Adrian Rogers on Adoption
Ephesians 1:3-4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”
We are chosen in Christ. So what does that mean?
Adrian Rogers explains: “How do you get into the family of God? You are spiritually born into the family of God. You are legally adopted into the family of God. Now when you are born in to God’s family, that’s the new birth. That deals with your position in Christ. When you are adopted, that deals with your privilege in Christ, and in Christ, we have both birth and adoption and we are predestined to this adoption. Therefore, we are fully accepted.” (What We Have in the Lord Jesus, Ephesians 1:1-12, Love Worth Finding Ministries, 1/18/95W)
Ephesians 1:5-6: “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
Adrian Rogers explains: “What is Predestination? Predestination is not God saying from eternity that one man’s going to heaven and another man is going to hell. Predestination deals primarily with what God intends to do for those who trust Him and what God will do for saved people. Predestination teaches me on the authority of God that when I’ve trusted Christ as my personal Savior and Lord, I will be like Jesus Christ.” (What We Have in the Lord Jesus, Ephesians 1:1-12, Love Worth Finding Ministries, 1/18/95W, emphasis mine)
If you adopt a child, then you have adopted them into your family. They take on your own last name. They are no longer outside of your family, calling you “Sir” or “Mr.” Therefore, when we receive the spirit of adoption as sons, we cry out, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15) Our position in Christ, is the basis for our adoption in the Father as the children of God. That is the eternal plan of God in Christ.
