Redemption, Adoption, Justification, Reconciliation, and Regeneration….That is Who you are. 

Today we will dive into the declarations of our Identity as defined by God’s Word, 5 epic gifts that we receive. It is critical to know who we are from head to heart, to know we are God’s son’s and daughters. 

Redemption (Scripture to review: Ephesians 1:7-10, Mark 10:45, Romans : 1-4, Romans 6, Romans 12;2): 

Ephesians 1:7-10 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” 

Redemption is the act of our bondage being broken, our shackles torn, a slave being set free (Romans 6). Redemption is something that happens to us by the grace of God, not because of something we have done or earned. It was Jesus taking our place, spilling His blood, that broke our bondage to ALL our sin, and He wishes nothing but goodness to us. The God that created the intricacies of the universe chose us. He did not inherit us, nor were we thrown on Him, He CHOSE each of us.  

Redemption doesn’t change our character, doesn’t change our nature. However, it does mean that we are no longer in bondage to sin, to the power of sin, nor our enemy Satan, to demonic forces, nor to world forces that would keep us wrapped up in trespasses against God. We can look at our hauntings and say that is not me as we live out Romans 12:2. We get to say no to our old self. We get to choose to see that we are God’s sons and daughters, and as such we are his heirs as stated in Romans 8:16-17.

Adoption (Scripture to review: Ephesians 1: 1-5): 

Ephesians 1:4-5 “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.” 

We are God’s sons and daughters. If we look at the earthly version of this, parents search and go to great lengths to adopt children as their son or daughter. God does the same as he went out of His way to adopt us back into His family. In love, he destined us for adoption. He planned this before we were even conceived, knowing fully what each of us would do in its entirety, and he still chose to redeem us and adopt us. He did not cause sin, but he had an answer for it. 

Justification (Scripture to review: Romans 6:16, John 3:16-18, Romans 5:1-2,6-9,16-17) 

Romans 6:16: Condemnation is not the emotional feeling that something, or someone, is badgering and bringing us down. Condemnation is a proclamation that we are not going to heaven. John 3:16- vs 17, and 18. Condemnation is the declaration of guilt. Romans 6 says that the wage of sin is death, we could pay for our sins, but that means we will be condemned to death. It is the state we are in before salvation. 

Justification is the declaration of our innocence, that we are no longer charged with our sins. The righteousness of Christ is applied to us. Our slate has been wiped clean.

However, God doesn’t stop there…. He gives us two more gifts!  

Reconciliation (Scripture to review: Colossians 1:21, John 3: 5-6): 

This is what happens IN us. It is a change to our mind, to our very being. The fullness of God’s truth does not stop at Justification. It does not stop at just a forgiven sinner. Hostility or Alienation would be the opposite of reconciliation. Our minds have been changed, our supernatural work of God has altered our being so that our responses, our thoughts, our essence shift from being in opposition of Him towards a desire to be aligned in Him. 

Regeneration (Scripture to review: Romans 7:19, Romans 12:2): 

This is an act in us that changes the core of our nature and as we are given the Spirit. Prior to this we did not have a spirit. Paul points out the distinction of the flesh from himself with Spirit in Romans 7:19. He depicts the hauntings of our mind, old thoughts, and habits. However, we see that over time, as Paul planted in the Word, regeneration occurred. Later, we see him write that he is content in all things. 

Regeneration is a gift that unfolds over time. Romans 12:2, be washed by the Word, cleanse yourself of those old things. 

Music By: Zekhar Velaha 

Title: “Emotional Cinematic Inspirational Piano (MAIN)”