Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. – Ephesians 1:1-10
Dave, my former pastor, and his wife adopted a little boy from Russia last year. The adoption process was long, arduous, and at times heart-wrenching. But when you see this family together, you know that it was well worth it. The love they have for this precious little child is as deep as if he had come from their own bodies. It is simply amazing to watch them as they love this little one. Max was living in an orphanage in Russia; his parents had abandoned him there. But my pastor and his wife loved this little child, even before they knew him, and he now has two parents who care deeply for him.
In our passage for this week, the first statement Paul makes is that in Christ God has blessed with “every spiritual blessing”. We will come back to that phrase later this week. Today I want us to consider: what does it mean that we are adopted through Jesus Christ?
The idea of adoption is important to ponder because it speaks of identity. Our identity as human beings. Where does our identity ultimately reside? As you know from my previous blogs about racial reconciliation, this subject of identity is very important to me. In many ways we derive our identity from the family into which we were born – our parents, siblings, and extended family form our first understanding of who we are. But even beyond that, there is a more fundamental identity that we seek to understand – our identity in God. Below the layers of definitions that family, society and culture place upon us, there is a foundational identity that all humans share to which the Gospel speaks. In the ultimate sense, we all share the same identity – we are creatures, created by God and in God’s image. By virtue of our shared parentage in Adam and Eve, we all have this same basis for existence.
Bearing the image of God also means that we are forever connected to our Creator and have a relationship with Him, be it a reconciled relationship of peace or a bitter relationship of rebellion. We cannot be indifferent toward God – we are His creation, and we must respond to Him in one way or the other. We were created to glorify God – to be reflectors of God’s character. This is our identity. This reality magnifies the gravity of our fall – the utter devastation that sin has wrought in human existence. We rebelled against that purpose and turned our back on the only One who can truly give our lives their proper meaning. Apart from Christ, we are children without a father, sheep without a shepherd. We are orphans.
But God’s love for us determined that we would not be left as orphans – He chose us before the foundation of the world to be His children, to be renewed and reconciled to Him through His Son. And unlike with Dave and his wife, He chose even as He knew us – in spite of this condition that separated us from Him – to love us and restore the broken relationship that our sin has brought about.
We receive all spiritual blessings from our Father because He has adopted us through His Son Jesus Christ. God chose to restore to us that which He created us for – right relationship with Him, an existence in which we derive our meaning and identity from glorifying our God and Father. It is only when this purpose has been restored that we find our true identity.
Meditation: How shall I live in light of this reality that God is my Father? It seems fitting that we would consider this right on the heels of Father’s Day. Let us consider our relationship with our Heavenly Father this day.
