Why "A Royal Lineage"

I have received a fair number of inquiries regarding the name of our blog. So here is my response.

There is an adoption theme throughout the whole Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. In the OT, Abraham is promised to be a great nation and it is his offspring that will become that great nation, Israel. They are referred to as the Children of God. Everyone who was not born into the Jewish faith was a called a gentile. To convert to Judaism, one had to be circumcised and was at that point no longer called a gentile.

Throughout the OT we also see prophecies and promises from God that HE will send a perfect King to rule over Israel and restore her to a place of perfect relationship with God. This King will be the Messiah.

Along comes Jesus, in the NT. He is perfectly sinless and is sacrificed as atonement for the sins of the world, thus making a way for gentiles to receive repentance and forgiveness for their sins. I grew up hearing this concept referred to as "being grafted in" as in vineyards or orchards, becoming part of the body of a different plant. The reality is that this is more of an OT concept that is continued in the NT through Jesus' ministry and sacrifice. But it was not until recently that I began to see this concept as adoption in its purest form.

Jesus is our King. When we accept Him as our King, we become part of the Royal Family. We become joint heirs in the Kingdom of God. So, in actuality we are adopted into the family of God. Our lives are changed for greatness, not our own greatness or because of who we are, but because of HIM and who HE is. We now have an inheritance that is everlasting and can know the Love of our Abba Father and our Creator.

Adoption has been perfectly modeled for us by our Heavenly Father and therefore we are compelled to model it in our earthly lives. Galatians 3:29