STEP TWO

Discover Your Adoption

We often like to identify ourselves by qualities that change. For example, you might identify by your grade in school, or whether you’re cool or nerdy or artistic or athletic, or by what you like to do in your free time, and the list could go on. We also identify with our circumstances, like what sports we are involved in, or how our family is doing, or by difficult things that have happened to us.  

The identity God gives us when we belong to him is very different from the identities we make for ourselves. The identity God gives us is unchanging.  

There’s a wonderful book series called The Chronicles of Narnia. In it, there’s a famous line: “Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia.” The same can be said of all who have turned from their sin and put their faith in Jesus and now call God their Father. When God says we’re forgiven, we’re always forgiven. When God says we’re beloved, we’re always beloved. When God says we belong to him, we will always belong to him.

The book of Ephesians in the Bible is God’s gift to us to tell us about our new identity.

The identity you find in Ephesians chapter 1 is an identity you can build your life upon. It will never change. You don’t have to identify with the mess at home. You can identify as a child of God if you turn from your own sin and put your trust in Jesus. And your status as a beloved child in his home will never ever change.   

BIBLE STUDY

Ephesians 1

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.

I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 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. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

(New Living Translation)

ACTION STEP

Take Step Two

You’re going to read the Bible passage from this lesson every day. And you’re going to write about your new identity. You can write a paragraph, or make a list, answering the question:

1. What do these chapters say about my new identity as a child of God?
2. Who am I, according to this Bible passage?  

We got the idea for this action step from the movie “Overcomer,” produced by the Kendrick Brothers. If you haven’t seen it, we recommend it to you! Check out the trailer in the Resources section of this plan.