LEARNING DAILY

 

Galatians 4:4-5, But when the fulness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

 

I think I have a plan about what I write and, then, I read something that triggers a thought in me; of course, I need to pass it on to you. If you think you see any theme to what I write, you will understand. I have written on Galatians 4:4 before explaining the what the fulness of time meant. I stopped there. Verse 5 grabbed my attention and what some would call “an AHAH” occurred. Here is the thought. Jesus came into the world that we might “receive the adoption as sons”.

 

Here is the theological information. The notes in the DJSB state Paul is equating what God does for people by relating it to the slave trade in the Roman Empire in his day.  When someone bought a slave, they could either work the slave or set him/her free. Paul is relating to us what God does when He redeems someone through Jesus Christ; He does so to set them free (read Galatians 3:3). John 1:12 tells us, “But as many as receive Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” To receive Him in true faith is a “commitment to constantly draw close to the Lord Jesus Christ in spiritual intimacy” (LSSB). You know I like to refer to that as walking on the narrow way to God’s kingdom every day!

 

We are adopted into God’s family; we receive His offer of salvation through His Son. The two words that really have caught my attention are “receive” and “adopted”. It is not a matter of working for or earning or buying our salvation. We receive it; it is a gift you and I accept (or I guess it can be rejected!) Many of you grew up in a family that walked in the salvation God offers and at the right time the Holy Spirit got your attention to accept Christ as your Savior. Others of you may have walked along thinking you were part of God’s family because you were a good person, did all the things you thought Christian people did. But then one moment, God got your attention; you needed to confess your sins, confess you needed a Savior and needed to ask Jesus to save you and to change your life. You may not have been looking for Him thinking you were okay the way you were. But God got ahold of you in a different way and you said yes to Him and He adopted you into His family – because He wanted to. That sums up what happened to me many years ago.

 

 But how does the word adopted relate?  There are many children of all ages that want and need to be adopted by loving parents. They are not putting ads in papers or on social media or anything else to recruit parents. It is the “want-to-be parents” that are seeking children to adopt. I have often wondered what that process would be like. What sort of questions would I be asking about a child? What expectations would I have about what the child had to bring to the family? That seems to be all wrong! It seems that adopting a child would be more on what he/she needs! What the child needs is a home where he/she is accepted and loved and is always taken care of.

 

So, when we think of being adopted by God, being adopted into His family and home, He is not adopting us because of what we can bring to it! We receive God’s adoption; we do not earn it! That is the gift I have been writing about. That is the forgiveness God offers to us; He will never leave or forsake us. That is what we need to be thankful for and that’s why we give Him praise “and sing with grace in our hearts to the Lord”. And that is why “we do whatever we do in word and deed, we do in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him”.

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB