I have been adopted as God's child (Ephesians 1:5)

All five of us held our breath as we waited for him to emerge from the crowded, noisy cafeteria.  Our four-year-old son, Lua (later named "Luke"), soon came bounding out, full of energy, eyes bright with joy.  "There he is!" I kept saying as I held the video camera, seeking to capture every movement he made.  Our other kids giggled as they watched their new brother chase a ball we had given him as a welcome present.

Within an hour or so he was sitting in a minivan, driving away from the Rangsit Babies Home, leaving forever the orphanage outside of Bangkok, Thailand where he had spent the previous few years.  He never looked back.  Although there were still official documents to fill out and sign, from that moment on, Luke was our adopted son...part of the "Miller" family.  By law, all the rights and responsibilities of being Luke's parents were transferred to Shirley and me and his former family could never again claim him as their own.

The momentous change to Luke's life that commenced at that moment was far beyond what he could comprehend.  He had a new name, a new family, a new father and mother, new brothers and sisters, a new home, and a new nationality.  He would learn a new language, wear new clothes, eat new foods, experience a new climate and new surroundings, including plant and animal life, and attend new schools with children who looked much different from him.  In reality, Luke had a completely new life, though habits learned in the orphanage would still travel with him to America.

Scripture says that God "predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ" (Eph. 1:5).  God knew long before we were born that one day He would give us a new name, a new family, a new Father, new brothers and sisters in Christ, while preparing a new home for us as citizens of a new "country", heaven.  We would learn a new language of faith and wear new clothes of righteousness.  In reality, we would have a completely new life...the old things passed away...though He knew we would still battle the old ways of living life in the "orphanage" of life without God.  But, praise God, our old family...in Adam...governed by the father of lies, the devil...can never claim us again as his own!  We are welcomed members of God's family, adopted as sons!

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption as sons [sonship].  And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father."   (Romans 8:15)