Made Rich Through Adoption
“so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” (Ephe. 1:12)
Do you ever feel a little hard up? Most of us end up feeling at some time like we could do with a little bit more—a bigger house, a newer car, etc. That feeling is not only confined to material things. Some will have a profound sense of missing out in other ways. Perhaps you’d love to be married, but you can’t find the perfect mate. Or in terms of health, you’ve never had the vitality that others have experienced—illness has impacted your life and limited you in ways that others have not had to cope with. If you view yourself as missing out in some way –if you feel poor in any respect – the book of Ephesians is good medicine for your soul. It reveals how profoundly rich you truly are!
Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus teaches that, if we are children of God, we are the most privileged people in the world. If we are in Christ, we are rich beyond measure. Ephesians 1 provides a proper perspective—a heavenly and eternal perspective--on our identity in Christ. The core reality that Paul drives home for us in this chapter is simply this: if we are in Christ, we are fabulously blessed and immensely rich! Notice what Paul says in verse 3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ”. And verse 11 declares that “in him we have obtained an inheritance”. Indeed, we are rich in Christ! This was achieved by Christ’s death on the cross. Verses 6-7 explain that “in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”
The beautiful truth is that God “predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…” (v. 5) It is hard to imagine a more generous act than that of adoption. Parents take a child with no family able to care for them, no finances at their disposal, and a very uncertain future before them – and those parents freely give that child a family, an inheritance, and a future. The child does nothing to solicit or merit their adoption. Presumably the parents will enjoy a relationship with the child and take delight in that, but at its foundation and core, the act of adoption is very much a one-way thing. It is all give – all generosity. Similarly, all that we have and enjoy in Christ has come to us through God’s initiative and kindness. Notice that verse 4 states, “God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world…” Right away that idea sounds strange and unnatural to us because, from our perspective, it feels very much as though we chose God. But Paul says that before we were conceived—before our parents were born and before this very world was created—God chose us “to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (v. 4).
The glorious reality is that love fueled God’s adoption of us. Verse 4 declares, “In love [with the boundless love that overflows from his loving heart] God predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ”. And why does God adopt us? That God should be magnified – “to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in the One he loves” (v. 6). How will you respond to this truth today? May you respond with thanksgiving “to the praise of his glory” (v. 14).