“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Christ Jesus, in accordance with His pleasure and will to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.” Ephesians 1:3-6 NIV
“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again, rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” Romans 8:15 NIV
When you gave your life to Jesus Christ, there was a conviction of your sinful nature and need for a savior, and the realization that the arms of Jesus were reaching out to receive you in love and forgiveness. But did you realize that when you gave Him your life you became a child of God, the Father? That’s right. The very same Father who sent His only begotten son to offer you salvation has chosen you to be his adopted child.
For many of us, this is a hard affirmation to comprehend. We may understand the mercy of God to forgive us. We’ve probably experienced mercy in our lives before. But to acknowledge that we were intentionally chosen and adopted into the intimate relationship of a loving Father and child is a big stretch for us. Previous affirmations we received may have had a type of bait-and-switch approach. You may have heard something like this, “I simply adore how responsible you are becoming. Great job! Now when you finish cutting the grass, I’m sure you’ll be happy to clean the kitchen and babysit your little brother.”
Or possibly rejection has convinced us we are unworthy. I once attended a retreat with overwhelming, heavenly worship. The worship leader stopped to pray over the group and perceived we had all gone to the throne room in our pure, spotless white garments of Christ’s bride except for one woman, dressed in turquoise. She was afraid to enter the throne room despite the King’s invitation. She didn’t believe God could choose her and desire her presence.
Whatever lie has been used to hold you back had its power broken at your salvation. BROKEN FOREVER! You just need to allow the Holy Spirit to renew your mind to God’s truth about you. You can read these verses, speak them out loud, pray for the Father to show you lies that kept you from Him, and show you how to replace those lies with the truth of how wanted and important you are to Him. You are not wanted because He has to love you, or because you work really hard to be good enough, or even because He is merciful. The Bible tells us that God the Father chose you as His child!
Just think, the Creator of all things has chosen this holy relationship with you. He affectionately calls you His child! It’s settled forever in Heaven, so let it be settled in your heart today, too.
[As adapted from The Bondage Breaker and Stomping Out The Darkness by Dr. Neil Anderson and Dr. Dave Park.]