ADOPTION- from servants to most loved sons and daughters.

Galatians 4:5

³ So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. ⁴ But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, ⁵ to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. ⁶ Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,^[a] Father.” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

servants and sons- this passage illustrates how we, after being saved, went from being slaves to sons and what changes that entails to our spiritual life. Slaves are by definition owned, expected to simply obey, are not on the inside of their masters' business, and are treated as possessions. Sons however are privy to their master's or father's business, plans and dreams. they also have full inheritance rights which they did not earn but are fully entitled to by their position as sons. before Jesus left, even before his act of reconciliation was complete, said to his disciples, I no longer call you servants, but friends." this was the beginning of the transition to inheritance, which we did not earn.

why is this distinction important? Because slaves, and even sons or daughters who are treated as slaves, are not relational. this relational aspect is vital because it is what Jesus came to restore and the entire encompassing purpose of God creating humans in the first place.

in Verse 5 the phrase "full rights of sons" (or daughters) is important because as a child or adult the son owns the whole estate. otherwise there would be nothing owned and they would have to earn for themselves and would be cut off from the family, or never part of it in the first place. Revelation, and the anointing of what to do wisely do with it, is only given in the context of Sonship because it is relational. we cannot have revelation wasting away in our own minds -- it must be shared, related and used to impact others for wisdom, healing etc.

other rights I believe we have in sonship include anointing for healing, authority, respect and honor- except for people rejecting us just as they rejected Christ, as we were told would occur. Lastly we have the right to be Christlike. Our other rights to status, fame, accolades, approval of others, to material things and comforts were traded for the rights that Jesus has chosen for us, as I have already described.

"blood is thicker than water but spirit is thicker than blood." Do not forget the power of the Holy Spirit and what He is capable of doing in our hearts and lives.

in verse 6 of the above passage the Spirit echoes a cry that Jesus made in mark 14, crying to the Father, using what is known as a formal title for Father, illustrating the trinity, which is a topic for another day. the verse also says the spirit was sent into our hearts- the precise location of relationship. have you ever been unable to describe how you feel or fully explain a peticular relationship in your life? the Heart is the center of relationship in our lives and the place that God wants to encounter within us first, even more than our minds where we can explain and rationalize things and concepts, especially with our Western and Greek mindsets. The Heart is where we receive guidance and can learn what our mind cannot yet explain, faith being the simplest example of this. Jesus also said we are to believe with our hearts, not our minds or after fully explaining what we are to believe before stepping into complete trust of it.