Adoption - Heirs With Christ
March 6, 2022 Sunday Evening Study

As we have discussed, the doctrine of adoption impacts our lives as followers of Christ in a number of ways, though none quite so exciting as those we will discuss this evening. We know that when we repent and place our faith in God, we are adopted as members of His family. This means that God chooses us as His people to be more than just people, but to be His children, with the privileges and the security that come with being a member of the family. God does this as an action of love and compassion - this is something which, like salvation, we could never earn by ourselves, but is given freely to those who will accept it.

As a result of our adoption, we experience God’s love as a Father loves his children; a love that most of us understand and can acknowledge. We experience God’s care and favor as He puts His family first, shelters us, and provides for us as any father would for his children. So then, our sonship, our adoption, becomes our identity - this is our defining quality. As believers we can put away all forms of division because we are united by adoption - we are truly the same family, and we are identified as sons of God. We love each other like family, and represent a unity that is missing in the broken families outside of Christ.

As adopted children, we receive gifts - some that come to all of us, and some that are unique to each individual believer. This allows us to function as a singular body, each with their own strengths, and allows us to rely on the strengths of others. Yet we can also understand and grow in our relationships with the Father through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Yet adoption does not end there. As a result of being made a part of God’s family, there are promises associated with our family status. Please open your Bibles to Galatians 4:1-7. The process of adoption is something that stretches through our full lives as believers, beginning with our acceptance, then our maturing, and leads us toward a conclusion.

“What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[b] 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[c] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” (Gal 4:1-7)

As adopted children, we are heirs to the family fortune. As the verse describes, man began as slaves to the world, then were adopted as God’s children, which allows us to recognize God as our true Father and cry our to Him in both good and bad times, giving us the faith to depend on Him fully. This makes us heirs with Christ - heirs to the family fortune, just as if adopted in life.

Yet what is the fortune of God’s family? What inheritance will we receive as the reward for our sonship (Col. 3:24)? Perhaps most treasured within our inheritance is that we will receive eternal security - everlasting life (Jn 3:16) in the presence of the Father, just as Jesus enjoys as His Son. In fact, this is where the guarantee behind Paul’s statement about eternal security in Romans originates - “For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come now powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38). It is the promised inheritance to the adopted sons of God that give Christians the staying power against all things that the enemy can use - every dart to be hurled.

The completion of our adoption is yet to come. Romans 8:17 reads “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.” This indicates that living the life as a child of God may not be easy, but oh the rewards that come. Plus, as we studied last week, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit as well as fellowship with other believers to strengthen us and encourage us as we suffer for Christ. This suffering that comes with a life which abides in Christ gives us access to this great glory in the end.

How does that Glory present itself? We already know of our eternal security and eternity in God’s presence. But as heirs, adoption is something that is not just possessed, but also hoped for. What more could we look forward to? Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 8. Could I have a volunteer read verses 22 through 25?

22 “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Rom. 8:22-25)

We wait for the redemption of our bodies as part of the ultimate inheritance we receive as the children of God. These bodies will be, as explained by Paul, imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual - “no longer the image of a man of dust but the image of the man of heaven” (1 Cor. 15:42-44, 49). Imagine bodies that display and maintain the youthful vigor of manhood and womanhood in full maturity without aging, disease, or any kind of injury, enduring forever. “Our resurrection bodies will show the fulfillment of God’s perfect wisdom in creating us as human beings who are the pinnacle of His creation and the appropriate bearers of His likeness and image. In these resurrection bodies we will clearly see humanity as God intended it to be.” I can’t speak for you, but that sounds mighty attractive to me.

I want each of us to consider some things in our own minds as we wrap up this little series. Why do you suppose this doctrine is something even worth knowing, worth understanding? We worship God for the things we understand about Him and His actions, and we worship Him because we know that He has saved us from ourselves. The idea of being adopted is a step beyond even the things we normally study - it is a doctrine that is often overlooked. Yet consider the actions of a first responder who arrives on scene to a domestic dispute or a crime scene and rescues a child from the dangerous situation they were in. The child is saved - the immediate danger is gone. Yet that police officer or paramedic must move on to the next scene, save the next person in need of saving. They do not take that person they saved into their family and provide an ongoing love and security for them.

God loves as throughout our lives. When we were lost, He loved us. When we were seeking Him, He loved us. When we chose Him, He loved us. When we turned our backs on Him, He loved us. When His final glorification comes, He will love us and glorify us alongside Himself. That is a remarkable display of love and compassion that is absolutely unique to the God we serve. That is a love and a compassion that we need to explain to anyone who will listen. That is the reason why we evangelize - we bear witness to the reality of being God’s adoptive children, and we can invite others into the family. So let’s get busy with it!