God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)
I am adopted. I was adopted very early on in my life and I’ve known about it since I was young enough to understand. Recently, I’ve found out more about my birth father and more siblings have been added into my family! I went from having 9 to having about 20 (maybe a little more.)
This whole experience made me think about Jesus and his lineage. It was super messy. In Matthew 1 there are some questionable characters mentioned. Maybe this is an example of why the Bible says he experienced the same things we do.
It also says we were adopted us into his family. God did this - before we even knew what was going on and it gave him great pleasure.
Jesus knew this because when he was asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!” (Matthew 12:48-50)
Imagine that! How many brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers do we have now? TONS! And think about all the potential family members you have. Anyone who could choose Jesus as their Savior is a potential family member.
Maybe today, we should treat everyone with the love Jesus showed us when he adopted us. Maybe, we should look around and see all the family members we have and lean in and embrace each other. Jesus did. So should we.