God The Father | The Father Who Adopts
About this talk:
To adopt is to take into one’s family someone who was not a natural child, such that they then have the status and rights equal to those of a natural child. In a world in which people struggle to know who they are, where the new (disastrous!) narrative is: “Look within and find your own identity, be who you feel you are,” the Bible assures us that the most extraordinary thing has happened by faith in Jesus: we have an identity given to us that we would never have dreamed possible. The son of God has made us sons (and daughters) of God. His goal was ‘not just to rescue from slavery, but to make slaves into sons’ (John Stott).
Verse 4 summarises how God has done this and contains one of the New Testaments great “But”s - “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law”:
He was sent by God. Planned from eternity, this had always been God’s plan, the way in which the promise of blessing through Abraham would come to all nations.
He was “born of a woman.” The promise to Abraham was to his “seed” (3:16) and so must refer to a human being, which serves to emphasise the full humanity of Jesus.
He was “born under the law.” Jesus was born as a Jew, subject in his humanity to the law. Yet in contrast to the disobedience of all who came before him, he perfectly pleased his Father in fully obeying God’s law. He lived in obedience to God’s law for us and bore the curse of the law for us.
Paul then appears to be saying that the ultimate goal of the sending of the Son can be thought of in terms of “adoption to sonship” - “God sent his Son…to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” J. I. Packer wrote: ‘To be right with God the judge is a great thing. But to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater…Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers; higher than justification…adoption is the apex of redemptive grace and privilege…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. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all…Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption.’
The New Testament uses many different terms to communicate the multifaceted nature of the salvation God has achieved for us in Jesus: forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption, regeneration, justification, freedom. But it could be argued that the pinnacle of New Testament salvation is adoption. If some of the other terms teach us what God has saved us from, or out of, adoption (and reconciliation) teach us the relational dimension of what God has saved us into.
In the context of explaining why followers of Jesus are no longer under the tutelage of the law - “Now that this faith (in Christ) has come, we are no longer under a guardian” (3:25) - Paul wants the Galatians to know it is by faith alone that we have become “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (3:29). True sonship has now come through the victory of Jesus on the cross and through his resurrection. Which we not only know but experience because “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’” (v 6). Sonship is both a position conferred upon us and an experience within us. ‘He sent His Son that we might have the status of sonship, and he sent His Spirit that we might have an experience of it’ (John Stott).
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Life Group activity: Understanding Adoption
Read together: Galatians 4:4–7
In the Roman world, adoption had a very strong meaning.
An adopted child:
Received the full legal status of a biological child
Lost all ties to their old life
Became the legal heir of the father
Had the father’s name and inheritance
So when Paul says “adoption to sonship”, his readers would think:
Full status.
Full belonging.
Full inheritance.
1. What do we learn about God's heart in the fact that He didn't just forgive us but also adopted us?
2. In verse 7, it says, “So you are no longer a slave, but God's child.” What might be some of the contrasting differences between being in a slave status vs. son or daughter status?
Breakout Discussion: Living as Adopted Children
Before breaking into 4 groups (or 2 groups, depending on numbers — ideally around 4 people per group), remind everyone:
If we forget we are adopted sons and daughters, we often drift back into a slave mindset — trying to earn approval, fearing failure, or comparing ourselves with others.
Ask each group to discuss the following areas. If there are only 2 groups, give each group two areas to discuss.
Note: You may want to print these questions or take a photo and share them in the WhatsApp group.
1. Identity — How We See Ourselves
1. If we truly believed we were adopted children of God, what difference should that make to how we see ourselves? (Think about how God sees us — that's how we should see ourselves.)
2. When we forget we are adopted, we often drift into two traps:
Self-righteousness — trying to prove ourselves worthy, or thinking we are better than others
Self-condemnation — feeling like we are never good enough, or thinking everyone else is better than us
Which of these do you fall into more easily — and how might remembering that we are adopted help you (or us) overcome that?
2. Prayer Life — How We Relate to God
Paul says the Spirit leads us to cry “Abba, Father.”
1. What is the difference between approaching God as a slave versus approaching Him as a son or daughter?
2. How might our prayers change if we truly believed God delights in us as His children?
3. When do you find it hardest to approach God as Father, and what helps you return to that place of trust?
3. Relationships with Other Christians
If God adopts us, that means every believer becomes part of the same family.
1. How should remembering that we are all adopted change the way we see and treat other Christians?
2. What attitudes or behaviours show up when we relate to others more like competitors or strangers rather than brothers and sisters?
3. What would it look like for our church or small group to really live as a family of adopted children?
4. Representing the Father — Living as His Children in the World
1. In the ancient world, a child carried the family name and reputation.
If we belong to God's family, what might it mean for us to represent our Father well in the way we treat people around us?
2. Think about a situation in your life right now — perhaps with a colleague, neighbour, family member, or someone who frustrates you.
If you remembered in that moment that you are representing your Father's name, how might that influence the way you respond?
3. Are there areas of life where it's easier to represent the Father
(for example church or Christian friends) and places where it's harder (workplace, family tensions, online, etc.)?
What do you think makes the difference?
Optional Closing Question (Back Together)
Bring the whole group back together and ask:
Which area do you most need to grow in this week?
Remembering your identity
Approaching God as Father
Treating other believers as family
Living out your faith from freedom rather than pressure
Closing Prayer
Finish by praying in pairs or groups of three, thanking God for adopting us and asking that we would remember and live in the fullness of that amazing truth.
