“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”
The Loneliness
Paul names predestinated here, worth examining directly, this adoption not incidental afterthought but genuinely, actually planned, worth holding as this second movement’s own crucial claim, your own place in God’s family deliberately, actually chosen, not accidental inclusion or reluctant accommodation.
This second movement, turning from this book’s honest naming of loneliness toward the actual, theological reality of adoption, opens with this crucial claim. Whatever isolation this whole first movement has honestly explored, this described adoption was genuinely, actually planned before it, deliberate and chosen.
Notice according to the good pleasure of his will, worth holding as this verse’s own additional, positive claim, this adoption not grudging accommodation but genuine, actual pleasure, worth examining what it might mean to receive your own place in God’s family as something that genuinely, actually pleases him.
Consider today receiving this specific claim, predestinated, according to the good pleasure of his will, not accidental or reluctant inclusion, but genuinely, deliberately planned and pleasing, worth trusting this as this movement’s own actual, foundational truth for whatever loneliness this whole book has honestly named.
Live As Family
- Consider your own adoption into God’s family as genuinely planned, not accidental inclusion.
- Receive today that this adoption genuinely pleases God, not grudging accommodation.
- Hold this foundational truth alongside whatever loneliness this whole book has honestly explored.
Prayer
Lord, you predestinated me unto adoption, according to the good pleasure of your will. Let me receive this as genuinely planned and pleasing, not accidental inclusion. Amen.
Carry this today
Your adoption into God’s family was deliberately planned and genuinely pleases him.