August 2 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 60–62; Romans 5

The Beauty of Adoption

In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. Galatians 3:26

READ Galatians 3:26–4:7

The 2009 film The Blind Side depicts the true story of Michael Oher, a homeless teenager. A family takes him in and helps him overcome learning difficulties and achieve excellence in American football. In one scene, the family talks with Michael about the possibility of adopting him after he’d been living with them for several months. In a sweet and tender reply, Michael exclaims that he thought he already was a part of the family!  

It’s a beautiful moment, just as adoption is a beautiful thing. Love is extended and full inclusion is offered as a family opens its arms to a new member. Adoption changes lives, just as it profoundly changed Michael’s life.

In Jesus, believers are made “children of God” through faith in Him (Galatians 3:26). We’re adopted by God and become His sons and daughters (4:5). As God’s adopted children, we receive the Spirit of His Son, we call God “Father” (v. 6), and we become His heirs (v. 7) and coheirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). We become full members of His family.

When Michael Oher was adopted, it changed his life, his identity, and his future. How much more for us who are adopted by God! Our life changes as we know Him as Father. Our identity changes as we belong to Him. And our future changes as we’re promised a glorious, eternal inheritance.

By Con Campbell

How does being a child of God affect your self-identity? In what ways does this change the way you view yourself?

Thank You, Father, for making me Yours. Help me to understand my identity as Your child.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

It’s hard not to read Galatians 3:26–4:7 about being children of God and heirs together with Him without thinking of the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. That parable depicts what it means to be an heir—having a right to what the father owns. Paul tells the Galatian believers in Jesus that because they’ve been adopted as sons, they’ve also been given the Spirit of His Son to live in their hearts. All this happens in the moment of salvation. Paul is describing how the presence of the Spirit of Jesus in our hearts is our inheritance as children of God.