During trials and difficulties, we can be tempted to believe three common lies. God has forgotten about us. He does not see our pain. Or that He does see it, but He doesn’t care. Have those thoughts even lingered in your mind? Often these fears about God’s relation to us are born from our own sinfulness. Not that the fears are sinful (although they are untrue!) but that because of our sinfulness, we question if God is still sticking it out with us. We wonder if our past (or even present) sins have caused God to abandon us in our darknesses. We feel unlovable because our past is inescapable— we feel defined by our mistakes and disobedience.

If we dig to the roots of these lies, we find at the bottom of our fears, we have an identity problem. The lie we believe is that because of what we have done, we are identified in God’s eyes as sinful. Broken. Unworthy. Rebellious. Stuck. Weak. How could a holy, perfect, just God love us so much that even when we spit in His face, He doesn’t leave us in our darkness? The reality is, we are all of those things. We don’t resolve the fear that God has left us by pretending that we aren’t deeply broken. We resolve the fear by understanding that God does not identify us as these any longer. So, the question is, how does God identify us?

In order to fight against these lies, we must return to the foundation of God’s relationship with us. God was incredibly intentional in the language he used to describe how we would become part of His family: He calls us “adopted.” In Jewish culture, adoption was rare, and a relatively unimportant social concept. However, for the Roman gentiles, adoption carried a heavier meaning. In ancient Rome, the law stated that families could disown their children due to their sex, birth defects, appearance, etc. The thought process behind the law was that, in bearing your own children, you had no control over what kind of child you received. Therefore, if you were discontented with your biological child, you could legally disown them. On the other hand, if you adopted a child, you knew exactly who you were bringing into your home— you chose for that child to be included in your family. According to Roman law, a child who had been adopted could not be disowned; they were a permanent part of the family. This is extremely significant, because as Paul said in Galatians:

“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 4:4-5)

If you trust in what Jesus did on the cross to atone for your sins, you have been adopted into God’s family. Jesus intentionally used the laws of a gentile group of people in order to describe the method He would use to bring gentiles into His family. In so doing, He demolishes the fear that He would ever grow discontented with you, leaving you behind. Stop and dwell on that for a moment. God, knowing all of you, will never grow discontented with you, because He knew what He was getting into when He chose you.

Roman historian William Ramsay writes, “It actually lays down the principle that a man can never put away an adopted son, and that he cannot put away a real son without good ground. It is remarkable that the adopted son should have a stronger position than the son by birth, yet it was so.” When God used “adoption” language to describe our relationship with Him, He instituted a law that we cannot be removed or disowned from the family of God once we have been adopted. This solidifies God’s promise in Deuteronomy and Hebrews, “‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me?’” We know that God is just, He keeps His own law, and is faithful to His promises. Therefore we can be confident in the truth that, once we are part of God’s family, He will never abandon us. No matter how messy it gets.

Through adoption into God’s royal family, we are given new identities in Christ. We are called daughters, sons, chosen, heirs, justified, redeemed, accepted, free. God explicitly states that you are “no longer a slave,” that you are “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,” and that you are “a new creation” (Galatians 4:7, Ephesians 2:10, 2 Corinthians 5:17). The identity Christ gives us negates any lie that you should identify as your mistakes, your sin, or your failure. Instead, it instates the truth that you must identify with Christ, embracing only the beautiful truths he speaks about you. Through Him you are set free from the slave master of sin; in Him you have a unique design and an appointed purpose.

When we believe that God is faithful, and worthy of our trust, this promise springs to life in an abundance of hope! We have reason to hope, because we know that our God has promised to work all things— times of joy and times of pain— for our good and for His glory. This hope equips our hearts to find and embrace joy in all seasons. In the midst of trials, frustrations, and crises, our human nature leads us to anxiety, worry, stress, panic, and fear. Without hope, each day that passes brings us to believe the lie that we will be defeated or destroyed by our circumstances. The hope of God’s promises shines a light into the depths of our fear, bringing the capacity for unexplainable joy despite our circumstances. James 1:2-3 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of faith produces perseverance.” We are encouraged by James to consider all tests and trials as joyful things, because we have been promised He will walk with us through them, and that they will work together for our good— to align us more closely with the image of Christ.

Each of these truths lead to an understanding of the next, and the breaking of the lies of the enemy. When we believe that we are adopted into the family of God, as His children, as co-heirs with Christ, we know that we can trust God to be faithful to His promises. As adopted children, we can believe that we are set free from the grasp of our sin and our past. He chose us while we were sinners— “but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) You haven’t surprised Him! He knew what He was getting into when He said, “I want you in my family!” The lie of our identity is broken when we see that God wanted us when we were identified by our rebellion, sinfulness, and our weaknesses. This freedom in Christ brings an understanding of our new identity in Him, enables our hearts to be honest with Him, and allows us to trust His purpose for our futures. This truth opens our eyes to the hope and joy that His promises bring! We no longer have to believe that our circumstances have power over us, over our joy, over our emotions, because we believe the promise that the Lord is working all things together for our good. The hope we have in this unbreakable truth of Christ is unmatched.

You are adopted by God: He is your Heavenly Father, and you are His son or daughter. You are no longer a slave to your past, you can have hope and joy despite your circumstances— you are chosen, redeemed, and made in the image of Christ. His love for you overflows, and you are safe in His arms.

With hope and peace,

McKayla

Annotated Note 1: W. M. Ramsay, A Historical Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, reprinted 1979; p. 353.