Galatians 4:7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
We have lots of lovely examples of adoption in our society. However in the first century there were a few very notable ones as this paragraph from a Wikipedia article explains: “In the Roman Empire, adoption was the most common way of acceding to the throne without use of force. The second emperor, Tiberius, was the adopted son of Augustus, beginning a general tradition that the Emperor adopt his successor. During the Roman Empire’s first 200 years, this tradition was common, with Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus all becoming Emperor through adoption.” Slaves were also sometimes adopted into a landed family and given the rights and responsibilities of carrying on the family heritage. When we call God “our Father” in prayer we are acknowledging that we are in line for the family fortune, a fortune of love, joy and peace. This week consider what you stand to inherit from your heavenly Father.
Logan Memorial Presbyterian Church 