| Author | Message | ||
| Hec Registered user Username: Hec Post Number: 1602 Registered: 3-2009 |
I've been thinking about the New Birth. John 3 explains that we cannot see the kingdom of God unless we are born again. Being born again is when our dead spirits are born again when we accept Jesus as our savior and Lord. As I understand, birth is a blood relationship, and it happens because of the blood of Jesus poured on the cross. However, there are these other passages about adoption. We being children of God due to adoption. Some examples: Rom 8:15,16: " For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God," Gal. 4:4,5: " But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." So do we become children of God through adoption of trough new birth? One is a legal relationship, the other is a blood relationship. Any help anybody? Hec | ||
| Alison1 Registered user Username: Alison1 Post Number: 38 Registered: 10-2010 |
I think it is both. We are born of the spirit which connects us to both God and Jesus.(the new birth) And He in turns accepts us as His sons and daughters through his son, Jesus (which is the legal component) | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 7149 Registered: 9-2006  |
Read Romans 11:5-33. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 12241 Registered: 12-2003  |
Yes, Hec. They are simultaneous. We are born again of the Spirit (John 3:3-6), and the Holy Spirit we receive when we believe (Eph 1:13-14) is the spirit of adoption by which we cry Abba, Father (Rom 8:15-16). It's a very cool thing. We move from being in Adam to being in Christ, transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God's beloved Son (Col 1:13). This transfer results in our adoption as God's own children. The amazing thing about the adoption transaction is that it is more legally "binding" than "mere" birth. For example, when I adopted my sons Roy and Nathanael nearly three years ago as adults, the judge stated that, as their adoptive mom, I could not disown or "unadopt" them. A natural parent can disown his own child; an adoptive parent may not. This legal stricture also applied to Roman adoptions which were common when Paul wrote Romans. The adoption model, therefore, is a powerful picture of the security and inheritance that we have in being God's adopted children. Colleen | ||
| Hec Registered user Username: Hec Post Number: 1605 Registered: 3-2009 |
Beautiful! Still the question lingers, why both? If I'm a birth child, I don't need adoption. If I'm adopted, I don't need to be born again. So there has to be some kind of relationship, connection, explanation, why one wouldn't be enough. Hec | ||
| Philharris Registered user Username: Philharris Post Number: 2394 Registered: 5-2007  |
Hec, When the bible talks of our being adopted into the family of God it is with reference to most of us being Gentiles rather than a natural born Jew through whom the promise of God were given. Of course even a Jew needs to be born of the Spirit to be saved and in the eternal family of God. The scriptures also uses other analogies to describe our relationship with God when we receive our eternal salvation from him. For instance, we are said to be a member of his body (the church) which makes us his bride where he is our groom. The point is the bible uses many ways to describe our relationship to God. Even when we consider all of them that we understand, we probably dont have the full picture of God and the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Fearless Phil | ||
| Alison1 Registered user Username: Alison1 Post Number: 39 Registered: 10-2010 |
Colleen, I didn't know that an adoptive parent could not disown or "unadopt" their children. I don't know if I ever had told you in our past conversations or not, that both my older brother and I were both adopted when we babies. But as far as this pertains to my relationship with God and Jesus Christ, this thought of adoption is very comforting as well as a blessing. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 12254 Registered: 12-2003 |
You know, the whole process and the details of adopting Roy and Nathanael were deeply impacting in many ways I would not have foreseen. First, becoming their mother legally startled me with its weight of "reality". It was really impacting to me because this decision was not unilateral, as when parents adopt an infant. My sons chose thischose to identify with mejust as much as I chose them. I keep being drawn to Romans 4:17 where Paul talks about God "who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist." Becoming Roy and Nathanael's mom continues to be an illustration of this reality: God creates what does not exist, and when He moves, there is no mere physical explanation for it. The reality He createsthe life He brings into existenceis a miracle. Second, going through that process gave me an overwhelming sense of what it means that I am adopted by God. The logic-defying, breathtaking reality of being family by an act of God instead of by birth is indescribable. For God to adopt me is completely illogical. Yet He has, and it changes reality. Jesus redefined "family" when He asked, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" Then He answered His own question by saying all those who do the will of His Father are His mother and His brothers and His sisters. All of us who have been adopted by the Father have new family, family that is real because we share His Spirit, and it is eternal because we are alive with God's own life. The miracle of having His life when we had no life, the miracle of being His children and heirs with Christ...there's no logical way to explain this reality. There's only room for thanksgiving. Colleen |
