Adopted

Hey guys, I hope. you have been well. Welcome to this month’s post, we will be talking more about our identity through Christ, only this time, we will be focusing more on “adoption.” 

Introduction

The more I read the Word and engage more in Study Hall’s, the more the Lord reveals more of Himself to me. 

We have discussed the subject about identity from one my previous post’s titled “Chosen” and adoption is a process that I believe affects our identity.

I believe that accepting that we are adopted to be children of God is needed for us to fully experience the love of God and begin living out our identity in Him.

Before we go any further, we will be looking at:

1. What is identity? 
2. How are we children of God?
3. What does it mean to be adopted by God?
4. My experience with the adoption process

What is identity?

According to the Oxford dictionary identity encompasses the characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is.

In other words we are determined and encompass the characteristics of being God’s children through adoption. Being His children is the beginning our identity. 

POV: Adoption allows us to live out our identity in Christ. When we accept to be children of God, we accept being taught His ways and will live by His way, which in turn determines our character.

How are we children of God?

The short answer; through adoption. ”God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.“ (Ephesians 1:5 NLT)

So what is adoption? According to the Easton’s Bible Dictionary, adoption is the giving to any one the name and place and privileges of a son who is not a son by birth.

Now we begin to officially launch our topic adopted and this is how adoption kick starts our identity; if someone adopts me then I am now taught their ways and will therefore start living by their way. (A new creation verse)

What does it mean to be adopted by God?

Since we find our sense of being in God because He has adopted us to be His children; we now need to know what characteristics are we to embody as His children, and we can find that out by understanding what it means to be adopted by God.

To be adopted by God as per the Easton’s Bible Dictionary involves being given a name, place and privileges of a son (child) who is not a son (child) by birth; let’s dig more into this definition.

Because of our belief in Christ Jesus, (believing that He died and rose again) we now have a new name, a new identity. 

• ”This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!“ (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)

We have been given the position of being co-heirs with Christ, meaning Jesus is our brother; because of what He did and the inheritance we share with Christ we share in the Glory of God. In other words, when we have accepted Christ as our Lord and saviour we share with Him the Glory He received from God. 

• “And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.“ (Romans 8:17 NLT)

I would like to expand on point 2. It is simple to say that when we are adopted and receive/accept being adopted, God no longer sees the billions of people around the world, however, He sees One Child, the One who embodies the other children, which would make sense as to why we are all One Body in Christ. ”For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.“ (I Corinthians 12:12 NKJV)

That’s the whole point of accepting the adoption, God sees Christ in us, and we share in the glory which comes with Christ and so the sufferings. 

This revelation to me is very big, revealing to me that whatever we do and need, when we live and receive our Heavenly Father and accept to be His children for Him to lead and guide, we would be getting the great benefits, and the not so great benefits Christ had and continues to have.

The power of God in our lives I believe accelerates under the acceptance of Christ and adoption. 

To be known as His children is power, something happens when we accept and walk as children of God. 

”A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this.

But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.“ (Acts of the Apostles 19:13-16 NLT)

My experience with the adoption process

I accepted Christ as my Lord and saviour in my early 20s, I had since began to live in His light from there. It took me about 10 years to truly live in His presence and accept being His daughter.

I always looked for the power that everyone was talking about, I wanted this power, I wanted the power to pray and be heard by God. I wanted the power of speaking things into existence by Faith.

I wanted and wanted. Needless to say that no one I knew cared to explain to me that the power I so greatly wanted to experience was none like the power of superman (LOL).

All this time I looked for something I didn’t even know how it should look, I looked for the thunderstorms, the lightning, the waving of the hands and bam it’s done.

When I prayed, I wanted to see these mountains move, I never thought for once that the power was as simple yet so intricate as accepting to be a child of God (mind blown).

I possessed the power, but it didn’t look the part. There is no magic wand; however, there is the sacrificing of oneself to take up a new identity in Christ.

“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people.” (1 Peter 2:9-10 NLT)

I live up to my fullest potential when I embrace my new identity. I am a child of God, and because I am a child of God, I can show others the goodness of God and share in the inheritance with Christ.

I am an heir, and if we know what being an heir is, we would realise that we already have what Christ has, we already have His identity, we just need to accept our adoption and learn the characteristics we are to embody. 

How? By reading the Word of God, that’s where we find Christ’s characteristics we can learn from.

Now, I cannot say that everything will be so easy once we begin to live as children of God. I have in fact found that I need to remind myself of my position many many times. At times because I had lost hope, had to wait or just felt heavy. 

In the beginning it seemed so futile, it looked like I was just writing things on my journal for jokes, however, overtime it began to form part of my life.

This is what I would do and would also suggest we may try to do to grow our relationship with God and begin living as His children, (if you have any ways you practice to grow your relationship with God in Christ, share those in the comment section):

Give God our first fruit

• How? When we wake up the first Person we should seek to speak to, should be God. “Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” (Psalms 5:3 NLT)

Be intentional with our time with Him

• Wake up, get out of bed, sit up, grab a pen and journal, and speak to Him, about anything. “O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalms 62:8 NLT)

Re-affirming ourselves with the Word of God

• “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalms 119:105 NLT)

Put God first in everything 

• ”But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.“ (Matthew 6:33 AMP)

Trust that God knows more and that He should order our steps

• ”For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.“ – (Jeremiah 29:11 NASB1995)

Before making any decision, pray about it and ask God for direction

• ”The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.“ (Psalms 37:23-24 NLT)

Trust in God’s timing

• ”For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.“ (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT)

Let the Lord be the potter of our lives

• ”And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.“ (Isaiah 64:8 NLT) 

Take everything/feeling to God

• ”“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”“ (Matthew 11:28-30 AMP)

We need to remember that this is separate from reading the Word, we can combine them however, speaking to God and reading the Word are separate. So we should strive to do both or one at a time, the duration of our time with God should not be the centre of it all. 

Conclusion

If anything I think should stand out, I believe it would be this; parents can adopt a child who has not been born to them, the child may have to adapt to having a new family, they may struggle and have challenges with seeing new faces.

However, it is when the child truly accepts becoming their child that they begin to immerse themselves into having a genuine and fruitful relationship with them; sharing the great and not so great moments with them allowing themselves to take up a new identity.

This right here I believe is the epitome of understanding who we are in God through Christ alone. 

P.S. Always remember that nothing should substitute us reading the Word of God.

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