Adopted Sons

"...he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,..."

           - Ephesians 1:5

Isn't that beautiful? Adopted. A very strong word that means so much here, and has much to say about how God loves us. It specifically means "to bring a person into a specific relationship, esp to take on one's child as your own." In this verse Paul describes Jesus' love for us as an adoption! How great is that. God wants to adopt us into his family. 

Ever since the beginning of time people have thrived on acceptance. People will do anything in their power to be accepted somewhere. Teenagers will go to great lengths to change the way they look or act, just to fit in. Kids doing whatever it takes to play with the "cool kids". And to be honest society is brutal.To fit in you have to be perfect. You need money, women/men, the car, the job, and the attitude to be on top. And if you fall short, well you may as well get in line and wait for your shot at glory. But God isn't like that. Paul says "us", that means everyone. God predestined ALL of us for adoption. He wants ALL of us to be in his family. But just like adoption today, we have a choice. We can stick with him and join his family or we can wait around till the "right family" comes around. 

Just like if you were to become a part of a family, you would be entitled to the things the rest of the family has, Paul says in verse 7 that we will have"redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, and the riches of his grace." God wants to give all of us this, we just need to be in his family. I don't know about you, but that sounds great! We are all different, but we are all the same in this: We are all sinners. And Jesus came to save us because of that. He wants you to join his family. 

Your Brother in Christ,

               Derek Tilt