Caesar's Heir and Ours

In 44 BC, a teenage boy named Gaius Octavius received staggering news. Julius Caesar, the most powerful man in the known world, had named him as adopted son and primary heir in his will. Octavius was not born into this inheritance. He was the grandson of Caesar's sister — connected by blood, yes, but holding no legal claim to Caesar's name, estate, or authority. Adoption changed everything.

Under Roman law, adoption was more binding than birth. A biological son could be disowned, but an adopted son could never be cast out. The moment Octavius accepted the adoption, he became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus — bearing his father's name, entitled to his father's wealth, and invested with his father's legacy. He would go on to become Augustus, ruler of the empire.

The Apostle Paul, writing to Christians living in that same city, chose this language deliberately. You were not born into the household of the Almighty, he tells them. You were brought in. The Spirit you received is not one of slavery or fear — it is the spirit of adoption, and by that Spirit you cry out the most intimate name a child can speak: Abba, Father.

And if children, then heirs. Not servants hoping for scraps from the table, but sons and daughters who inherit everything the Father possesses — co-heirs with Christ Himself. No Roman adoption decree could compare to that.