As we continue looking at our Riches in Christ, one of those immense privileges in Christ is that we are in the family of God. We belong to Him in two ways: we are His children by birth, and we are adopted.
First, we are His children by birth. In John 1:12 it says this, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” As we read that verse of Scripture, we find that we become the children of God when we receive Him and believe in His name. That is the moment of conversion, the moment of salvation. Until then, we are not in the family God. According to Scripture, we are actually in the family of Satan, and he is our father, but now we are in the family of God.
Second, we are in His family by adoption. Romans 8:15 talks about the adoption into the family of God and says, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” It speaks here about being adopted into the family of God so that we are His sons. This speaks of both men and women, and we cry out “Abba! Father!” which is a term of endearment. He is now our Father, not just in a theological sense, or generic sense, but He is our personal Father. We are endeared to Him. We have a family relationship with Almighty God because He has adopted us into His family.
In the Roman system at the time, adoption was a little different than we have today. People could adopt children, relatives, or even adults into their own family. Octavian was adopted by Julius Caesar. He was a relative, but he was not his son, and he would go on to become emperor. That was something that the Romans often did. What happened at that moment of adoption was the past of that individual was erased. Their family identity from the past was gone. They now had a new family and a new identity. If they had financial debts, those were expunged. It was a pretty good deal, wasn’t it? Those debts were erased. If they were in trouble with the law, then they are no longer in trouble with the law because they are a new person and there is no record against them. All their past has been erased and a new identity has begun. A new life has begun. That was what happened in the Roman adoption system . . .
