But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4.4-5)

There is a romance in the storytelling of belonging. The princess comes of age and has a lavish wedding. The heroic knight proves himself after years of apprenticeship and is invited to the roundtable. The orphaned child discovers he belongs not only to a family, but to a world others do not know. These tales reverberate with a heartstring truth: we have been made to belong but find ourselves outside of that reality. All these joyous fictions seek to rectify that painful schism.

The reality is we have been made for relationship, true familial relationship. But through sin and failure we find ourselves outside of the glass, outside of the light, outside of home. Hell and high water have swept us away from belonging. And, greater than any fiction, the fact is our Father God saw us cold and alone outside and sent Jesus his own Son to bring us home. Jesus was born of a woman so that we know—like ourselves—He is fully human. Jesus was born under the law so that we might see He was subject to all the demands and obligations of the law that we were.

Orphaned and alone, we were huddled by ourselves in the darkness, bound under a cruel master. But God sent Jesus to redeem us from our sin. Jesus is our adoption fee. He is the price of our freedom. He traded His life for ours. We can enter into the presence of our loving Father from whom we estranged ourselves. We are now heirs with Christ because Jesus became our cost of adoption.

Jesus, thank you for being the price for my adoption. I belong in the family of God because You paid my way home!