Eternally Secure
Security is a big deal these days. We have national security, financial security, and relational security. It is definitely something adults are concerned about. Children need to feel secure as well. Imagine how an adopted child thinks about their situation. They may often need to be reminded of their parents’ love and their pursuit of them. Feeling like they are truly part of the family is important especially when there is spilled milk.
The apostle Paul wrote letters in the 1st century to churches made up of real people in the regions of Rome, Galatia, and Ephesus. Of course, his letters didn’t have chapters and verses, but someone along the way divided them up for us. In these verses [Romans 8:15, 23; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5] Paul states that those that have a relationship with God through following Jesus Christ by faith are adopted by God as His children. Paul desires for the individuals in these churches to understand that they are secure in their relationship with God regardless of the trials that they face.
When someone is adopted there are documents and agreements that are made. Typically, the adoption is forever. Always the parents are the ones choosing the child. Many times, if the child is old enough to remember the process they can be concerned when they do wrong that the adoptive parents are going to annul the process.
If the parents are loving, kind, and protective they desire the best for their adopted child. They take the child in as their own, and all rights and privileges are theirs knowing in advance the child will make mistakes and do wrong. Everyone conceiving a child knows that after the painful process of delivery and enduring the nursing stage, the child is going to act childish and cumbersome. In the same way, it is understood that after going through the long strenuous process of adoption, the child will not be perfect.
God wants us to be reminded that when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we are His forever. He made an agreement and stands by His Word. There are heavenly documents signed specifically in what is called the Book of Life. He knows in advance that we will mess up and fall on our face. He knows we will be defiant. He knows that when adversity in life occurs, we may doubt Him. That is why He communicates to us that we are adopted, and He never intends to rip up the documents when we act rebellious.
Many people have called this eternal security. What we have to be careful about is that there are going to be thousands of people that act and talk like they are loyal to Christ but it is only temporary. We must wait until the end of their life to see how serious they are. Yet, if they were serious in their hearts, the loyalty will not be temporary, and the adoption was secure. We can only know our own hearts and even that is sometimes difficult because we are fickle. But God is not. It is not as much about our grip on His hands as much as His firm secure grip on ours.
At COR, we are continuing our What We Believe series. We are discussing this Sunday how we have eternally secure life in Christ Jesus through faith. If you are not sure that you have life eternal, join us for the conversation. Being adopted by the King of Kings is the greatest privilege in the universe.