Adoption: Position & Privilege

They are Israelite's, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.  To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Romans    9: 4-5

     I love it when John says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called sons of God." (1 John 3:1)  The depth of God's love is incomprehensible.  It is a mystery that One so Holy and righteous and feel such compassion and love for a people who are at enmity with Him (Romans 8:7-8).  Yet, He does not only love us to a degree to befriend us.  He loves us to the degree that he goes beyond all human reason and ability to make us his sons and daughters. And not only his sons and daughters, but heirs, with Christ, to His kingdom.  He not only gives us access, but also privilege and position.

     In this text, Romans, 9:4-5, I want to look at the idea of position and privilege.  This text seems to imply that Israel was adopted by God as a people group.  However, I would argue that Paul is not saying that Israel was merely adopted, but that they were brought into existence by God, like a son who is born, and enjoyed God's election and redemption; in essence a special position and privilege.

What does the Old Testament say about adoption?

     Adoption is not an overarching theme in the Old Testament.   There are some texts that seem to point to Israel as God’s adopted son (Exodus 4:22; 2 Samuel 7:11-16; Ezekiel 16:1-2; Hosea 11:1), but after historical and exegetical analysis, these text do not give a clear conclusion of adoption in the Old Testament.  Trevor Burke explains in his book, Adopted into God’s Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor, that “ When we trace adoption back to the Old Testament, however, the linguistic evidence is lacking and it is difficult to identify one specific text…in adoption terms.  The subject of adoption is very hazy in the Old Testament and it is impossible to trace adoption to Jewish law.”[1] 

Father-son relationship

     Instead, Israel’s relationship to God is often described as a father-son relationship.  This relationship is more times than not, presented in terms of redemption and election rather than in terms of adoption.[2]   God’s divine love and initiative is the basis for Israel’s relationship as a son.  The Lord brought Israel intobeing (Ex 4:22; Deut 32:6, 18; Jer 31:9, 20; Hos 11:1;) and reared him as a son ( Isa 1:2; cf 30:9; Jer 3:22).  


     Bruce Waltke in his commentary An Old Testament Theology,  citing Christopher J. H. Wright, argues that Israel, was not adopted, but was rather brought into existence by God.  Wright says “Israel is addressed as a “son” of God (singular) who was sovereignly brought into being by God ( Exod 4:22; Deut 32:6, 18; Jer 31:9; Hosea 11:1).  Israel owes its existence to the Lord’s creative or “procreative” action, because the Lord brought them into existence.  The nation was not adopted by the Lord but formed by Him, because it had no existence apart from the Lord bringing them into being.  Furthermore, Israel is not his son by its choice and action but by the Lord’s election of them. (cf: Isa 43:6; 63:16; 64:8; Jer 31:9;, 20: Hos 1:10, 11:1ff.).”


     Even though Israel failed miserably in their fidelity to God, God remained faithful to them; redeeming them as His people.  This is best exemplified in Isaiah 63:16 and Deuteronomy 7:7.  In Isaiah 63:16, the prophet prays for God’s mercy toward his wavering son and acknowledges; “16For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.”  In Deuteronomy 7:7-8, the Lord explains that in His sovereign love He elected Israel to be His son; “7It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8but it is because the LORD loves you…”  (cf: Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 32:6; Hosea 11:1; Isaiah 63:15-16; 54:8). [3]

     Sonship, in light of election and redemption, is a more important theme in the landscape of the Old Testament.[4]  This theme is clearly seen throughout the entirety of both canons of scripture.  Adoption, being more of a New Testament theme, specifically Pauline, is better understood with the back drop of sonship in relation to the Old Testament.

Adopted: What Manner or Love is This?

"They are Israelite's, and to them belong the adoption (huiothesia)..."

     The word huiothesia is used here in reference to adoption.  In the immediate context, it seems to appear that the Israelites were adopted by God; in the sense that they were spiritual orphans and God adopted them as a people.  However, as we stated before, the Old Testament does not verify this conclusion and instead speaks to God raising up a people and having a special relationship with them.  The emphasis on Israel’s position as a son of God has greater value and depth in the Old Testament than adoption.  

     Being that huiothesia is used in a string of gifts and promises given to the Israelites as God’s son, it could be argued that Paul is speaking more of position here than adoption.  Trevor Burke contends that, “For Paul, huiothesia was a privilege that adhered to Israel as a whole, setting this nation apart from surrounding nations for blessings and service.”[5]  Israel was God’s chosen people, whom he redeemed for Himself.   He gave them his promise that he would never leave or forsake them.  He gave them the privilege of knowing the law the right way to worship.  Through Israel, he gave the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior of the world.  No other nation on earth has enjoyed the rights and privileges that Israel has enjoyed.  They were chosen in God’s divine love and redeemed as His son.  

     The church, those whom God has adopted, enjoys a special blessing of God’s grace and love.  We are also considered sons and daughters and by God’s grace through the work of Christ.   We are not just liberated from our sin and made right before God, we are loved as His children and given full rights and privileges.  Thomas Schreiner, in regards to adoption writes,  "How great is the love of God, for He sent his Son to liberate us from sin.  But the love of God did not stop with justification and liberation.  We are not only justified, but we also have all the rights and privileges of children.  We are deeply and dearly loved as children of God."[6]

     Consider what John says in the first verse of the third chapter of his first epistle, "Look at the sort of love the Father has given us, that we should be called sons of God!" (1 John 3:1)  The idea in the beginning of this text is that God lavished the entirety of His love on us.  What does this mean?  It means that everyone who receives Christ, who believe in His name, God gives the right to become His children-not born of natural descent, not human decision or a husbands will, but born of God (John 1:12-13). [7] How does this affect us?  John answers this later in verse two when he says, " We are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when he appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."  

     The outcome of God's love is that we are His children.  Christ is the means by which God's love is manifested to us.  In Christ, God does not just adopt us, he transforms us into something greater.  In Christ, we are not the unlovable foster kid lacking in love and identity who spends much of his time and energy trying to live up to the expectations of his foster parents in comparison to the biological children.  We are transformed into the likeness of His Son, pure, without sin, and gloriously beautiful.  And we are not just children, who have been changed, but we sit at the right of the Father, with Christ, with the power and authority to judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3).

     Christian, remember that you are no longer a slave, nor even a friend.  You are a child of the living God.  He loves you as He loves His Son.  There is nothing you can do to make Him love you more, and there is nothing you have done or will do will make Him love you less.  This is what it means to be an heir to His kingdom.  This is what it means to be a adopted into His family.

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[1] Burke, Trevor. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2006. Pg 49; 70-71

[2] Burke, Trevor. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2006. Pg 71

[3] Waltke, Bruce K. with Charles Yu. An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervon, 2007.

     To see an argument for Israel’s adoption, see Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsh, [1857-78] Biblical 

     Commentary on the Old Testament; Ezekiel 16.

[4] Burke, Trevor. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2006. Pg 71 
[5] Burke, Trevor. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2006. Pg 48
[6] Shreiner, Thomas. Galatians: Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Edited by Clinton Arnold.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010. pg 273
[7]  Kruse, Collin. The Letters of John. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000. pg 115

Peace For the Marginal & Insignificant

     It is often said that Christmas is a time of peace.  We see the billboard signs with the saying “Peace on Earth & Good-will to Men” in the city.  We send cards with pictures of snowflakes and angels offering good tidings to our friends and acquaintances.  We sing songs that tell of joy and harmony and merry cheer for the entire world.  However, many of us live in a reality that is far from peaceful.

     Many families are hurting.  Some fathers are fighting in a foreign land.  Some mothers are alone working two jobs to make ends meet.  Some sons are sick; battling a disease there is no cure for.  Some daughters are seeking comfort from men who promise much but deliver little.  Yes, many of us are feeling the weight of insignificance, living in the land of the marginal.  Peace is not an adjective that many of us use to describe our current position in life; and rightly so, for we are a broken people in need of a redemptive solution.

     In Luke 2: 14 we hear the angels say, as they announce the birth of Christ  to a group of shepherds, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”  Shepherds, in the time of Christ birth, were considered lowly and insignificant.  They were the untouchables of the Jewish community.  Considered dirty and deceitful, they were not respected in the community as anyone of worth. They were the insignificant and the marginal.  Yet to these, against all human reason and wisdom,  God brought the greatest news the earth has ever received; peace has come.  

     Peace has come not to the rich or the politically astute, nor to the philosophers and poets, or to the pompest and prestigious.  No, God first announced the birth of His son to the pawns of the world, the poppers and vagabonds.  He went to the broken, the needy, the hopeless, and proclaimed a solution to man’s brokenness, a cure to the human condition of turmoil and dysfunction;  this day the Savior is born.

     No longer does man have to live in enmity with God. No longer does man have to live in a broken state apart from any hope or remedy.  Christmas is a time of peace.  It is a time when the world is given a glimpse of the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).  A peace that the world cannot give (John 14:27), but only the one born of a virgin, that was placed in an animal eating trough, and worshiped by magi (Luke 2:1-21).  It is a peace that will one day wipe away ever tear and lay all fear to rest.  And God gives this peace to those whom He is pleased, those who know His Son Jesus Christ.

     This Christmas season, when you read the billboard signs and the cards, when you sing your songs, keep in mind that the peace you are reading of, speaking of, and singing of, truly exists and within your reach.  He is no longer a humble child, laying in a feeding trough, being hunted by a tyrant (Matthew 2:1-7).  He is a mighty King, reigning at the right hand of His Father, redeeming the marginal and insignificant for His kingdom.  This Christmas, here the words of Jesus, " I have told you these things, so that you can have peace because of me.  In this world you will have trouble.  Take heart!  I have won the battle over the world."  John 16:33  

Adoption: An Expression of Triune Love

 “5In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved…13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

                                                                                                                           Ephesians 1:5-6, 13-14

The main thrust of the first chapter of Ephesians, specifically verses 3-14, is the euphoric praise of God for His plan of salvation from eternity past to the consummation of the saints.  This text also presents us a beautiful glimpse into the Trinitarian relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in regards to the redemption of God’s elect; specifically in the relationship of adoption.

Purposed by the Father

      In ancient Rome, in Paul’s time, adoption was always initiated by the paterfamilias, or the father.  The Father ensured that the adopted was legally made an heir, giving the adopted a new name and a security in the inheritance.  In this text it is clear that the Father is the main architect in adopting the sinner into the household of God. Paying attention to the nouns and pronouns, as well as key words like predestined and will, we can see God’s divine initiative in adopting sinners into His family.  In verse three we see that in love [God] predestined us for adoption (huiothesia- huios being "son" and thesis being "placed" or "placing"- therefore we get "son of placement" or "placement as a son") as sons… according to [God’s] will, to the praise of [God’s] glorious grace, with which God blessed us (His elect or chosen ones-i.e. the adopted) in Christ. 

     God’s initiative in redeeming sinners was not a willy-nilly decision made out of frustration. Our adoption was not a divine afterthought.   It was in God’s triune mind and heart before the first tick of human history’s clock.[1]  The Father purposely put his love on us before the first molecule was formed, before the first star was named, before the entire creation of the world.  It was part of His plan in magnifying His grace; a divine purpose (Ephesians 1:6). Adoption was intertwined in God’s wisdom and love from eternity past.  Before the creation of the world it was ordained that the Son would be slaughtered for those whom God set His comprehensive, all satisfying, deliberate, and unadulterated love on; the elect, the adopted sons and daughters of God (Revelations 13:8).  Christian, you have been loved before and more than you can ever know.

Unified in the Son

     Christ is the agent in which our adoption is made complete.  That is to say that Christ is the means in which the Father accomplishes our adoption.[2]  Again, the text shows us that it is through Christ we are adopted. It is in Christ in which God has blessed us and made us heirs.  Consider again the meaning of the word huiothesia- placement as a son.  In this text we see that in our adoption we are made sons of God by the Son of God.  The text says that we were predestined for adoption through Christ and that we are blessed in the “Beloved [Christ].”  In essence, adoption is God’s placement of sons in the Son.[3]  Adoption ensures that we are completely in union with Christ.  And our union with Christ is as Dan Cruver puts it, “is indissoluble, unceasing, and determinative at all times and in all places.  There is never the smallest fraction of a fraction of a second when we are not living and moving and having our being in union with Jesus.”[4] 

     Consider the implication of this for a moment.  Before time existed, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit were completely and perfectly happy in one another.  They had no need for an outside source to make their love complete or more fulfilling.  When God set His love on the elect, He made a choice to allow us to enjoy the triune circle of love if you will.  Being unified in the Son allows us to experience the same perfect love that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had before the world existed and still have today and will have forever.

     Our unity with Christ also shows us the present significance of our life in relation to the gospel and the redeeming of sinners.  Because we are in union with Christ, who is alive and working out His mission, we are not merely imitating Christ's work, but actually participating in it.  Dan Cruver explains this well when he says:

"Our missional engagement as Christians is not an imitation of Christ and His mission.  It is a

 participation  in Christ and His mission...our efforts do not consist in a striving to imitate Christ.  The result in the imitation of Christ is we participate with him in His mission in the world.  The New Testament writers assume this kind of living .  When over and over, you see Paul using the phrases "in Christ" and "in Him," recognize that he means for Christians to think about every aspect of their lives in terms of union with Christ." [5]


     Paul tells us in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."  The Son gave His life for His adopted sons and daughters, so that we could live now in union with Him as He currently works to bring others into communion with the Father.  When God set His love on us, He not only made us heirs to His kingdom, bit also conduits of His grace, calling our lost brothers and sisters to come home.

Secured in the Spirit

     Finally, we will see the Spirit’s role in adoption.  In verse thirteen, we are told that we are sealed with the promise of the Spirit.  Sealed can mean that the Holy Spirit protects or preserves Christians until they reach their inheritance (Eph 4:30; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 1 Peter 1:5; Rev 7:2-3).[6]  In verse fourteen the word guarantee carries the idea of a down payment, or pledge.  It indicates a deposit which itself is a guarantee that the full amount will be paid.  The down payment is of the same kind as the full payment.[7]  Wayne Grudem points out that “When God gave us the Holy Spirit within he committed himself to give all the further blessings of eternal life and a great reward in heaven with him…all who have the Holy Spirit within them, all who are truly born again, have God’s unchanging promise and guarantee that the inheritance of eternal life in heaven will certainly be theirs.”[8]

     The Holy Spirit has been given to us not only as a guarantee, but also as one who testifies that we are genuinely His children.  This testimony is manifested in our life through our love and devotion to the Father.  In essence, when we testify of God, it is really the Spirit testifying in us that we are truely His.  The Spirit, as Thomas Schreiner explains in his commentary on Galatians, "testifies that we are God's children...the Spirit works charismatically, so that believers gladly exclaim that God is their beloved Father."  

The Spirit plays an important role in our adoption.  The Spirit confirms, authenticates, and ratifies our sonship and daughtership. [9]  He guarantees our adoption and seals us until we reach our inheritance.  The Spirit testifies of our position and privilege as sons and daughters and affirms the Fathers love for us.

     Keep in mind that all of this is done in the Fathers love.  We cannot take any credit for our adoption.  It is by grace we have been saved, yes adopted into the kingdom of God.  The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit were perfectly happy in their triune communion.  God made a choice to open that communion to us, sinners, who assault His name and character.  God, in his rich mercy and grace, adopted us before the foundation of the world within the eternal love ever flowing between the Father, Son, and within the all-satisfying communion of the Holy Spirit who is the eternal personal bond of the Father/Son’s love (2 Corinthians 13:14).  

To see the Trinity's work in adoption into God'd kingdom is so encouraging to me, and should be to you.  I commend you, and myself, to go forth and testify of the goodness of your Father who loves you, your Brother who saved you, and sent His Spirit to testify of His goodness and love for you.  We must go to the broken and dysfunctional, the fatherless and abused,  and tell them our Father is calling them home; to a perfect, functional family who will live in unity and harmony forever. 

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[1] Cruver, Dan. "Adoption of Prodigals." In Reclaiming Adoption: Missional Living Through the Rediscovery of Abba Father, by Dan Cruver, 7-18. Adelphia, MD: Cruciform Press, 2011.

[2]Burke, Trevor. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2006. Pg 122 

[3]Curver, Dan. "Adoption And Our Union With Chirst." In Reclaiming Adoption: Missional Living Through the Rediscovery of Abba Father, by Dan Curver, edited by Dan Curver, 49-56. Adelphi, MD: CruciformPress, 2011.

[4] Curver, Dan. "Adoption And Our Union With Chirst." In Reclaiming Adoption: Missional Living Through the Rediscovery of Abba Father, by Dan Curver, edited by Dan Cruver, 49-56. Adelphi, MD: CruciformPress, 2011. Pg 52

[5] Baugh, S.M. "ESV Study Bible." In Ephesians Commentary Notes, edited by Justin Taylor, Bill Deckard, Sherah Grose Dennis T. Lane, 2262-2263. Wheaton, IL: CrossWay Bibles, 2008.

[6] Cleon L. Rogers Jr., Cleon L. Rogers III. The New Linguistic And Exegetical Key To The Greek New Testament. Grand rapids, MI: Zondervon, 1998.

[7]Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervon, 1994.

[8] Cruver, Dan. "Adoption and the Trinity." In Reclaiming Adoption: Missional Living Through The Rediscovery of Abba Father, by Dan Cruver, 19-32. Adelphia, MD: CruciformPress, 2011.

[9] Schreiner, Thomas R. "Galatians; Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament." edited by Clinton Arnold Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan; 2010.  pg272 

Adoption

     I can remember having an interesting conversation with my mother after her mother passed away about her feeling like an orphan.  My grandfather (my mom's dad) had passed several years prior and it was hard for my mom.  He died suddenly of a heart attack.  She did not have an opportunity to say goodbye or reconcile any hurt feelings.  It took her a while to come to terms with this.  By God's grace, she still had her mother to help her through her grieving process.   

     However, when her mother died the reality of both parents being gone took her to a place of uncertainty. Her mother was not there to give her direction and wisdom and faith.  The long conversations they use to have in the kitchen over life, love, and old family recipes were now silent .  The family house was now filled with foreigners instead of grandchildren and the smell of freshly baked cookies.  All of what she had ever known, for better or for worse, was now gone.  In this frame of mind she cried and said, "My gosh Jason, I am an orphan."

     It sadden me to see her hurt this way.  Her words were real and weighty.  Her anguish was deep and resolute.  It is one thing to grieve the loss of a loved one, particularly a parent; but it is something entirely different to grieve the loss of your identity as a daughter.  In this it seemed as though her grief was multiplied.  It was at this moment I realized the significance of my adoption into the kingdom of God.

     At the time of my conversation with my mother, I was not equipped to guide my mother through her grief with the hope and comfort that comes in being adopted into the family of God. I was not aware of the rich truths the bible offers us in understanding our position and privilege in Christ.  For the next several posts,  I would like to explore our adoption into God's family further, offering a working definition, and three meditations of scripture in regards to our adoption.

Adoption: Instating of sons and daughters

     Adoption, as J.I. Packer puts it, is the instating of a son or a daughter to a family.[1]  It is a process that creates a new, permanent parent-child relationship where one didn't exist before.[2] It is the way in which one legally, emotionally, and socially becomes graphed into a family, with all rights and privileges of a son or daughter.  In the realm of the world in which we live in, in and of itself, adoption is a remarkable picture of love and consideration.  In the sphere of God’s kingdom, adoption is the apex of redemptive grace and privilege.[3]

Is adoption just another synonym for justification?

    Adoption, in the bible, encompasses two ideas; justification and family.  Born in our transgressions, we are by nature “sons of disobedience” and are in need of redemption (Eph 2:1-10).  God’s wrath poured out on the cross offers the sinner a justifiable way for his sins to be legally dealt with (Rom 3:25, 4:25, 5:16, 5:18, 8:1-2; Heb 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10).  However, this does not automatically mean we become adopted.  Justification does not guarantee the person is given familial privileges and rights. Justification guarantees that the sinner is deemed not guilty.  Therefore, adoption is not just a synonym for justification.  Trevor Burke explains that adoption,

" is related to justification and is incomplete without it...[however], adoption ought not to be subsumed under justification or mistaken as a synonym for justification…it is an act of God’s grace different and distinct from and additional to justification."[4] 

Adoption: A familial term

     Justification deals directly with the legal transferring of alien to family.   Adoption on the other hand carries both justification and familial connotations; from “sons of disobedience” to “sons of obedience.”   Packer rightly points out that adoption is a familial term conceived in terms of love, family, fellowship, affection, generosity, and heirs.  Dan Cruver, the director of the ministry Together for Adoption, rightly states,

 “Through adoption, God brings us into the warmth, love, and gladness of his own family.  Redemption was never intended to be God’s ‘be-all and end-all’ work of grace.  God redeemed us in his Son so that he might love us and delight in us even as he loves and delights in His eternal Son.”[5]  

What does all of this mean?

     Essentially, this means two things.  First, adoption has its own distinct place in the order of salvation: regeneration, faith, justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification. [6]  It is a distinct act of God's grace that is related to justification but is not the same thing.  The sinner who is saved by grace is not left to work out his salvation as a red headed step-child.  The sinner is given not only legal status, but familial status; enjoying all rights and privileges as a natural born son or daughter.  Justification, in and of itself, falls short of this. 

     Second, it means that we must view adoption in light of position and privilege.  The old adage that says, "We are all God's children," (meaning that since God created all of us by default we are his children) is theologically wrong.  It is one thing to be created by God, it is another to be called a child.  The bible is clear, the only way to be a son/daughter of God is to be adopted into His family.  This is done exclusively through His Son Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).  Only those who have accepted Christ as Lord are considered sons/daughters of God.  Therefore, as sons/daughters of God, we are heirs to the kingdom of the Father.  We are given rights and privileges of the kingdom that are not given to nonbelievers; and angels for that matter (1 Corinthians 6:3).  God has seen fit, through His Son Jesus Christ, to set His love, warmth, and gladness on us and has made us brother and sister to Christ.

What is biblical adoption?    

When we put both ideas aspect together, that is legal and familial, we are able to come up with a working definition:

 Adoption is the distinct act of God’s grace, different and additional to justification, that creates a permanent relationship between the Father and the sinner in which the sinner is graphed into the family of God legally, socially, and emotionally; enjoying all rights and privileges as a son or daughter in the warmth, love, and gladness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.   

In the next three post I will work out aspects of this definition in scripture.  The first aspect I will look at is our adoption in relation to the Trinity (Ephesians 1:3-14).

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[1] Packer, J.I. Knowing God. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 1973.

[2]Media, Adotion. Adoption.com. 1995-2011. http://adopting.adoption.com/child/what-is-adoption.html (accessed November 12, 2011).

[3] Burke, Trevor. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2006.

[4]   Burke, Trevor. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2006.

[5] Cruver, Dan. Reclaiming Adoption: Missional Living Through the Rediscovery of Abba Father. Edited by Dan Cruver. Adelphi, Maryland: CruciformPress, 2011.

[6] Burke, Trevor. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2006. Pg 24