Adoption

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

At the bottom of my study Bible, it says, "The underlying work here is adoption. Adoption was common among the Greeks and Romans, who granted the adopted sons all the privileges of a natural son, including inheritance rights. Christians are adopted sons by grace; Christ, however, is God's Son by nature. Abba Father is the expression of an especially close relationship to God."

Lately I have been angry with my sin. Fed up with the way I think and act. I think of how people see me as a good person on the outside, but Jesus knows my heart. He knows my selfishness. He knows my pride. He knows everything. Yet as my screaming voice hung Him on that cross, He loved me. He pursues me. Me, a sinner who murdered Him. But He doesn't see me as a sinner. He sees me as His child because He has adopted me as His child. I call Him my Father. I get to experience His love, mercy, and hope because Jesus loved me even when I was screaming "Crucify Him!".

 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8

It is that love that I lay down my life and say "Not my will, but yours be done." (Jesus said it first, Matt. 26:39) It is this love that has transformed my life. It doesn't mean I'm perfect. But it does mean I have a Father who will be there to pick me up when I fall. It does mean that if I find my strength in Him and walk in the path He has prepared for me that I can do anything. (Phil. 4:13)

For the above reasons, I LOVE adoption. I love orphans, because I see them as God saw me. I was angry, confused, lost, and lonely. Then He said, "I love you" and it changed my world. I want to tell orphans that Jesus loves them and let God change their world too. This is the deepest desire of my heart. That is why God has put me on this earth --to experience His love and share it with the orphaned.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27