This morning I am continuing my reflection on our identity, specifically as it relates to who our Father is. I was doing some thinking and realized that one of the major new revelations that Jesus introduced was a focus on God as our Father.
I was thinking back over the Old Testament and realized that theme was not very common at all. In fact after a very quick review of all the times "father" was used in the Old Testament, I could only find a handful of times where the term was used to describe God directly, a couple of times in Deuteronomy 32, in Psalms 2 and 89, Isaiah 9, 63 and 64, and Malachi 2. God is mostly referred to the God of your father(s), and in that instance there is always a certain amount of separation relationally.
Jesus spoke of the Father 40+ times in the Gospel of Matthew alone ( I got tired of counting but the rest of the Gospels are equally loaded), and that is a significantly new relational paradigm. One of Jesus' primary objectives was to reveal the Father to us! He revealed the true heart of the Father in His actions and in His words, and we would do well to listen and observe intently. This is one of the main reasons Jesus came, and it is critical that we take note.
In the dream I had yesterday, the issue that was being called into question was who my real father was, which is what a DNA test will tell you. In today's messed up world we use DNA tests to validate paternity, to determine who is one's father. There is never any doubt about one's birth mother, but fatherhood can be questionable. I felt like that was the point of the dream, to question my identity at the very core of who I am. One could argue that regardless of my DNA, I was raised by my Dad and thus am considered his son, and that is somewhat true, but there is a core issue of true Fatherhood here that needs to be understood and put to rest.
Paul used the term adoption to describe our relationship with the Father, and it is important that we not understand that in today's legal terms, but rather in the terms of the Roman law at the time. I wrote about this previously - see my Blog entry http://amomentwithgod-srh.blogspot.com/2017/06/adoption-as-gods-sons-and-daughters-its.html. The whole premise to the Roman adoption is that all legal and relational ties to one's previous identity are severed with Roman adoption, the individual who is adopted becomes a completely new person. From my blog - To quote Sarah Julian as she describes Justinian's description, .. "as a consequence of the extinction of his old persona resulting from the adrogation (adoption)". Literally, the person that existed before the adoption no longer existed after the adoption was completed, but rather a new person, now a son of the one who was adopting was created! This is what Paul is speaking about in this passage. Adoption by God means extinction of our former persona, we are now His son or daughter!
In essence this adoption was like being born again, this time with a whole new identity and father! Jesus actually speaks of being born again to the teacher Nicodemus in the following verses - John 3:3-7 NIV:
[3] "Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."
[4] “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!”
[5] Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. [6] Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. [7] You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
Paul writes about the Spirit in his description of adoption because He is talking about exactly this same theme, adrogation or Roman adoption, and it is the Spirit that bears witness to us that this being born again has occurred. Here are the verse from Paul's letter once again - Romans 8:14-17 NIV:
[14] "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. [15] 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.” [16] The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. [17] Now if we are children, then we are heirs---heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."
Reading those verses in light of Jesus' comments and a better understanding of Roman adoption, now makes total sense to me! We are new sons and daughters, we have been born again now with the DNA of God, as witnessed to by the Holy Spirit. Our old identities no longer exist, they become extinct at the time of our adoption (adrogation). We are now new children, new sons, new daughters, we have new DNA, and a new Father!
I know that is much to grasp, and something I am just starting to fathom. I pray that today, this truth might settle in your heart and mind! You are God's son! You are God's daughter! You have a new name, a new family and new DNA. We have been born anew, and thus while adrogation is helpful to describe the legal extinction of our old identity, we are actually supernatural born sons and daughters, and thus we have a new identity, we are God's real children.
Amen and Amen!
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