Why God Adopted You as His Child

[In love] he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.

Ephesians 1:5

Ephesians 1:5 reveals that God "predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ." Why? Why did our Heavenly Father choose to make us his children?

Part of the answer has to do with love. As we saw in last Thursday's reflection, the phrase "in love" at the end of verse 4 modified the verb "predestined." God chose to adopt us because he loves us.

Yet there is more in verse 5 that explains God's decision to bring us into his family. Notice the last phrase, which I will italicize for emphasis: "[In love] he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will." An even more literal rendering would be, "in accordance with the good pleasure of his will." The point is that God planned to adopt us as his children because this gave him pleasure. It made him happy, to use casual language. Think of that! God chose do adopt you because the thought of this gave him joy.

When I read this, I cannot help but remember the happiest day of my boyhood. On March 8, 1961, I experienced one of the greatest thrills of my life. That's the day my parents adopted my brother, Gary. I had looked forward to this day for months, which, for a three year old is a long, long time. Finally, we drove to the home where my brother-to-be was waiting. We walked down a long, dark hall, into a small room with a crib. Inside of that crib was a three-month-old baby boy. As I peered upon him for the first time, he looked up at me and smiled. Never before had I known such joy! I expect the same was true for my parents.

So, here's something upon which to reflect today. God adopted you, not only because he loves you, but also because the thought of having you as his child gives him great pleasure.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: Do you ever think of God feeling pleasure about having you as his child? How might this truth impact the way you feel? The way you live?

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the astounding truth of this verse. Thank you for letting us know just how much we mean to you. Thank you for desiring relationship with us, such that the thought of adopting us gave you joy.

Help me, dear Father, to live in the reassurance of your love. Help me to rejoice in the fact that you rejoice in me. Amen.

Images sourced via Creative Commons.