Never Disowned

In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul writes, "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. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will...(Ephesians 1:3-5)." When I read this I take note of Paul's use of the word adopted to describe believers inclusion in the Body of Christ. Being adopted often times carries a negative stigma with it. I can remember my brothers and sisters joking with me about being "adopted" by my parents as a way to make me feel as though I wasn't really a part of the family. I can only imagine how those types of stereotypes haunt truly adopted children. Many adopted children come from terrible family backgrounds or no background at all. A lot of them grow up without ever being adopted by a loving family, thus missing out on an important part of their childhood. It wouldn't be surprising to discover that for many adopted children they may feel as though they are second class citizens. However, that is not the case when it comes to being a Christian.

The city of Ephesus was one of the greatest cities in the Roman Empire during Paul's missionary journeys. No doubt being a Roman citizen himself, he was familiar with the laws and customs of the time and, particularly with laws surrounding adoption. With that thought in mind, I stumbled across a quote attributed to the Roman historian William R. Ramsay. Ramsay writes, "The Roman-Syrian Law-Book…where a formerly prevalent Greek law had persisted under the Roman Empire—well illustrates this passage of the Epistle. It actually lays down the principle that a man can never put away an adopted son, and that he cannot put away a real son without good ground. It is remarkable that the adopted son should have a stronger position than the son by birth, yet it was so.” I was drawn to his statement that a man can "never put away an adopted son." Much of the reasoning behind this law is that adopted children are handpicked, for lack of a better term. The adopted family is able to select the child they want and that they know is a wanted addition to the family. Therefore, they could not disown that child like one could a natural born child. Thus, the adopted child had a permanent place in the family, including inheritance rights, that could never be taken away.

When we apply that to what the Apostle Paul wrote in the opening of his letter to the Ephesians we can see how the use of the term "adopted" is comforting to a believer. Similarly to an adopted child, our life before Christ can be described as a period when we were "lost." We did not know God and He did not know us in the sense of us having a relationship with Him. However, like the loving Father He is, God chose those of us who place faith in Jesus Christ so that "we might receive the full rights of sons (Galatians 4:5)." And the greatest part of being adopted into the family of God is that our adoption can never be revoked or lost. In other words, we are eternally secure in our salvation because of our position as a child of God. Unlike many Jews throughout history, who are the "natural born" children, they risk losing their inheritance because of their rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior. But, thankfully, in Christ, God has created "in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility (Ephesians 2:15-16)."

Because God has reconciled us to Himself, through Christ, we can be confident of our eternal destiny received as His children. Unlike the child looking to be adopted, we no longer have to fear never having a family or being treated as an outcast. "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 (Romans 8:15)." Like that child who never had a family of their own, we not only have a new family, full of countless brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world, we have a Father in Heaven who loves us unconditionally and who has promised that we will be with Him throughout eternity. "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14)." Rejoice in the fact that while the world may scoff at the idea of being adopted, God, in Christ, sees you as His child who He will never disown for all eternity. Amen!