Adopted into the family

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. Ephesians 1: 3 – 6

These first few verses of Ephesians are just so rich and give us a wonderful insight into all that God has done to redeem his loved ones and make them his own.  Every sentence is full of wonderful promises; he has blessed us, chosen us to be holy and blameless, he has predestined us, adopted us to sonship because he loves us and this is his pleasure and will. It has all been freely given to us through Jesus.

God has taken people living in the gutter of sin, often completely unaware of their real plight and the desperateness of their situation and lifted them out to become his sons and daughters and be adopted into his family. Jesus was God’s son by nature but we are God’s children by adoption. Nevertheless we still have all the privileges of natural sons and daughters of God as well as full inheritance rights.

Adopted children are not second best – they have been adopted so that those who had no choice or chance before could now be treated just as if they were natural sons and daughters and born into the family. In the natural that is marvellous enough. I am sure we all know of children who have been born with little or no chance in life, who have been adopted into families where they have been treated just as if they had been born into that family. They have been given a chance they could do nothing to earn or deserve. It is even more wonderful in the spiritual realm.

We were dead in our sins, destined for a life in eternity separated from God forever and with no hope of being able to do anything about it ourselves. We may have even not been aware of our situation but God, because of his rich love for us, did all that was necessary to rescue us. What a wonderful God!  He took us and made us his own with all that implies. All those spiritual blessings are ours. 

Perhaps we need to start to realise just how much God loves us. This was a marvellous, carefully thought out plan.  God knew all about us but he did not reject us, instead he predestined us which means he had a destiny for us before we were even on the scene to love us, save us and bring us into his family. The cost for God was high – very high – because it cost him the life of his natural son, Jesus, on the cross. I do not think any of us really have any idea what Jesus had to go through to gain our redemption. However I am just so thankful that he did so that today I know I am part of God’s family – holy, loved, righteous and all given not because of anything I had to offer but through his glorious grace which he has freely given us.

Words just cannot express our thanksgiving but we are surely oh so grateful.

Serving as a way of life

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10: 45

Today I am feeling very thankful for the people who serve us. We went to play golf early this morning to avoid the hottest part of the day and, early though it was, people were clearing up the litter and glasses which had not been returned to the bar from the night before. The ladies room was freshly cleaned. Half way round I left a golf club behind in a bunker and one of the marshals went and got it for me. All these people were doing their job but they did it gladly and well and with a smile.

There was a television programme a little while ago when Michel Roux, a famous chef took on some young people and taught them how to serve in a restaurant. It was more than correctly laying a table or serving the food and wine in a certain way. It was an attitude – a delight in serving for the sake of serving.

As Christians, we too should aspire to serve and serve well. I love it when our churches get involved in community projects and show the love of Jesus in practical ways. It is good too when churches have people who love to serve and teach the younger generation how to do this as well. How nice it is when the youngsters are not the first ones in the queue for food but let others go first and when they help with the clearing or washing up.

So often young people aspire to be worship leaders or preachers and those are worthy aspirations but serving on the tech team, welcoming people, serving tea and coffee are acts of service to be encouraged.

A community of believers who seek to show Jesus’ compassion and serve others is a powerful testimony and is following in Jesus’ footsteps. He is the Son of God, the Lord of Lords and King of Glory yet he came not to be served but to serve by giving his life as a ransom for each one of us.  He is a marvellous example to follow.

Today let us thank God for all those who serve us and help make our lives easier. Let us renew our acts of service with enthusiasm and today if you have become discouraged in your service especially if you feel unappreciated, let God refresh you and help you recover the joy in serving.