Adoption as sons

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Gal. 4:6

It has been said that adoption into the family of God is the crowning privilege of the believer. It is, as John Gill put it, "an instance of surprising grace." You can hear the wonder in the words of the apostle John, who wrote, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!" (1 Jn. 3:1). To be a son or daughter of the Almighty God (2 Cor. 6:18) is to be an heir of God (Rom. 8:17) and is to possess honor and riches that are incomparably sweet and infinitely desirable.

This is an objective fact for the people of God, whether they feel it or not. "Because ye are sons," not, in order to be sons: the revelation of this to the heart proceeds upon the gift of it to us in Christ and on the basis of what he has done for us (see verse 5). Those who believe in him are given the right to become sons of God (Jn. 1:12), not because they have made themselves worthy of it but because Christ was worthy for them.

Nevertheless, this is a reality that God wants his children to enjoy, and this is the reason he "sends forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Dear believer, God loves you, and he wants you to know it. He has given you the attitude and posture of a child so that you will act upon it. Do not hesitate, therefore, to approach God as your Father in Christ. You are not being presumptuous by coming boldly before the throne of grace to obtain mercy and to find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).

Go to him today, therefore, and call upon him as a child should to him who is a loving and most tender and gracious Father.