Day 5 of 14
God as Father: Adoption
The Highest Privilege of the Gospel
Scripture Readings
Today's Reading
Read Romans 8:14-17: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 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, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."
Then read Galatians 4:4-7: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God."
Reflection
Of all the chapters in Knowing God, Packer's treatment of adoption may be the most personally transforming. His thesis is bold: "Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification." This is a striking claim from a man in the Reformed tradition, where justification by faith alone is rightly treasured as the cornerstone of the gospel. But Packer insists: as wonderful as it is to be declared righteous before God the Judge, it is even more wonderful to be loved and welcomed by God the Father.
Justification changes your legal status. Adoption changes your family status. In justification, God looks at you and says, "Not guilty." In adoption, God looks at you and says, "My child." Both are essential. But adoption is what justification is for. God did not merely acquit you. He brought you home.
Paul's language in Romans 8 is deeply intimate. The Spirit of adoption causes us to cry "Abba! Father!" — the Aramaic word a child used to address a beloved parent. This is not formal religion. It is familial intimacy. And Paul says the Spirit Himself "bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." There is an internal testimony — a deep, Spirit-given awareness that you belong to God not as a servant but as a son or daughter.
The implications are staggering. If you are a child, then you are an heir — "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ." Everything that belongs to Christ by right belongs to you by adoption. His Father is your Father. His inheritance is your inheritance. His home is your home.
Packer puts the diagnostic question simply: "If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father." How much do you make of it?
Going Deeper
Many Christians live as though the gospel made them employees of a divine corporation — grateful to be hired, anxious about their performance review. But the gospel made you a child of the living God. You do not work for God's approval. You live from it. Today, let the Spirit remind you who you are: not a slave, not a stranger, not a hired hand, but a beloved child, welcomed into the Father's house.
Key Quotes
“You sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one's holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father.”
“Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification... Justification is a forensic idea, adoption is a family idea. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater.”
Prayer Focus
Addressing God as 'Abba, Father' and letting the reality of your adoption sink in — that you are not merely pardoned but welcomed into the family of God as a beloved child
Meditation
Packer says adoption is a higher privilege than justification. Justification means God has declared you righteous. Adoption means God has made you His child. Which truth shapes your daily life more? Why?
Question for Discussion
Packer claims that adoption — not justification — is the highest privilege of the gospel. Many Christians focus heavily on being forgiven but rarely think about being adopted. How might your spiritual life change if you lived primarily out of the identity of a beloved child rather than a pardoned criminal?