It sometimes just boggles my mind when I think of the privileges that I have being part of God’s family. To be His children, is also to be His heirs. And of course, an heir will eventually inherit all of his father’s estate. In other words, all that the Father has will one day be mine! It seems unbelievable that I will one day possess all of God’s glorious inheritance. It’s harder to believe when I think of how God still wants the best for me even though I’ve disappoint Him over and over again.One does not necessarily have to adopt a child before he can show love towards children. Likewise, God can also love us without adopting us, but still, He chooses to adopt us the moment we place our trust in Him, placing every newborn believe in a family of which He is the Father. It is a privilege that He gives to all believers- the privilege to be part of an eternal home; the privilege to call him “Abba, Father”; the privilege to address him with warm affection and endearing confidence.
This is the Spirit of adoption or sonship that allows us to have this Father-son relationship with God. It is a special relationship, which can only happen by God’s grace for it is out of His pure and sovereign love that we are now under the heavenly Father’s protection and care. By nature, we were strangers and had no claims on Him, yet, God chooses to embrace us as His sons & daughters; giving us the rights to possess His estate.
Nonetheless, it is not by natural birth that we become His child for through natural birth we are merely born as children of a human father. It is only through spiritual birth that we can be born as children of the Most High God, the true Father. And, it is only when we have received Him into our hearts and believe in Him that we can experience this new birth. No parent will ever acknowledge his child if the child despises and have no confidence or trust in the parent. Similarly, God cannot acknowledge us unless and until we have put our trust in Him.
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Glad to see the surge of posts. Thought: From the parable of the prodigal son (which represents the non-believer), perhaps God looks at each human person, whether he/she is a believer/unbeliever, as his son/daughter. Perhaps God acknowledges the entire human race as his children and awaits all to return to him. Looking from this perspective (perhaps this is how God wants us to see?), we see non-believers not as people who are outside the family, but see them as people who are our lost siblings. I believe by looking at them this way, we value them even more.What say you?
Of course, we should never see non-believers as outsiders. After all, God made all of us of equal value; and in this world, we all are alike, His children. I believe that God has created each one of us that we might experience the family relatedness through life here on earth. Therefore, it is important that we love and care for each other like brothers & sisters. But, the family I was referring to was in terms of a spiritual one, rather than the earthly one. It is more of a spiritual family where social & family relations only exist through life in the Spirit, and also one where its relation last for all eternity. Thus, knowing the eternal value of the spiritual family & the goodness it brings, I hope that others (non-believers) can one day be part of this divine, intimate family circle too. Perhaps the best way to introduce this spiritual family to non-believers is by giving them a taste of what the real family of God looks like, by treating them as our siblings while we still can here on earth, as well as to love them with a sacrificial love, just like our heavenly Father.
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