Week 10: The New Testament and Adoption Cont’d
Day 1: The Final Stamp – (Ephesians 1:12-14)
We always used to joke that in order to get anything done in Russia you had to have two things: A Spravka (certificate) and a Pechat’ (stamp). The stamp was particularly important because even if you had the spravka, if it wasn’t stamped it did you no good.
We have already covered many of the ideas in Ephesians 1:13-14, but I didn’t feel it was right for us to just skip over these last few verses of the passage we started Friday:
“[Christ] In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.”
Once again, we see that our redemption is by faith in Jesus Christ.
And, once again, we see that the Holy Spirit is the seal of our adoption and inheritance. He is like that spravka and pechat’. He is also like the down payment (the earnest) on a house. The Holy Spirit is God’s seal on us saying, “I have purchased this person. They are mine and this is my token until I come to redeem my purchase.”
We see again that our adoption is for the praise of His glory. This is the primary purpose of adopting and ministering among orphans as well. We are easily swayed by emotion, by the things that our eyes behold and our ears hear. This is very good. If we are not moved by those things chances are we have never truly understood our own pitiful state before God, nor how truly vulnerable we are in this sinful world. But absolute poverty, abandonment and need are not to be our primary motivation in reaching out and ministering to these children. First and foremost, we are to seek the glory of God. We are to be living pictures of His glorious redemption both for them and for those who are watching.
Our adoption is a beautiful thing, but just like any adoption there is a process and a price. Jesus paid that price through His death on Calvary.
Here in Ephesians we are reminded again of the process. Have you trusted Christ? We are not given that final seal until we have believed. This isn’t just believing that He exists. It doesn’t mean believing that He was a good man or possibly even a prophet. It means believing that God sent His only begotten Son to live a sinless life and to go to Calvary where He paid the penalty for our sins. It means believing that God raised Him up from the dead, so that we might have eternal life. It means coming to Him in repentance and calling upon Him for salvation. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” God is waiting. Just like that family waiting to bring an adoptive child into their family. He has already paid the price, already set the process in motion. He’s waiting for you to let Him make you His.
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Also Check out Rachel Miller’s Book: The King’s Daughter: A Story of Redemption
