“God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.” – Ephesians 1:5
The Bible says that when we are saved, we become a part of the family of God, and it happens immediately. You don’t have to earn your way into God’s family. When He saves you, you are adopted as a child of the King! And the Bible says, when that happens, we receive the same rights as Jesus has.
According to the Roman legal system in the first century, those who were adopted received the same legal rights, the same privileges, and the same opportunities that a natural-born child received. There was no difference at all.
By becoming a member of the family, an adopted child gained all the rights to his new father’s estate and was seen as an equal heir with the other sons and daughters in the family. They were considered co-heirs, according to the law.
Adoption is the perfect picture of the gospel. If you’ve been saved, you’ve been adopted! Ephesians 1:5 says, “God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.”
And we are not second-rate sons and daughters. God has fully adopted us in Christ. That means through our connection with Jesus and to Jesus, we receive all the rights and privileges as if we were Christ, Himself.
What that should tell you is before you were born, God knew that you would be adopted into His family, and as an adopted son or daughter into the family of God, you have a new identity, a new inheritance, and a new mission.
When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you become sons and daughters of God! He’s our new Father, and Jesus is our Big Brother! We are co-heirs with Christ. And He has changed our purpose and wants us to join Him in His mission!