”For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” Romans 8:14-17

Throughout the world, children are either removed from the home by some sort of authority entity or the child has been placed up for adoption because the biological parents or the family cannot care for the child. These children become wards of the state.  Until we accept Jesus, we are wards of Satan. The adoptive parents make the choice to bring a child into their home and make him/her a legal member of the family. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, adoption is defined as “to legally take another person’s child into your own family and take care of him or her as your own child”. According to https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-adoption.html,  adoption is one of the metaphors used in the Bible to explain how Christians are brought into the family of God. When we become born-again or we profess with our mouths and believe in our heart (which we do by faith), that Jesus is Lord, then we are legally adopted into God’s kingdom and are neither a ward nor lack any sense of identity.  Once the court judge signs the final paperwork, the child now has all the legal rights as though he/she was biologically part of the family.  The child’s name is changed, and a new birth certificate is issued.  The child can also receive all inheritance rights as though he/she was born into the family.

The point I want to make is that when adoption laws were originally designed there was no contact agreement between the child and the biological parents.  A new concept, however, appeared called “open adoption” where the birth family knows who adopted their child and, in some instances, the birth parents chose the adoptive parents.  Most of the time, the child has an awareness of the birth parents. 

Now let us apply and compare this natural concept with the spiritual. For every adoption, there are fees that must be paid before the adoption becomes final.

1 Corinthians 6:20 states, “For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (NKJV).  This scripture bears witness that Jesus Christ paid our adoption fees by His own blood when He was crucified.  Before we accepted salvation, we were Satan’s child. And we could say that Satan was our foster parent.  A child is placed into the system when the birth family cannot or chooses not to care for the child.  Although God created us, when Sin entered the Garden (Genesis 3:14-19), “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it was thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (KJV).  We became separated by God’s law and placed up for adoption. 

The final hearing of the heavenly judge occurs when we profess with our mouth and believe in our heart that Jesus is Lord.  The phrase, “to profess with our mouth” is important because it is saying “I want to be part of this family” and then gavel is banged.  

I have been spending a lot of time studying the Seven Spirits of God.  These spirits can be found in Isaiah 11:2 (King James Bible
And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD:
 and they are as follows:

1) The Spirit of the LORD
2) The Spirit of wisdom
3) The Spirit of understanding
4) The Spirit of counsel
5) The Spirit of power
6) The Spirit of knowledge
7) The Spirit of the fear of the Lord

These seven spirits serve as witnesses to any legal proceeding that takes place in the spirit. When Jesus walked on the Earth, it was the spirit of God that gave Him that authority and that is why we publicly accept His authority. “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14 KJV)

On final day of an adoption proceeding, the child’s name is permanently changed to the adopted parents’ last name; or at the point where the child is old enough to legally change their own name, the records are then sealed. 

When we become a child of God, our name is transferred to the Book of Life that will be opened at the White Throne Judgement found in the Book of Revelation 20:15; “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

In this writing, I also want to address the idea of “open adoption”.  When the records of the birth parents have not been sealed, their child is now available for an open adoption.  In this case, the birth parents are actively involved with who adopts their child and know with whom and where their child has been placed.  

In God’s eyes, there is no such thing.  God wants us all in or all out.  One must decide to either follow Jesus or remain a ward of Satan.  There can be no middle ground.  This is referred to in James 1:8. We call this being double minded.  “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (KJV)

“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded” (James 4:8 KJV).  According to the Benson Commentary, “double-minded man , is a man who has, as it were, two souls; whose heart is divided between God and the world, and is not simply given up to God, nor entirely confides in God for the direction, aid, and support which He stands.”   We are beginning to have a double mind when our faith begins to waver; when we begin to doubt God, (James 1:8, King James Version

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/James/1/8).  In other words, we want the best of both kingdoms – God’s and Satan’s) God wants you to all Himself.  God’s Kingdom requires us to get rid of everything that is associated with our past lives.    

When Jesus called his 12 disciples, he said, “Follow me” and they immediately did so without hesitation. Matthew 4:19, KJV states: “And he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

We must understand that because of the original sin, we were thrown into a spiritual war between heaven and hell.  When people teeter back and forth, then others become effected by our indecision, thus our witness is of none effect as the lack of fruit we bear leaves them wondering whether what we believe is real.

We also find there are people who say they are “Christian” but they lack fruit.  “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)  This verse reflects the character of a person, because what is in our inner man will come out and our character will then be exposed.  (2 Peter 2 :10 KJV) states: “But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.”

A final thought about adoption and open adoption, whether to be a child of God or wanting the benefits both families, is that you can only serve one master, God, or Satan “No man can serve two masters: for either he. will hate the one and love the other; or else. he will hold to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24,  KJV).

I spoke earlier that we have certain rights as part of adoption, but we also have responsibilities as well.  First, we must love one another (John 13:35, NKJV). “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  That does not mean that we must agree with everything that one says or does, but part of love is understanding a person’s heart.  We all have different talents and gifts, but because we were living in sin before we accepted Jesus means that we learn to allow ourselves to understand that He has forgiven our past, and we must forgive ourselves, as well. 

Another aspect of family unity by adoption is that prayer starts at home, as part of God’s family we stand united again the devil and his demons.  God stressed this by saying that there is one body, but there are multiple parts to the body and each part serves a unique purpose and we are dependent on each part to function properly (1 Corinthians 12:12-27), “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts forms one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.”  As believers, we not given God’s entire plan for our life.  Instead we have to work together. 

Throughout the Bible, there are countless ways God has rewarded unity in the body of Christ.  Although there more ways responsibilities as being a part of a family, one that really sticks out is the importance of being grateful. We should be grateful being a member of God’s family unit and we should do everything possible to live for God as a confirmation of our being grateful that we are a part of that family.  Throughout history, some family members have given their lives and being martyred standing for the price Jesus paid for them. 

The Apostle Paul spent many years in prison persecuted for his faith.  The Apostle John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos, and Stephen became the first recorded Christian to die for Jesus. 

These acts of faith take us back to the command God gave about loving each other (John 13:15, NKJV) “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”  Jesus did this, not just for us to go have eternal life but gave us an example to follow. The non-Christians (those that have not made the conscious decision to admit they are a sinner and profess with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord) spend time watching believers.  If what we say and do does not match what Jesus commands, then our efforts are null and void. If you are none of those who is still straddling the line between being a ward of Satan, and believing you are a ward of Jesus, I invite you now to become adopted into God’s wonderful family.  With an honest heart, repeat this simple prayer:

“Jesus, I want to be a part of your family. You said in Your Word that if I acknowledge that You were raised from the dead, and that I accept You as my Lord and Savior, I would be saved. So, Jesus, I now profess with my mouth and believe in my heart that I accept You as my personal Lord and Savior. I accept my salvation from sin right now.  Thank you, Father, for forgiving me, saving me, and giving me eternal life with You. Amen!”