Loved as a Child

As a daughter of missionaries, I had memorized John 3:16 in both English and Portuguese. I knew that God loved me and that Christ had died for me. But it still felt like a generic kind of love. So, God loves me. But with what kind of love does He love me? In a letter to the Christians in Galatia, Paul declares, When the fullness of time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as children (Galatians 4:4-5). We see here the purpose for Christ’s death and resurrection: to adopt us as God’s children. What does it mean to be adopted? Adoption is the process that makes a child, who was not originally part of a family, now part of that family. When a child is adopted, they can take on their new family’s name and identity. The legal process of a child becoming part of a new family provides an incredible picture of what happened to me when I trusted Christ as my Savior: I was adopted intomade part ofGod’s family. As Galatians 4 says, Christ died for my sins (every evil thing I’ve done, said, and thoughtpast, present, and future), and He rose from the dead so that I might be adopted as God’s child. I became part of God’s royal family. I went from being an enemy of God to being His precious child and a joint heir with Christ (Romans 5:10; 8:17). If you’ve put your trust in Jesus, believing that He died for your sins and God raised Him from the dead, God has also adopted you. Once you were not a part of God’s family, but now you are His child, beloved and precious. With what kind of love does God love us? With the love of a father. Angela Stanley Have you put your trust in Jesus and been adopted into God’s family? If you have questions about this, who is a trusted Christian in your life you could talk to? (You can also find more information on our “Know Jesus” page.) How might knowing that God loves you as His child affect how you understand His love? See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1a (WEB)

Read Verses:

Galatians 4:4-Galatians 4:7; 1 John 1:3