See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. (I John 3:1 ESV)
Adoption
I’ve had reason lately to think about adoption. While I was blessed greatly by the parenting of my mom and dad, I was sometimes a little jealous of my younger brother.
He was adopted.
And occasionally it struck me that my parents were stuck with me. Abortion not being an option, I was unexpectedly conceived and was born to my loving folks.
But my adopted brother… was chosen, and was parented by our parents almost because they went out of their way to welcome him to our family.
We are adopted children of God.
Without that adoption, we would remain outside of His family. We would not be chosen by Him, loved by Him, provided for by Him, and redeemed by Him.
And that fantastic adoption only happened because of our brother, Jesus Christ.
Without His sacrifice, without His transference of familial relationship, without His embracing of us through His love, we would not be God’s children.
Jesus is necessary for our necessary adoption.