And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. This was what God wanted, and it pleased him to do it.*
Summary: The way God made us his own children is by adopting us into his family. Adoption changes who we are and changing who we are changes our future.
When Mom asked me to drive her and Aunt Pat to her fiftieth high school reunion, I gladly said “Yes!” but honestly, I was a bit apprehensive. Who would be there? Where would it be? What would it be like? As it turned out, I am glad that I was able to go. It was a fascinating experience, and in some respects, it felt like I had stepped into a time machine.
Mom graduated Class of ’48. She had been held back in first grade for a year so she could take her younger brother, Roy, with her to school. She attended school on an island in Puget Sound. Because the community was rural and isolated, people seemed to make friendships that stuck for a lifetime.
There were about eight members of the class that were still alive and able to attend the reunion. Two of the men were still bragging about winning the championship basketball game the year they graduated. During the event, each person shared part of their life story. Today’s verse brings one of those stories to mind.
One of the shorter men (not the basketball players) told us about losing his parents when he was young. I don’t remember why they died, but death by disease was not as uncommon then as it is now. Left orphaned on a small island, he was taken in by another family and given a place to live. As the story unfolded, he related how his second family also died and left him orphaned again.
By this time, he was in high school, and finding a home was harder. But another family stepped up and invited him to live with them. Then they did one more thing that changed his life; they adopted him as their own son. As he told the story, his face reflected the emotions he had lived through, and when he talked about his adoption into his new family, he glowed with gratitude.
Like him, we are orphans. Unlike him, we don’t always know it.
We were orphaned from our Father in Heaven when Adam and Eve ate the poisoned fruit from the forbidden tree. Their bodies seem to come alive with a will of their own and being able to see “both good and evil” meant that they no longer saw things through spiritual eyes.
God sees us wandering in spiritual darkness. He knows who we are and where we came from. As our passage today points out, God knew “before the world was made” what was going to happen. He understood that our ancient ancestors would turn away from him in the kind of sin called rebellion. He understood that the only hope for his creation was to restore the relationship with his creation by forgiving us. He realized the cost would be the life of his own son, Jesus. All of this he understood before the world was made, and he made us anyway.
After all of this, he adopted us back into his family and made us his children again. Why? Because “this was what God wanted, and it pleased him to do it.”
Application: Get to know your new family by reading the Bible every day.
Food for Thought: How does having Jesus as a big brother change who we are?
* Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Thank you Jeff.
🙂
I have two sons; one is 22 and one is 4. The youngest was born when the oldest was in college, so they didn’t have the time together that most siblings do. My oldest recently graduated last December and has been staying with me while he gets his new life sorted out. Watching them together has been quite a treat. Aside from some daily big brother teasing, I am delighted in how the oldest teaches and guides the youngest. He has and is becoming a fantastic big brother: protector, confidant, friend, and “horizon expander.”
Jesus, as my Lord and Savior, the one who paid my debt and adopted me into our Father’s house is my big brother: protector, confidant, friend, and “horizon expander.” If only I too had the tenacity of a 4-year old to continually “knock on His door” and ask if he could send time with me.
Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 73:24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Chris,
Thank you for sharing your “big brother” story! It gave me a BIG smile and a very warm feeling!
It means my big brother can beat up every else’s big brother😊.
More seriously, it means I can call the Creator of the universe family. It means He loved me enough to do what was necessary for that to happen. It means my eternal destiny is decided in a favorable way. It means I can look to add to my family by sharing the gospel. It means that I am a child of God. It means I have a great inheritance. It means I get all the blessings of being in God’s family. It means I have much to be thankful for and it means I live to glorify my Father. It means there is meaning and purpose to my life. I can go on, but that is probably good for now.
Thanks Rich!
All the things that you mention are true. Some are promised to us in the future, and some – like the gospel family you mention – we get to enjoy now. God’s family is an interesting mix of present and future, physical and spiritual.
Great Feedback!
Thank You,
Ron