Jesus encourages us to think of God as our heavenly Father. This is a thrilling concept, but we need to deal with a false notion of the fatherhood of God. People say God is the father of us all, and we are all children of God. So it does not matter what we believe, we are all God's children, and, therefore, all going to heaven.

Jesus flatly contradicts this in John 8:42-47. There He talks about some very religious people belonging to their father the devil.

So if God is not the father of us all, how can we know Him as our father and how can He become our father?

The New Testament has only one answer to that, and it is obvious when we think about it. If a child is not the natural offspring of a particular man, how can he have that man as his father? The answer is ADOPTION.

“He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ” Ephesians 1:4-5

Adoption is a term that Paul borrowed from the Roman legal system of his day. In this system of law the adopted person was given the right to the name and property of the one who had adopted him. From a position of not belonging and having no rights, he became a son with a father. His relationship and standing was changed, and this change was brought about at the instigation of the adopting father.

in gospel terms?

It means that you can be adopted. From being a nobody in this world you can become a child of the King of Kings.

No social workers are needed to enquire as to your suitability. By any standard man can set, you are not suitable. You are a sinner and God is holy. You have nothing in common with God and nothing to offer Him. But He knows that and still wants to adopt you.

You need no lawyer to draw up legal documents. All that God requires from you is repentance and faith.

Repentance means to turn from your sin that is so alien to God. This does not mean that you have to clean up your life before God will have you. It means you recognize what you are and long to be free from that inherent sin.

Faith means you trust only in what Jesus has done to deal with your sin and make you acceptable to God.

Let me now tell you what Jesus did to make it possible for God to adopt a sinner like you.

Jesus is not an adopted Son of God. The words the Bible uses to describe Him are “the only begotten Son”. This means He was exactly like God - holy and sinless.

Jesus left heaven and became man. He became like us except for the fact that He was still sinless and He remained like that all the 33 years He was on earth. Because He was sinless, death had no claim on Him. Death is the wage of sin. Death's invincibility lies in the fact that we are all sinners.

Jesus was not a sinner, yet he died. WHY?

Here is the heart of the gospel.

Jesus died in the place of guilty sinners - in their stead, as a substitute for them.

Whose idea was that? It was God's.

Before God could adopt sinners as His children, their sin had to be dealt with in the way that God's own law demanded - death.

But if the sinner received what he deserved, then he could not be adopted and could not have God as his father. It seems an impossible situation. And it would remain like that apart from the love and grace of God.

God made Jesus responsible for our sin. He laid our sin upon Jesus. Jesus willingly accepted this and with our sin went our guilt and our punishment. Jesus died in the sinner's place. That's the gospel and that is what you have to believe if God is to be your father.

Only Jesus could do this for us and only Jesus did do this for us. That is why faith has to be in Jesus alone.

What is your response to all this?

To put it crudely, here is the bargain of a lifetime - adoption into the family of God and it can be yours.

Adoption conveys upon us everything that sin makes impossible for us. Aliens become sons, strangers become children, and enemies inherit all the blessings of God. In other words our relationship to God has totally changed and it is no small change.

To be a child of God makes us heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). To know that we will share in Christ's glory is a staggering thing. We, with all our pedigree of sin, are elevated to such a place of honor and privilege.

Are you going to say “no” to all that? Yes, you will, unless you see yourself as an enemy of God, as a sinner who needs saving.

Wake up my friends to the reality of the situation. God is not our father unless Jesus is our Saviour.

So turn to him in

repentance and faith,

ask God for forgiveness and salvation.