I Can Only Imagine
Embark on a journey through the Gospels to discover Jesus’ encounters with broken people. Each day will include scripture, reflective stories, and prayer—all working together to reveal God’s incredible heart for you. Each day of this 6-day devotional contains video content with Bart Millard of MercyMe and exclusive movie scenes from the I Can Only Imagine movie. 6 Days
I can Only Imagine Devotional
Devotional - Day 6
By reimagining a different future, we trust Christ to bring all things under his lordship and to guide us in each new season of life.
For instance, we have already looked at the remarkable reality that we are sons and daughters of God through faith in Jesus. But how are we made children of God? Through adoption!
When a couple goes through the process of adoption, their desire is to become parents, to offer a home and a family to a child that has neither. One day, they may have a child offered to them for adoption. They will be able to choose to adopt this child, and at that point, the boy or girl would legally become their own son or daughter.
Think about the spiritual analogies.
In adoption, an orphan is given a family and a home. As we saw yesterday, Jesus invites us to approach God as Father—with regular, uninhibited access. But our adoption also gives us a family and a home. The Church becomes our brothers and sisters in Christ. .
God chose us to be his sons and daughters before we were born—knowing full well how much we would sin, how often we would rebel, and how much patience we would require. And he adopted us anyway. This is God’s way of saying: “I gave everything to get you: It took years of effort and a huge cost for us to get you. There’s no way we’re turning back now!”
In adoption, there is a high cost to the parents and no cost to the child. We are heirs of Christ’s Kingdom. In adoption, we become legal, official sons and daughters of God. It’s a permanent decision. Adoption comes at an enormous cost to the parents. What does this adoption cost the child? Nothing!
It required the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Adoption came at a grace cost to the Father.
We were adopted by God for the same reason that any parent adopts—out of sheer love. We are adopted “in love” and “to the praise of his grace” (Ephesians 1:4-6). God is not just full of love; God is love. Love is just an expression of God being God.
In his great love, he plans adoption, pays the cost, becomes our Father, unites us to a whole family of brothers and sisters, offers us his immeasurable wealth, and gives us the assurance that nothing can separate us from him.
The Passion Translation® Copyright © 2017 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.