Adopted Into God's Family

Hi there and welcome to this week’s Devotional Moments. How’s your memory verses going? My memory isn’t great but I’m certainly giving it a go. The first memory verse is “everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” from 1 John 5:1. This week’s memory verse is “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God” (1 John 4:15). Jesus is the Son of God.

Those of you who heard Robbie’s sermon last Sunday or on YouTube, heard him talk about the various heresies of the days that denied that Jesus was God’s Son and how even today various religious groups continue to deny this truth that Jesus is the Son of God.

The Apostle Paul wrote what the Sonship of Jesus Christ means for us. In a very cool passage in Galatians 4 verses 4 and 5, Paul tells us “But when the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that He could adopt us as His very own children” (Galatians 4:4-5 NLT).

Paul says that when the time was right, in the fullness of time, Jesus came to redeem us, or as the New Living Translation puts it, “to buy freedom for us” as we were slaves to the Law. And then Paul tells us what the Sonship of Jesus Christ means for us. He says in verse 5, “so that He could adopt us as His very own children” (Galatians 4:5 NLT). Wow! God sent His Son, so that through His death, we could be adopted as God’s very own sons and daughters.

In those days, adoption was certainly practiced within Roman society. It was an honoured custom that gave special dignity and family membership to those who were not born into a family. Often a wealthy, childless couple would adopt a young slave, who would enjoy the benefits and privileges of any family member. However, it did cost a lot of money. The adopting father had paid the large sum of money and then he had to go to a Roman magistrate and plead the case for adoption. Only after paying and pleading was the adoption complete.

God the Father paid a huge price sending His Only Son into our world to die a sacrificial death so we, slaves to the law had our freedom purchased and adopted into His family. Being adopted as a child of God means that our standing, our relationship, our responsibility, and our future with God is on a brand-new level.

How good is this? Jesus came as God’s Son so that we can be adopted into God’s family.

David Moyes

...about Love

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.

1 John 5:1-2

Loving people begins with first loving God. If you look at the last commandments Jesus left us with love God and love people (Luke 10:27), you’ll realise by obeying them you will naturally obey every command given throughout the bible Old and New Testament. For if you genuinely love God, you will naturally love all His creation this includes every person He created. If you love someone like this you wouldn’t steal from them, you wouldn’t lie to them and you wouldn’t testify falsely to them.

One of my Bible college lectures once said if he had 30 minutes for his own time with Jesus, he would spend the first 20 minutes worshiping, because that puts God in the place of honor and glory he deserves. If we where to spend everyday worshiping, honoring and praising God like that I believe loving everyone around you whether friend, family or complete stranger would become quite natural.

So loving God is first and foremost, but Jesus also states love your neighbor as yourself.

How well do you love yourself? And make time for things you love/ enjoy doing? I understand it can be difficult finding time for yourself, but we actually need to prioritize doing this, for if you aren’t fully happy how can you love those around you?

How can you spend time showing your love to God? And how can you love yourself so you can better love others?

The Jesus Of Heaven

Revelation 1:15

His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.

Revelation 2:18

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze.

This is the first time John had seen Jesus in all His splendor although he did get a preview of Jesus in all His glory during the transfiguration. However, from the description given Jesus was more than just a man and instead saw him as the second part of the godhead or trinity. I love the imagery of this passage and how well John puts it into words, as id imagine it would have been quite the intense and terrifying experience. just pause for a few minutes and just imagine seeing how John saw Jesus in this moment.

But John was not the first to see Jesus like this, going to the Old Testament to the book of Daniel we can observe that the prophet saw the same image of Jesus before He even came to earth, even before He was known to exist to the people of the world.

Daniel 10:5-6

I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist. His body looked like a precious gem. His face flashed like lightning, and his eyes flamed like torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice roared like a vast multitude of people.

How do you see Jesus? And have you ever imagined Him as outlined in this passage?