In Ephesians chapter 1, let's
read verses 1 through 6 and we'll run across the doctrine of adoption. Fall an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the
faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you, peace from God
our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having
predestinated us unto the children of adoption by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved. I John 3 and 1, Behold what manner
of love The Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. Now, Paul writes, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. There are several
senses in which sonship is written up in the Scripture. Some of
them are quite diverse. For example, Adam is called a
son of God in Luke chapter 3 verse 38. The angels, it seems, are
called the sons of God, Job 38 and verse 7 and chapter 1. and
verse 8. Thirdly, the notion that the
people of Israel are called both God's Son, firstborn, and also
the adoption. In Romans 9.4, Paul said, to
whom pertaineth the adoption. That is, collectively they were
called God's sons. So the earthly over-inheritance
was chiefly what they were to inherit. And of course, the Lord
Jesus Christ is also called the Son of God, and is the Son of
God in a most unique and peculiar way, uncreated, but a partaker
of the eternal nature or the essence of God, who by virtue
of the eternal covenant is made mediator and heir of all things
in regard to the purpose and the covenant of God. And then
of course there is spiritual sonship or adoption. Or how shall we separate sonship
from adoption? How shall we take away one and
still have the other? Witsius, that is Hermann Witsius,
an old-time writer, put it this way, they may enjoy the benefits
both of grace and of glory, not by the favor and friendship,
but also by right of inheritance, unquote. Thus, adoption to full
sonship gives one chosen in Christ the right to full sonship privileged
in and through Jesus Christ. However, their sonship and adoption
is not because God created and preserves them, gives them things
that are needful to sustain them in this life. Not only external
privileges are included in this, nor was it national, non-saving
adoption that is in mind. Their sonship and adoption is
the bringing them into the family of God, bringing them to a father-child
relationship between God and themselves. And these are such
as were once outsiders, once foreigners, and once were strangers. and the bestowing of the privilege
of adoption, or sonship upon such, the completed and full
privileges of adoption unto sonship. So that in addition, therefore,
to their spiritual sonship, in addition to their being born
of God, they are also by adoption made unseparable heirs with and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if I'm not mistaken, there
are several cases in the Scripture of what we might refer to as
civil adoption. I know this may seem astray,
but the prodigal son, in addition to being owned as a son, was
manifested so by adoption and given the full privileges and
heirship of and with a father. Then, of course, there is Moses,
who was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter and brought into the
house of Pharaoh and raised there in Exodus chapter 2 verse 10,
Acts 7 and verse 21 and Hebrews 11 and verse 24. Again there
is Esther. who was orphaned and raised by
Mordecai in the book of Esther chapter 2 and verse 7. And then
there is old crippled Mephibosheth that we read about in the Old
Testament, 2 Samuel chapter 9, who was brought into the house
of David and treated like a son because of a covenant promise. However, it would be an error
on our part to make spiritual adoption run along exactly the
same line as civil adoption and to make them one and the same
in all things. Now granted, in some things there
is They resemble one another in a few things, but not in every
point. Such as they resemble in the
fact that adoption puts one among the children of the family, that
they're brought in and they are put in the family as a child. Secondly, it gives them full
and legal right of the inheritance, that is, of the earthly inheritance
of the family. Thirdly, it makes them subject
unto the parents who adopt them, gives them a duty to obey and
honor and walk in the way and to be thankful. And fourthly,
they assume the name of the parents that adopt them. In spiritual
and in civil adoption, there is a likeness in these things. Still, in other ways, they differ. Spiritual and civil adoption. Such as, for example, those who
are spiritually adopted are so because they have been predestinated
to the adoption of sons and that before the foundation of the
world. We read that in Ephesians 1 and
verse 3 through 5. Secondly, there is no cause for
their adoption, but the sovereign good will and pleasure of God. Now, in civil adoption, something
else might enter in. It might be a case of necessity,
raising deceased siblings' children, or it might be pity. Or it might
be because it is such a beautiful child. Or it might be simply
a desire to acquire children that can't be acquired in the
natural way. But none of these are factors
in spiritual adoption. You see, Pharaoh's daughter pitied
little Moses, crying in the bulrushes. Mordecai took Esther because
she was an orphan, neither father or mother. And David took Mephibosheth
in as a covenant promise unto his beloved friend Jonathan. But then thirdly, civil adoption
cannot bestow a different nature upon that child that is adopted. It cannot make the one adopted
to have the natural disposition of the parent. Thus many who
have adopted have reaped the win because as they adopt they
have the nature, the genes and such like of those of their natural
parent. So the name is new, but the nature
is not in cases of adoption. But in spiritual regeneration
and spiritual adoption, a new nature is actually bestowed by
the inward work of God. A renewed nature. Regeneration. They're supernaturally renewed
by a sovereign, inward, irresistible work of God. Spirit of God, so
then they're not separate regeneration and adoption completely as to
their overall aim or goal as to the work of God. Not that
they're one and the same thing, for they are not. One goes before
and the other follows after. One is cause and one is effect. John Gill, whom I like to read
when the subject is adoption, says, Adoption gives the name
of sons. Regeneration gives the nature
of sons, sons of God. Adoption gives title to an inheritance,
while regeneration provides a meekness or partaking of the inheritance. Gill is one of the few that makes
the distinction, and he uses such text as Galatians 4, verse
6. We won't go there at length,
but it says, Because you are sons, God has sent forth His
Spirit into your heart." Now, that passage there in Galatians
is especially and particularly suited to the state and the case
of the Jew. It carries us back into chapter
3 of Galatians. Once they were like heirs in
their minority. They had minor standing. Children
they were, though they were heirs. heirs yet under a governor or
a tutor or a pedagogue, not yet allowed the full privileges of
sons, but were like unto servants, as Paul puts it. And then in
the appointed time God sent forth Christ that He might deliver
them from their servitude of the law and bring them into the
full liberty and light of the gospel. And this Paul calls adoption. That you might receive the adoption
of son. Remember, one of the special
privileges which Paul ascribed unto the Jew in Romans 9 was
the privilege of adoption. To whom pertaineth the adoption,
he writes of them. This nation was adopted by God
as a special and eventually a covenant people, as a type of the adoption
of children in the Lord Jesus Christ. But now let us enter
upon Scripture in the evidence concerning the matter to build
an even stronger case for what Paul says about adoption. Look at Ephesians 1.5 again,
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ according to the good pleasure of His will." The adoption
of children. You see again in Romans 8, And
verse 15, he have received the spirit of adoption. Whether the spirit that enforces
it or the spirit that comes with it, how can I say? Romans 8.23,
waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. The
word appears again in Romans 9.4, Galatians 4.5. And the name describes the things
that are signified by it. Adoption is literally son placing. It is a placing or a putting
among the children. One who was not originally among
them. A foreigner, an outsider, an
outside born one or such. For example, Jeremiah 3.19, I
said, how shall I put thee among the children and give thee a
pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the host of nations? And then answer, I said, thou
shalt call me my father. Thou shalt call me my father,
father and son. Thus, adoption is the placing
of one as a son, as a child, putting one in and among, making
them a part of the family, admitting one in the family membership
and all of the privileges thereof. In fact, it is a privilege of
admitting one to the place of sonship, which by nature or natural
birth had no right or claim to that position or upon that family
at all, and they no obligation toward him. It's most simple
yet truthful explanation, the placing of one as a child. In fact, the word adoption is
the combination of the two. Son placing. not of natural born
son, but of sons that were not true sons by nature. Now, of course, they were somebody's
son. Someone was their father. Someone
was their mother. But they need that someone adopt
them and raise them in a good way. The parents were dead, they
were orphans, as was the case with Esther, or they were illegitimate,
found in a dumpster, like we often see on the news in our
city. Or they were like Israel in Ezekiel
chapter 16, that little female infant thrown out into the field
in the day of her birth. Or they were not wounded by their
natural parents and were put away. Or they were in an intolerable,
dangerous situation where they were sorely neglected and mistreated. And if you really think about
it, of those adopted, almost all of them went from a worse
to a much better situation. Sometimes from having no parent
to having one. Or having neglectful parents
to having good and loving ones. From having a very bleak and
deprived existence to a stable family living. And adoption was
unto them a blessing. I know a man, we have a good
friend like that, and it brings almost tears to my eyes to hear
me tell of his childhood, till he was adopted by a family who
raised him in church and right. But how much more our adoption
by God, predestinated to the adoption of son. We are all adopted
that are Christian. We are all adopted that are the
elect. Our natural birth was unto a
sad and a worthless and a sinful way of life and by it no hope
of eternal life. by our own works or by our natural
birth. Spiritually we were poor and
without mean, sure for destruction if left in our natural estate
and in our natural father Adam. Not by nature were we the sons
of God at all. None are by reason of nature,
the sons of God. None by natural birth or ancestry
or parentage or merit are the sons of God. Now the rim and
the idea of adoption was a favorite one with the Apostle Paul. He's
the one that talks about it the most. And here in Ephesians 1.5,
predestinated to the adoption of children. Of course, John
Eady, the commentator, points out the sonship that is proclaimed
here is not a natural sonship. but one whose constitution rests
on a special and divine ordination from God Almighty set out in
Ephesians chapter 1. It is not just sonship. but sonship
acquired through adoption, which no doubt was foreshadowed in
the adoption of Israel and in other adoption that we read about
in the Bible. But now it is the privilege of
every individual and regenerated elect. How then does one enter
into adoption? What is the prerequisite for
being adopted? What conditions might we mention
with regard to our adoption? The answer is simple. It is the
absolute, free, sovereign will and purpose of our God. Notice
that Ephesians 1.5 ends with this, according to the good pleasure
of God. Not because we were pitiful,
not because we were awful in our condition, according to the
good pleasure of God. Well, who then are adopted? Those that were chosen in Christ
before the foundation of the world? Ephesians 1 and verse
4. They were first chosen in Christ,
chosen to salvation, chosen to believe, chosen to eternal life
as we read in Acts 13 and verse 48. They were then predestinated
according to Ephesians 1.5, 1.11 and Romans 8 28 and verse 29, predestinated to
the adoption of sons. They were marked out as the sons
of God. They were placed within divine,
sovereign boundaries. They were marked out beforehand,
even before they were born. Or before they, like Jacob and
Esau, had done any good or evil. And even before the foundation
of the world. Before time in history was ever
set in motion. And according to what? Nothing
but God's own eternal will. That such should partake. of
the riches of the Father in and through Christ Jesus. And note
the resemblance of two statements here in Ephesians chapter 1,
verse 5, predestinated to the adoption of children. Verse 11, in whom we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated, that is, being foreordained to
attain it. With adoption comes, one, full
sonship, and two, full inheritance right from our Father God. What does Paul say in Romans
8 and verse 17? If children, then heirs, heirs
of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Children, whether by
natural means or by adoption, become heirs of the parents. But we receive special sonship
through adoption by the sovereignty of God, and by sonship we become
rightful, legal heirs of God and with Jesus Christ. If children,
then heirs, Paul said in the Scripture. But Paul lays the
emphasis even deeper. If children, then heirs. Heirs
of God. Joint heirs with Christ our Lord. Like he does in Ephesians chapter
1. Heirs of God. Now, in the natural
realm, the inheritance is divided either equally or unequally among
the heirs according unto their number. Each one only gets a
portion of the father's estate according to his goodwill. But
in spiritual adoption, they are heirs of God, each one receiving
a full portion, each one receiving a full son's heirship. Because, Galatians 4, 7, you
are a servant no longer, but a son, and if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ. Romans 8, 17 again, and joint
heirs with Christ. And their airship is safe, for
it is in Christ Jesus. It is incorruptible. It is imperishable. It is eternal. It is immutable. It cannot be lost or stolen or
squandered. Robert Haldane has one of the
better known commentaries on the book of Romans and he put
it this way, they cannot be dispossessed of it for the omnipotence of
God secures it against all opposition. Think of it, Christ is made heir
of all things, Hebrews 1 and verse 2, joint heirs with Christ,
Romans 8 and 17, they have their inheritance forever, firm, secured,
indissolvable, imperishable by reason of their union with the
Lord Jesus Christ, because they have their adoption by and through
the sonship of our blessed Lord. Their sonship, their heirship,
nor adoption can never be revoked and never be turned back. They
will dwell with Him forever. and forever, for they are made
the sons of God. We shall be like Him in some
way and extent, for we shall see Him as He is. Now the Ephesians
1 passage makes it very clear, to God we are adopted. Predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ unto Himself. the Father, God, unto
Himself. We are His Son. We are His, though
it is by Christ, yet it is unto Himself. He is our God. We are His children. Thus being
His children, we are heirs. As one summed up the blessings
of sonship, thus adoption, God Himself is our Father, His household
we enter, we welcome, we are saluted with His name, and dignity
we wear, His image we possess, His discipline we receive, His
home prepared for us we hope to dwell in. All of this because
unto Him we are adopted and we are the sons of God. Now the question might come unto
us, why both? Why regeneration and also adoption? Are we not sons of God and have
a new nature by regeneration and by faith? All who are adopted
are regenerate. And all who are regenerate are
adopted. So let's ask the question in
this way. Are they adopted because they
are regenerate? Or are they regenerate because
they are Do they need to be adopted because they are regenerate,
or do they need to be regenerate because they are adopted? Perhaps the best way to ask the
question is, which comes first, adoption or regeneration? Now the key is here for us in
Ephesians verse 1. Twice, verse 5, predestinated
to the adoption of children which describe the thing done before
time and before our experience. And verse 6, wherein he hath
made us accepted in the Beloved." And I, with Thomas Goodwin, put
that among the eternal blessing that were done before the foundation
of the world. But, to close our study, Thomas
Goodwin put it right, that adoption is right to heaven, and all that
it includes, or all that it entails, adoption unto that glory. So the application is this. He
has set apart him that is godly for himself. Psalm chapter 4
and verse 3. None by nature are separated
by this, but by divine election are we chosen in Christ and foreordained
to the adoption of children to be the spiritual sons and daughters
of God. None unregenerate will inherit
or experience adoption or sonship. God must bring us and does and
has into the family of God, adopted through Jesus Christ unto God
the Father. Adoption. We're sons. We're daughters. He's our Father. We have right
to call Him that.