someone who has been bitterly disappointed and hurt by relationship breakdowns. It is good to help people to talk about their own family experiences and ways in which they have been let down, in order to form an understanding of their conception of what God would be like. It would be of benefit to talk through some of the misconcetions that people have about God and help them to see how easy it is to tranfer our imprefect notions of fatherhood onto God. It would also be helpful to study the Bible with them, particularly looking at some of the passages which shed light on God's character, and help them to really engage with the notion of being adopted into God's family. I would empasise the notion of grace - that new birth is a gift from God and not something that can be earnt or worked towards. The Lost Son parable (Luke 15) is an excellent way to help people to see what repentance and acceptance look like and come to a fuller understanding of what a relationship with God entails. I think it is also very important to pray for wisdom and insight as we seek to explain what it means to be a child of God to someone, as we have all had different experiences and therefore do not all see things the same way. It is tempting to make assumptions about people, perhaps based on their background, but I think it is very important to listen to them and engage with what they are saying, in order to help them come to a clearer understanding of God. It is also important to be honest and realistic with them and talk about the responsibilities as well as the benefits, of being a child of God.
A scripture to close:
1 John 3: 1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
Bibliography
Holy Bible, New International Version, Hodder and Stoughton,1991
New Bible Dictionary, IVP, 1996
Elliot, Elisabeth, Keep a Quiet Heart, Paternoster, 1995
Manser, Martin, This is Life in Christ, Hodder and Stoughton, 1998
Milne, Bruce, The Message of John, IVP, 1993
Ward, Hannah and Wild, Jennifer, The Lion Christian Quotation Collection , Lion, 1997
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
First published in Great Britain 1979. Used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton, a member of Hodder Headline Group. All rights reserved.
