In our current series, we are talking about The Laws of Grace. If you’ve missed any, check out our previous blogs here: https://www.upstreamministries.com/blog and previous teaching videos here: https://www.youtube.com/c/UpstreamMinistries
This week we are looking at the wonderful Law of Adoption. This is a powerful teaching, so let’s dive in. There are many parallels between the laws we’ve set up as humans in our legal systems and the laws which God has set up in the Bible. Take adoption for instance; once a child is legally adoption, there are several things that become immediately true.
1. In the eyes of the law it is just as if that child had been born naturally to those parents.
2. The status of the child’s natural parent is terminated. You cannot have an adoption without this. You cannot have more than one set of legal parents.
3. The new parents, once they’ve adopted a child, cannot change their minds. It’s permanent.
There’s no such thing in life as a perfect parent on this earth. But our Father in heaven is perfect and His love for you is perfect. If God’s adoption law were as good as man’s law, but it’s even better! Let’s look at how.
Romans 8:14-16 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
That’s such good news! So, what is this Spirit of Adoption? Let’s look at a couple of passages in the gospel of John.
John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but ye know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
These promises are characteristics of a parents relationship with a child, not a master with a servant. The master speaks to a servant differently, he doesn't live with a servant, he treats the servant very differently to how a parent treats their child.
Before you accepted Jesus as your Lord, your spiritual father was the devil. Boom! Jesus said it, not me! John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
Eph. 2:2-3 and 19
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.
We used to be alienated from God through wicked works and the ignorance that was in us but in verse 19 it says we are now fellow citizens with the saints! Huge!
We have a home, a place where we belong. In adopting us, God has brought us into the eternal family of God. The Holy Spirit in you empowers you to say that God is your Father. Not just in a religious sense out of duty or merely head-knowledge, but in a deep and intimate way. The same term that Jesus used for God is the term that we are given to cry; Abba Father.
Let’s go to Ephesians 1:4-7 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
God chose you. He desired you. He wanted you to be His child. It doesn’t matter whether you felt loved by your earthly parents or not because they are just your earthly caregivers! Not to downplay the importance of earthly parents, but what your Heavenly Father brings to your life is so superior to anything anyone else could ever bring, no matter how wonderful they might be, that anything else simply pales in comparison. When you get a revelation of how much you are chosen, loved, accepted and secure as a child of God, there ain’t nothing and no-one that can hold you back!
Before the foundations of the world, God chose you in Christ so you might be holy and without blame before Him in love! You should say that out loud. He chose you to be holy and without blame in His love as His child forever.
God loves you. And there is nothing that can change His mind. He already knew you’d sin and make mistakes. He knew you’d fall short. But He already called you before He created anything! He’s not surprised by your mistakes. There’s only one way for your status as an adopted Child of God, and that’s to reject Christ. But you won’t do that!
Once you taste of that love, you’ll never go back! You’d give your own life for Him. Celebrate today your adoption into the eternal family of God Almighty and the love of Christ in your life!
Next week, we’re going to look at more of these aspects of God’s love and this law of adoption. It’s going to set you on fire for God, so don’t miss it!
Would you share this teaching? Not because we want to promote Upstream and increase our ‘likes’ but because we want people to know how much God loves them! It’s the most important thing to us all here at Upstream. So please do share this blog with someone today.
Until next week,
Upstream Ministries
