We all have the privilege of approaching God as our Father. He has adopted us. In this excerpt from the Ordinary Bible study, Pastor Tony Merida breaks down this concept of God as our adoptive Father and what that means in light of the gospel.
The entire video is above, and the complete transcript is below.
God is an adoptive Father.
When you think about the fact that we pray to “Father”, we’re praying to an adoptive Father. Paul says in Galatians 4 that we cry out, “Abba Father“. This term of endearment, this term of intimacy, that Jesus prayed when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. We have an adoptive Father.
I like to say it like this: Ephesians 1:5 and Ephesians 5:1 go together. 1:5 says “We’ve been adopted.” 5:1 says, “Imitate God as beloved children.” So one of the ways we imitate God is by putting His adoptive love on display for a broken world in need.
So why care for the vulnerable? Well, because people are made in God’s image. Because God is a Father to the fatherless. God is an adoptive Father.
In the gospel, we see adoption on display, don’t we? We who were orphans are now brought into the family. We who were once on the outside have been brought near.
