Be happy - God has adopted you!
The gift of justification (that is, of present acceptance by God , the world's Judge) is accompanied by the gift of adoption, that is, of becoming a child of the heavenly Father ( Gal. 3:26; 4:4-7). In Paul's world, adoption was ordinarily of young adult males of good character to become heirs and maintain the family name for rich people who otherwise had no children . Paul, however, proclaims God's gracious adoption of persons of bad character to become "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ " (Rom. 8:17). Justification is the basic blessing on which adoption is founded; adoption is the crowning blessing for which justification clears the way. Adopted status belongs to all who receive Christ (John 1:12). In and through Christ God loves His adopted children as He loves His only begotten Son , and will share with them the glory that is Christ's now (Rom. 8:17, 38, 39). Believers are under God's fatherly care and discipline ( Matt.