One of the most extraordinary claims of the Bible is that when we become Christians we are adopted into the family of God. We’re so used to it that we might almost forget how breath-taking a privilege it is, and the glory of what it means often comes into sharp relief when we consider not only what we are saved to, but also what we are saved from. We see that from Jesus’ own designation of the religious leaders as children of the devil (Jn.8:42-47); but only slightly less disturbing is Paul’s language in Eph.2:2-3, where in describing the Ephesians’ reality before becoming Christians, he writes literally of how they followed ‘the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience … we were by nature children of wrath’ (emphasis added). Against this background, the idea that we are now adopted into the family of God is staggering.

The Bible speaks of our becoming Christians as having many different facets - some are ‘legal’, others moral or spiritual. Adoption into the family of God speaks much more directly and intimately to the question of our relationship with God as Father, on the basis of Christ’s own Sonship. So it is no surprise to read that one of the highest proveleges of being in the Family is that of coming to God as Father in prayer. As we are now identified with Jesus, our Brother, we are able to come before His Father as our Father. Jesus consistently approached God as His Father (Matt.11:25; 26:39, Jn.17:1 etc., in fact the only exception is His cry of dereliction, Matt.27:46). We would never dare such presumption without explicit mandate from Christ. Even then, the invitation to such intimacy threatens irreverence. We keep our balance by remembering that He remains ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name’ (Matt.6:9). Our Father remains our Lord.

The Fatherhood of God is also the basis of our receiving the Spirit of His Son with a view to our growing more like our Brother in the family likeness (Lk.11:13; Rom.8:14; Phil.2:15). This sense of growing to be like our Father is a key idea linked with our being children of God (Eph.5:1, I Pet.1:14-16), and lies in the background to Heb.12:4-11, which alerts us to the fact that the love of our Father means He is not willing to leave our sin unchallenged. As Judge, God no longer sees, or remembers our sin as something for which we need to be judged. He ‘blots out our transgressions … and remembers our sins no more’ (Is.43:25). But as Father, He continues to see them as something for which we need to be disciplined, something which hinders our pursuit of the ‘family-likeness’. In Hebrews this is celebrated as confirming God’s love for us, and that liberates us so that ‘we can share in His holiness’ (II Cor.6:18-7:1).

Few other aspects of our salvation speak to our hearts and redeem our emotional life so deeply as the idea of adoption.

Questions:

If prayer is so critically linked to adoption, what does this mean for when people who aren’t Christians pray? Should we encourage people who aren’t Christians to pray e.g. the Lord’s Prayer (which speaks of God as Father)?

If we are supposed to reflect the life and character of our God, should Christians be expected to adopt as part of our discipleship?

Read Rom.8:12-17

What does Paul mean by living ‘according to the flesh’? Why does living like that lead to death (8:13)? Is this true even for people who think of themselves as Christians?

How do you ‘put to death the misdeeds of the body (8:13)? What is the role of the Spirit in this? How would help a new Christian to do this?

What is the difference between ‘slavery’ and ‘sonship’ (8:14-15)? Should people who aren’t Christians speak of God as their Father?

Do you think it is sexist and inappropriate to speak of our adoption to ‘sonship’ in the way Paul does here (8:15)?

How does the Spirit testify with our spirit that we are God’s children (8:16)? What would it ‘feel ‘ like? How would you experience this?

Why is it so important? How would you counsel a Christian who was struggling to think of themselves as part of God’s family?

Why does Paul link our being heirs, with suffering (8:17, see also 8:18)? What do you think we are heirs of… what is our inheritance?