From A Park Bench - My Adoption Papers

Ephesians 1:5

‘He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.’

At work I have been in the process of upgrading our internet banking system, the helpful bank consultant took time with me explaining the alterations that would be put in place and confirmed all the critical information. It was an almost painless initial information gathering session and at its conclusion, he informed me that I would be receiving all the relevant paperwork which he would prepare for me. All that I need to do is read it, check it, sign and return it.

Before the world was created and before light was created, God had written and completed all my adoption papers, signed them, sealed them and kept them in his safe keeping.

There they waited, for Christ to come and die for me, because he took my place, all my sin, sickness, depression, shame, separation, so I could receive all His goodness,

And when I believed in Christ I was crucified with Christ because Christ died As me. I died with Christ, I was buried with Christ and I was resurrected In Christ and now I am a new creation and Christ lives and works inside and through me.

My adoption was made complete In Christ, but only when I believed and received His righteousness.

Now the adoption has been accepted I can never be separated from all the blessings that God has freely given me. He is mine and I am his, eternally and my adoption is complete.

From A Park Bench - God Chose Me In Christ

Every promise of God finds its completion In Christ. God chose me to be holy and blameless in Him before the foundation of the world and before I had done a single thing to earn it but rather through his glorious grace in which he makes me acceptable to himself. It was predestined that Christ would be the cause of my adoption not me.

God predestined me to relate to him by his righteousness and not my own. Before time God chose me. In time he justified me. After time he will glorify me. Neither my adoption, justification nor my glorification has anything to do with me. Only God can qualify me. The only thing I am called to do is have faith in Jesus and that faith is a gift given to me by God, I did not even have it. Faith is just my positive response to all God has provided for me by grace.

God called me to him because I was incapable of qualifying myself to respond by faith, it was all His ability to qualify me. Because he called me in Christ and He justified me In Christ, I will be glorified because I am In Christ. Likewise, those people who trust in their own self-efforts to be qualified will be lost for eternity.

I am now filled with the sunlight of God’s grace. God delights in me  because he sees Christ in me, I am the apple of my fathers eye and the joy of his heart. As a chosen child of God I have all the riches and glory of heaven living now inside of me. The overflowing waterfall of all heavens grace flows and cascades over every part of my life.

Adoption is the Heart of Predestination.

Adoption is the heart of predestination.

“He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” – Ephesians 1 v 5

Adoption is the heart of predestination. For many, many Christians the whole idea of God pre-choosing some people to be saved and rejecting others is just too overwhelming.

But predestination is not really about individual salvation but about how we connect to God.  Predestination is about relating to God through His righteousness and not our own self-righteousness.  God predestined everyone to be justified by Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross.  There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus and that plan was predestined to bring us into a relationship with God where we would be adopted as His joint-heirs receiving all the riches of heaven.

Everyone has had their sins forgiven at the cross; everyone can enter into the predestination God has provided, all we have to do is to accept the call of Christ through his death and trust him instead of ourselves for salvation.

As we believe he justifies us and he glorifies us, through our union with him. The living God enters into our mortal bodies and we become one with him, adopted into the family of God.

As Andrew Womack explains adoption is a severing of our old life and the start of a new life: -

“Adoption" was a term used only by the apostle Paul in scripture. It found its roots in Roman culture rather than of the Jews. Through adoption old ties were severed and the new father now became full owner of the child with all legal rights. In Rome a slave could have the full rights of that of a Roman citizen through adoption. Through adoption the believer now has had all ties severed from his old master and has now become the property of His heavenly Father as an heir and joint-heir with Jesus Christ. “

The cry of our heart through adoption is ‘Father!’.  A deep emotional response to the overwhelming love and grace we receive through Christ. We know God and God dwells is us.

His eternal plan was to bring into his royal family through the death of his Son and we now receive all the blessings of heaven predestined for us in Christ.