Hello, My Name Is …

 

I was blessed to grow up in a faith-based home where I was privileged to learn early that God loves me and that I am known by Him. Still, it wasn’t until my husband and I adopted our twins that I received true revelation about what it is to be adopted by God. When I received the legal adoption decree from the courts I pored over every word. They were strong words. The decree was a separation of the past and a proclamation of the future. Here is an excerpt:

LegalDocument_Name

The section at the end really solidified our children’s new identity in our family. It also solidified within me what it means to be adopted by God through Jesus Christ.

When God chose to send Jesus to rescue the world through death and resurrection, He signed our Adoption Decree. He adopted us for life. He gave us a new name and gave us a new identity. He completely substituted our past with an incredible future. He established a relationship with us and took responsibility for protecting and caring for us. We became heirs with an inheritance. When He chose us, He severed the relationship that the past had with us and the decree of adoption divested any rights that the past claimed over us.

When Jesus died, His blood covered me. When I chose to believe in Him, my past was undone, the prior things become untrue and my identity was forever changed. My name is no longer “Liar”. It’s no longer “Addict”. It’s no longer “Failure”. It’s no longer “Death”. It’s no longer “Narcissist”. It’s no longer “Perfectionist”. I am the daughter of THE KING. He changed my name. He calls me “Whole” and “Healed”. He calls me “Free”. He calls me “Loved”. He calls me “Daughter”. I am known by Him. He is a good father who protects, guides, disciplines and holds me close to His heart.

Maybe you want the freedom that is found in a new identity but aren’t quite sure where to start. The Bible is clear that Jesus was sent so that you could be free and so that God could call you son or daughter.

“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.” Galatians 4:4-7

You were chosen before God even created the world. All you must do is believe in Jesus Christ to be adopted by God.

“He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Ephesians 1:7-10

~Trisha Bowman
Christ Fellowship member