"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."
Adoption is a beautiful thing. To be adopted, is to be specially-chosen. All of God's true saints are His adopted children. (Jesus alone is the Father's "natural" Child.)
The child of God has big privileges. He or she has intimate familial access and communion with the Father ("Abba, Father!"). He or she also has a "certificate" of freedom, sonship, and citizenship (in heaven). On top of all this, the true child of God owns and enjoys everything Jesus owns and enjoys--since he or she is an "heir" with Him.
For all this, let us live thankful and loving lives. Let us not, as the Galatians were want to do, fall into works- and self-righteousness.
[Puritan quote of the day: "I remember reading a speech of Anselm's. He said that he would rather be in hell without sin than in heaven with sin. . . . " --Jeremiah Burroughs, in "The Evil Of Evils"]
