So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family (Ephesians 2:19 NLT)
It is easy to miss the message of this verse when we approach it with a western concept of adoption. We can quickly begin to apply the legal implications of becoming the members of God’s family and citizens of His Kingdom. It entitles us to all the rights and privileges of those who are the original members of the family and citizens before us. However, that would leave out the most important point that the Apostle Paul was striving to make.
In the culture to which Paul introduces this idea of being included into the family – adopted as it were – there was no such thing as child adoption. That is a current trend, but was not part of the culture in the first century church. The church had other provision for orphans. Adoption in Paul’s day dealt exclusively with adults. And the criteria for being considered for adoption had everything to do with the value placed upon the person being adopted. Wealthy men would often look for someone to adopt that they felt were wise enough to act as overseers of their households after their death.
When you consider this fact, it becomes all the more meaningful that God “adopts” us into His family. He considers us valuable enough to offer us His Kingdom – with all the rights and privileges that entails and to place us side by side with His chosen children.
The real question for me today is – “Am I walking in the fullness of God’s gift to me?” When I stop to consider what it means to be a citizen of Heaven and a member of the family of God, I think I have to answer that question with a huge, “Not really.”
Lord, allow me to walk in the fullness of your provision for my life. Help me to have Heaven at the forefront of my mind and an underlying assurance that my Father has my back and can strengthen me to do whatever He has foreordained for me to do today.
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