God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15 NLT
We certainly need the overwhelming and undeserved mercy and love of God as displayed and made effective in Jesus. We were in desperate condition, unable to do anything truly helpful and transformational for ourselves. But when we place our faith in Jesus, we are saved by His grace. We can’t ever take credit for it. It is a gift from God.
What has changed? Are we just saved and forgiven lost ones? Are we still slaves? Oh no! When we received Jesus, we received God’s Spirit, and He adopted us as His own children! Our identity has changed – from slaves to His very own children. We are no longer defined by our old selves – the sin and brokenness that once marked our lives. Through Christ, we are new creations.
The most incredible truth is that, more than anything else, when God looks at us, He sees His beloved children. We are adopted into God’s family. Galatians 3:26 tells us, “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” God doesn’t look at us as strangers, simple acquaintances, or even as distant relatives. He sees us as His own sons and daughters. We are not simply servants of God or followers of Jesus, though we are that, and it is a great privilege, But we have much more. We now have available to us an intimate, personal relationship with God our Father. We are invited to call Him “Abba Father,” or “Daddy Father,” just as Jesus did.
It seems unbelievable, but when Jesus prayed before He went to the cross, He said that God’s love for Him would be the same love God would have for us through Jesus. Can you imagine? He loves us like He loves Jesus! We are His children through faith in Jesus.
- “The love with which God loves is none other than that with which He loved His Son from the beginning … that we might be made partakers of the same love and might enjoy it forever.” – John Calvin
- Thank God that He is your Father, you are His child, part of His forever family.