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