Adopted Into God’s Family

This is the continuation of a short series I started two weeks ago about some of God’s blessings. Last time, I talked about some of the ways God has blessed us by making us in His image; this time, I will be talking about some of the ways He blesses us when He adopts us into His family. Again, I cannot take credit for this list, but I was asked not to give credit to the person who share this list with me.

• We are made in the image of God

The Jews are God’s chosen people and are considered a natural part of His family, but God has adopted the rest of us and grafted us in, so we have been given some of His characteristics as though we were His natural children.

• We are the chosen ones

This point refers to the doctrine of election; God chose the Jewish nation to be His special people, but He chose us to be a part of His family through adoption. Nobody is saved without being chosen by God.

• We are set free from the penalty of sin

When Jesus died on the cross and rose again, He paid the penalty for sin and defeated death once and for all; when we accept His free gift, we can spend eternity with God in Heaven.

• We are declared to be as righteous as God

When we accept God’s gift of grace, Jesus takes all our sin and exchanges it with His grace; that is what God sees when He looks at us, and that is all we need to be declared righteous.

• We are clothed with Christ

The Bible says that even our righteousness is as filthy rags. The only way to be cleansed is to accept the fact that only Christ’s sacrifice can clean us, and believe that being clothed in His grace is enough.

• We are given a new birth

When we were physically born into this world, we were born into Satan’s kingdom of darkness; when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are born into God’s kingdom of light.

• We are God’s children

When we are born into God’s Kingdom, He sees us as His children; as His children, we are under His care and protection. There can be no better place!

• We are given God’s nature

When we accept Christ as Lord of our lives and ruler of our hearts, He comes into us and changes the way we think, act, talk, etc.; this change is more radical for some than for others, but there is an undeniable change, because there is a new nature that presides.

• We are co-heirs with Christ our brother

When we entered His kingdom, it wouldn’t have been unfair of God to make us His servants; but he considers us more than that. As His children, we are co-heirs with Christ; we will have part ownership of Heaven!