From Obscure Nephew to Caesar's Heir

In 44 BC, a nineteen-year-old student named Gaius Octavius received staggering news in the Greek town of Apollonia. Julius Caesar, the most powerful man in Rome, had been assassinated — and in his will, he had adopted Octavius as his son and sole heir. Overnight, an obscure young man from a modest Italian family became Caesar's son. Under Roman law, adoption was irrevocable and absolute. Octavius took Caesar's name, inherited his fortune, and eventually became Augustus, the first Roman Emperor.

Paul's readers in Galatia understood this world perfectly. Roman adoption erased a person's former legal identity entirely. All previous debts were canceled. All prior obligations dissolved. The adopted child received a new name, a new family, and full rights of inheritance — identical to those of a natural-born son. No Roman court could reverse it.

This is the breathtaking image Paul reaches for in Galatians 4. When the Almighty sent His Son in the fullness of time, it was not merely to forgive us but to adopt us. We who were enslaved under the law received something far greater than a pardon — we received a new identity. The Spirit now cries out within us the most intimate word a child can speak: Abba — Father. We are no longer slaves serving out of obligation. We are sons and daughters, and if children, then heirs of everything God has promised. The adoption papers are signed in the blood of Christ, and no power in heaven or earth can revoke them.