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Adoption

In Ephesians 3:1-14 we are given amazing insight into the position and possessions of every believer in Jesus Christ as we are identified with Christ. Verse 5 tells us:
…having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will…
Today, the word “adoption” may bring to mind the image of babies taken into families into which they were not physically born, but that is not what Paul had in mind.
The word υἱοθεσία could be translated as “placing a son” and it was a process for an adult who was being officially placed within the family.
The “placed” son was given all the rights of an heir and a complete removal of his previous legal identity, including all debts which were held against him.
Not only this, the “placed son” was given access to the family accounts and the authority to represent the family legally.
Once this process took place the effects were permanent, and even the birth of a legitimate heir could not abrogate the rights of the adopted – or legally placed – son.
All this was given wholly by God’s amazing Grace.

The LORD is One

Deuteronomy 6:4 contains the famous Hebrew prayer known as the Shema.
In English, it reads:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!

The word Echad is the word translated as “one”
This is the profound declaration of Biblical monotheism. But the word “echad” has some very special meaning for us to discover.
The word “echad” is used in Scripture to describe something of many parts that come together to form one complete unit.
We see this in Genesis 2:24 when God creates the man and the woman and it is declared:
Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
This verse speaks of two separate people coming together to be ONE flesh
In the Shema, God reveals something very special about His nature. From the rest of Scripture, we know the three persons of this Divine Unity to be the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Behold – The Lord your God, The Lord is one.