Adoption
10/20/11
By DR. Kiwi S. Kalloo
Romans 15:15-21
15For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father.
Very clearly did the spirit speak saying that we have been
given a “spirit” and that spirit is not a spirit of fear but a spirit of
adoption. A new covenant and in that new covenant there is an inheritance
through promise. See, the scripture also declares that we were predestinated to
be conformed to the image of his son. This was before the world began, before
time was, before Adam and Eve, before the garden, before the fall of man, before
we were born, before the moon and the stars.
See, God’s plan goes back before existence itself, for we
know that in the beginning “God”.
Covenant;
1)
covenant, alliance, pledge
a)
between men
1)
treaty, alliance, league (man to man)
2)
constitution, ordinance (monarch to subjects)
3)
agreement, pledge (man to man)
4)
alliance (of friendship)
5)
alliance (of marriage)
b)
between God and man
1)
alliance (of friendship)
2)
covenant (divine ordinance with signs or pledges)
a)
covenant making
b)
covenant keeping
c)
covenant violation
To fully understand adoption, we
must first come to an understanding of Covenant. To be in covenant means to be
in a relationship. A covenant is not something that can stand alone, but it is
an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not to do
something specific.
A covenant is a pledge, an alliance,
a constitution set forth that supersedes circumstances and conditions. Hear me
friends, God has formed an alliance with his children, his pledge is a covenant
pledge, his covenant is that of a promise, a promise of better things.
Hebrews 12:24
24And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
God’s Covenant with Isaac:
"Now there was a famine in the
land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went
to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the LORD appeared to him,
and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell
you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to
you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the
oath which I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your descendants as
the stars of heaven, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by
your descendants all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves: because
Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and
my laws.' So Isaac dwelt in Gerar." (Genesis 26:1-6)
Received;
1) to take
a) to take with the hand, lay hold
of, any person or thing in order to use it
1) to take up a thing to be
carried
2) to take upon one's self
b) to take in order to carry away
c) to take what is one's own, to
take to one's self, to make one's own
1) to claim, procure, for one's
self
a) to associate with one's self as
companion, attendant
2) of that which when taken is not
let go, to seize, to lay hold of, apprehend
4) to take to one's self, lay hold
upon, take possession of, i.e. to appropriate to one's self
5) catch at, reach after, strive
to obtain
6) to take a thing due, to
collect, gather (tribute)
d) to take
1) to admit, receive
2) to receive what is offered
3) not to refuse or reject
4) to receive a person, give him
access to one's self,
To receive means to take unto oneself, to lay hold of, to
take ownership, to have possession of, to collect, to admit, to give access.
See, when we read the scripture in Romans;
Romans 15:15-21
15For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father.
We often think about us receiving, putting aside the true
purpose of the gift “God receiving us unto himself”, what a privilege, see,
when we take ownership we think carnal, but when God takes ownership he takes
it all, we often receive others because of the good that they show. When the
old man shows up we condemn and cast out. A typical example would be Jesus and
Judas, when Jesus took Judas under his wings he loved him unconditionally in
spite of his weakness, he loved Peter in spite of his bad temper, he loved us
in spite of our sin. Let’s take a test of self; if our neighbors offend us we
cut them off for life but if our children offend us, we love them in spite of
their weakness.
Spirit;
Pneuma - Greek
1) the third person of the triune
God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son
a) sometimes referred to in a way
which emphasises his personality and character (the "Holy" Spirit)
b) sometimes referred to in a way
which emphasises his work and power (the Spirit of "Truth")
b) breath of nostrils or mouth
In the same manner that God received us in spite of our sin
and unworthiness, we have great need to receive him into our lives, see as we get connected to him, he gets
connected to us.
Bondage;
1)
slavery, bondage, the condition of a slave
Fear;
1) fear, dread, terror
a) that which strikes terror
F – False
E – Evidence
A – Appearing
R – Real
When God comes into our lives and we receive him as he
receives us, there is no fear, no intimidation, no condition for his love. See,
we are not received to become slaves under fear but to be loves as free.
Adoption;
1)
adoption, adoption as sons
a)
that relationship which God was pleased to establish between himself and the
Israelites in preference to all other nations
b)
the nature and condition of the true disciples in Christ, who by receiving the
Spirit of God into their souls become sons of God
1.
to choose or take as one's own; make one's own by selection or
assent: to adopt a nickname.
2.
to take and rear (the child of other parents) as one's own
child, specifically by a formal legal act.
3.
to take or receive into any kind of new relationship: to adopt a person
as a protégé.
4.
to select as a basic or required textbook or series of textbooks
in a course.
5.
to vote to accept: The House adopted the report.
When God adopted us, he brought us
into his own Kingdom and gave us access to his domain, gave us a room of our
own and our own set of keys to get in. under his cover we are sheltered and
protected from the elements and our food and clothing is provided by him. While
we are under his cover he protects us but when we step out from under his
cover, we become open to the elements and abuse of the passer bys.
A stranger, alien and foreigner to
his commonwealth, without hope, unworthy and disconnected from the Father, he
in his infinite way had designed a covenant that would take effect through
promise and through this promise we would have an inheritance.
Through legal channels he sent forth
his son as a mediator, to be the perfect sacrifice who was also the altar who
was also the high priest who shed his own blood to redeem us and write us a new
covenant in his own blood. Making us heirs and joint heirs with Christ, sons of
Jesus, the 42nd generation, the man child, the first born among many.
The sons of God.
Abba;
Abba =
"father"
1)
father, customary title used of God in prayer. Whenever it occurs in the New
Testament it has the Greek interpretation joined to it, that is apparently to
be explained by the fact that the Chaldee "ABBA" through frequent use
in prayer, gradually acquired the nature of a most sacred proper name, to which
the Greek speaking Jews added the name from their own tongue.
Father;
a)
the originator and transmitter of anything
1)
the authors of a family or society of persons animated by the same spirit as
himself
2)
one who has infused his own spirit into others, who actuates and governs their
minds
b)
one who stands in a father's place and looks after another in a paternal way
a)
of the stars, the heavenly luminaries, because he is their creator, upholder,
ruler
b)
of all rational and intelligent beings, whether angels or men, because he is
their creator, preserver, guardian and protector
1)
of spiritual beings and of all men
c)
of Christians, as those who through Christ have been exalted to a specially
close and intimate relationship with God, and who no longer dread him as a
stern judge of sinners, but revere him as their reconciled and loving Father
d)
the Father of Jesus Christ, as one whom God has united to himself in the
closest bond of love and intimacy, made acquainted with his purposes, appointed
to explain and carry out among men the plan of salvation, and made to share
also in his own divine nature
The process of Adoption is not just about taking on the name of the Parent Father that is standing in the gap to adopt but to take on his name. Taking on his name means to take on his nature and personality. Through adoption, it makes the candidate acceptable and qualified to take on family positions and authority. When Jesus came on the scene he said “I do those things that I am told of my Father” I am not of myself but I came to do the will of my Father. See, I have been contaminated by the sting of death which is sin and my Father found me and performed blood transfusion on me, for his blood was found to be worthy and compatible to flow through my veins, so when Doctor Jesus came on the scene, he prepared me for surgery and blood covenant through the spirit.
When that process of rebirth was taking place I was as dead but his blood revived me and now the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the son of God. It is no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me, for I am bought with a price and I am no longer a slave to sin but a prisoner of grace and that grace is all of God and none of us. So now because we have received that spirit of adoption, he calls us his own.
Taken from a place of darkness and death, we have grown accustomed to the spirit of darkness and death, but being transformed from death unto life, we are no more dead but alive unto God. Being in that place of carnality for so long, we all have grown to be attached to the things that is carnal and find it hard to get detached from that thing that beset us so easily.
