It is a wonderful privilege to be a child of God. We should be extremely thankful that God adopted us into His family. It is one of the great spiritual blessings found in Christ.

Ephesians 1:5 (KJV)
⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Being adopted by God proves that He loves us. This is why John said, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God…” (1 John 3:1). John knew that it was because of God’s grace that we have been adopted. He knew that God did not have to adopt us. Paul said that it was “according to the good pleasure of his will.” In other words, God adopted us because He wanted to, not because He had to do it. This tells us that we are wanted by God. This is verified by what Paul wrote later on in this chapter.

Ephesians 1:18 (ESV)
¹⁸ Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Notice, Paul says that we are God’s inheritance. What a reassuring truth this is. God loves us so much that He wants us to be his inheritance. That is why He adopted us in the first place. He moved, not by force (as if God could be forced to do anything), but by love. The arrangement of vers. 4-5 in Ephesians 1 is interesting. In many modern translations, including the ESV, the words “in love” come after a period in ver. 4 and are, therefore, connected to ver. 5. Without the break of verses, the statement would read as follows: “…In love he predestined us for adoption as sons.”

What are the benefits of being children of God? They are too many to list in this short blog; how-ever, it is always beneficial when you have a great father. Even with regard to earthly fathers, there are wonderful benefits that go along with having a loving father who fulfills his role well. How much more so with our Heavenly Father. The first duty of a father is to take care of and pro-vide for His family. God does this for us in unsurpassed fashion.

Matthew 6:31-33 (ESV)
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

God is a wonderful provider. But, He is more than that. He is our protector, giving us all we need to defeat our greatest enemy—the devil (2 Peter 1:3). As any good father, He hears our petitions when we are in need (Hebrews 4:16). What do all children need more than anything else? The answer is love. God has demonstrated His love for us in ways that can never be matched. To have a loving father is more than words can express, and we have the most loving Father of all. In Christ, we have truly been blessed beyond measure.

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.