Easter is a story of our adoption by God.
1) God changes our status.
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. How can I, a sinner, be made right with God who is holy?
Adoption requires that someone comes at the right time.
Someone who possesses the right qualifications must come. -- Jesus had to be both fully God and fully man to be able to bridge the gap between us and God. He had to be perfectly subject to the law.
Someone must come with the right resolve. -- They must come with the intent to adopt. God sent Jesus with the purpose to buy our freedom for us, so that He could adopt us and we could be called children of God. The god of the universe has stood up and shouted, “I will not abandon you to your sin.” Jesus has the resolve, “I will sacrifice my own life so that they can be brought into my father’s family.”
2) God changes our family.
Ephesians 1:4-10
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
We are not just deemed right before God, He lavishes His love on us.
He planned to love us. -- Adoption doesn’t just happen. It is planned and intentional.
He paid a price to love you. -- Adoption is costly…financially, emotionally...but it is worth it.
He pursues you with His love. -- When you place your faith in Christ, that is where His love starts, not where it stops. He never stops loving us. He loves us and we reciprocate that love, attaching to God, building a relationship with Him.
3) God changes our future.
Romans 8:14-15
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
There are no orphans in the family of God.
He promises us a full inheritance. -- When we are adopted by God, nothing can take us out of His hand. We are heirs to His glory.
He prepares us an eternal home.
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