But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. - Galatians 4:4-7
We see in this passage that it takes the entire Godhead, the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Spirit- to complete our adoption. God the Father plans and initiates our adoption. Twice Paul says that God the Father “sent.” At the fulness of time, the Father “sent” the Son into the world to redeem us and to secure our adoption and make us heirs. And the Father “has sent” the Spirit of Jesus into our hearts to seal our adoption.
Our adoption process began long ago. God the Father initiates and plans our adoption from eternity past. Before the dawn of time, God the Father’s heart of love was fixed upon you. The Father’s adoption plan started in eternity past, and the blessings and joys that flow from this grace of adoption will continue throughout the endless ages of eternity. Then, in history, the Father sends both the Son and the Spirit to make our adoption happen.
The Father looked out at a world in rebellion against Him. He saw the world filled with “children of wrath.” He saw children who had rejected Him, walked away from Him, turned their backs on Him, and wanted nothing to do with Him. And what was the Father’s response? Out of His great love, He sends His one and only Son, His beloved Son, into the world to make “children of wrath” into “children of God”!
Because of the great love of God the Father, we are now children of God: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.” For this reason John Owen wrote: “The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay upon the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to Him, is not to believe that He loves you.”
Justin & Lindsey Holcomb, Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault, Crossway Publishers, 2011, pg. 77
We see in this passage that it takes the entire Godhead, the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Spirit- to complete our adoption. God the Father plans and initiates our adoption. Twice Paul says that God the Father “sent.” At the fulness of time, the Father “sent” the Son into the world to redeem us and to secure our adoption and make us heirs. And the Father “has sent” the Spirit of Jesus into our hearts to seal our adoption.
Our adoption process began long ago. God the Father initiates and plans our adoption from eternity past. Before the dawn of time, God the Father’s heart of love was fixed upon you. The Father’s adoption plan started in eternity past, and the blessings and joys that flow from this grace of adoption will continue throughout the endless ages of eternity. Then, in history, the Father sends both the Son and the Spirit to make our adoption happen.
The Father looked out at a world in rebellion against Him. He saw the world filled with “children of wrath.” He saw children who had rejected Him, walked away from Him, turned their backs on Him, and wanted nothing to do with Him. And what was the Father’s response? Out of His great love, He sends His one and only Son, His beloved Son, into the world to make “children of wrath” into “children of God”!
Because of the great love of God the Father, we are now children of God: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.” For this reason John Owen wrote: “The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay upon the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to Him, is not to believe that He loves you.”
Justin & Lindsey Holcomb, Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault, Crossway Publishers, 2011, pg. 77
No comments:
Post a Comment