ADOPTED! AND THAT’S FINAL
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:15
It’s really hard to say what might be the most important verse in Romans 8, but this one would be in the top five. If I’m an insecure person, never knowing if I belong somewhere, then this verse is at the very top.
I grew up in a family where I seemed so different from my parents, and certainly different than most of my extended family. I didn’t know if I belonged or not. Complicating this was my parent’s bent toward quietness. They did not reveal how they felt about you; your value, your gifts, your presence in their lives. I grew up looking at them, asking the unspoken question, “Do you think I’m okay?” I was the good girl trying to over perform in order to win their words but I rarely did. Except for a phrase or two on a greeting card, my heart lived wanting and fearful.
God does not withhold what we need as children. He is generous with words, and word pictures, to let us know where we stand with him. Once we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, we don’t ever need to live in fear of not being good enough anymore or of being cast out of His presence. No more spirit of slavery where insecurity spreads like a cancer throughout our entire being. Instead, we can rest in our adoption.
“Adoption” is huiothesia in the Greek, which means, “to have an installation or placement as a son.” Adoption means being taken from one family and placed in another. It means receiving a whole new status that cannot be nullified, even if we’re disobedient children.
In God’s sovereignty, Ron and I adopted two children from birth. We were privileged to experience, in the natural, what God has done for us in spiritual realms. Ryan and Jaime are as much our children as if I’d given birth to them. We are their parents for life and nothing they might do or say erases their identity. And if they ever needed proof of their adoption, they have it in writing. One day when they were both young, a judge stamped the papers that made their adoption final. Their status was confirmed and made legal.
Satan, the father of all children (unless adopted by Christ,) is the worst of fathers. He is not nurturing but cruel. Though we all belonged to him, there was never a warm sense of security. Everything Satan isn’t, God is! Whatever we experienced as children that left us scared and feeling inadequate, can be erased in the arms of our new Father. It’s never too late to ask for what we need. The healing we seek rests in the power of His words and the Spirit who breathes them into our needy hearts.
I never knew security until I found it in You. There’s no peace like the peace I feel because I’m Yours. Thank you. Amen
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Wednesday, 19 June 2024.
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