Promises in Receiving ChristSample

Promise 3: You are adopted as a child of God.

When you receive Christ into your life as Savior and Lord, Christ gives you the power and the right to become something you were not before: a child of God. You are adopted as a son or daughter into the family of God (Galatians 4:4-6). The picture of adoption is a beautiful portrayal of what God does for you as a believer. When a child was adopted in the ancient worlds of Greece and Rome, three legal steps were taken:

a. The adopted child was adopted permanently.

The child could not be adopted today and disinherited tomorrow. Rather, he or she became a son or daughter of the new father forever. Likewise, your adoption by God establishes a new relationship between you and God forever—that of a father and child (Ro.8:15-16). As a son or daughter of God, you actually have a living relationship with Him, a moment-by-moment access into His very presence (Ro.8:14, 16; Ga.4:6).

b. The adopted child immediately gained all rights of legitimate children in the family.

Your adoption by God also gives you all the rights and privileges of a genuine child of God (Ro.8:16-17; 1 Jn.3:1-2).

c. The adopted child completely lost all rights in his or her former family.

The adopted child was looked upon as a new person—so new that old debts and obligations connected with the former family were cancelled out and abolished as if they never existed. When you are adopted by God, you become a member of His dear family. You receive a very special relationship with other sons and daughters of God—a family relationship that binds you with other believers in an unparalleled spiritual union (Ac.2:42; Ep.2:11-22; 3:6; 4:4-6, 17-19; 1 Jn.1:3).

In addition, your adoption by God makes you a new person. Once God adopts you, you are taken out from under the authority and power of the world and its sin. You are placed as a son or daughter into the family of God and under His authority. Your old life with its debt of sin, which is death, is cancelled and wiped out (2 Co.5:17; Ga.3:23-27; Ep.4:22-24; 2 Pe.1:4).

Your adoption as a son or daughter of God will be totally fulfilled when Jesus Christ returns to establish God’s kingdom on earth (Rom. 8:19; Ep.1:14; 1 Thes. 4:14- 17; 1 Jn. 3:2). And the joy of your adoption will be shared by all creation on a cosmic scale (Ro.8:21). The day is coming when God will create a new heavens and earth—a perfect universe and environment—for you and the rest of His dear, holy family (2 Pe.3:10-14; Re.21:1-7).