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WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT BEING A CHILD OF GOD? (26 OF 26)

by Jonathan McLeod

Scripture: Romans 8:14-17
This content is part of a series.


What's So Great About Being a Child of God? (26 of 26)
Series:Romans:The Gospel of God
Jonathan McLeod
Romans 8:14-17


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!'' (v. 15).

MY DAD!

There's a viral video in which a group of girls are bragging about their dads. One girl says, ''My daddy has a gold tooth!''

One of the girls is impressed: ''Wow, a gold tooth?''

Not to be outdone, another girl turns to the first girl and says, ''My dad has diabetes.''

We who are Christians say that God is our Father. And the Bible actually encourages us to boast about ''our Father in heaven'': ''Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord'' (1 Cor. 1:31). So what's so great about being a child of God?


WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHILD OF GOD

In these verses, Paul gives us two reasons why it's an amazing privilege to be a child of God-to have God as our Father.

1. A child of God has been adopted by God.

In verse 14, Paul says, ''All who led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.'' Later, he writes, ''We have received the Spirit of adoption as sons.'' To be adopted by God means to be chosen by God. God has chosen us to be his children.

Why do verses 14 and 15 say that we are ''sons,'' not ''sons and daughters''? Is Paul excluding women? No! The reason why Paul uses the word ''sons'' has to do with the culture of his day. In that culture, a childless adult would adopt a male child to be his heir. So an adopted child would have been a son.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul says, ''In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith'' (3:26). And then he says, ''There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'' (v. 28). In other words, all of us-both male and female-are equal in God's family. No one is more or less a child of God than anyone else!

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