I recall years ago preaching a sermon on spiritual adoption. After the service, I was approached by someone who shared with me that he struggled to connect with the theological concept of spiritual adoption. He was inadvertently projecting his own complicated experiences with human adoption, so it was hard for him to view his relationship with God through the same lens.
The doctrine of adoption lies at the very heart of the Christian gospel. We often take for granted the immense privilege that it is to be called into divine fellowship. While human adoption is a beautiful display of love, it cannot fully capture the depth of being adopted into the family of God. The Gospel of John provides the theological foundation for adoption.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:11-12 NIV
Our spiritual union with Christ not only facilitates our adoption, but it also reveals the ultimate mystery of God’s grace. It is not merely a legal shift in status; it is rather an invitation into eternal divine fellowship in the love and life of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Christ and by the Spirit, we have been swept up into eternal union through the Son.
That is the amazing reality of our spiritual union to Christ and our heavenly adoption. Who could impart such a blessing of adoption? Only the one who comes from the Father, “full of truth and grace.” Sonship could only be offered by the begotten Son of God, who knows the Father intimately.
Michael Reeves articulates this beautifully in his book Gospel People when he states: “For if there is no eternal Son, God is not really a Father, and He could never give us the right to be his children.” Because the Father and the Son exist in an eternal, loving relationship, God’s very essence is to share that love. Therefore, we are invited to become his adopted children and participate in that same eternal bond.
Our right to sonship is mediated entirely through the Person and work of the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. Even our faith responses are caught up in his perfect response to the Father. Christ stands at the center of God’s redemptive purposes. Through his finished work, he bridged the chasm that separated humanity from divine fellowship. Through God the Holy Spirit, this adoption is made an experiential, living reality. The Spirit regenerates our hearts so that we can receive Christ. The Holy Spirit seals our new identity and prompts us to cry out, “Abba Father.”
As adopted sons and daughters of our heavenly Father, we live as citizens of his kingdom right now, with the understanding that our adoption will be fully revealed in the consummation of his kingdom. We earnestly await to be clothed in our heavenly body, so we boldly proclaim, “Come, Lord Jesus come.” In the meantime, we live under the authority of the King with spiritual confidence, extending the radical generosity and forgiveness that we have received from him. This is kingdom living!
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