It is  such an awesome blessing to receive all that Jesus Christ has purchased for us at the Cross. There is divine revelation of our adoption and inheritance that the Holy Spirit makes known in the Word of God. In Ephesians 1:3-6, the Apostle Paul writes that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing “in Christ”. That He adopted us  as sons through the obedience of Jesus giving Himself as a Sacrifice for our sins. We are the “praise of His Glory of His grace,” because of Christ finished work. It is sad though, that many neglect and miss out on such a great Salvation (Heb. 2:3). There is a lot of ignorance in the world and also in the Church about an orphan. I am talking in spiritual reference to what the Word of God says about an orphan. From the beginning of time God had desired a family. Not because He was lonely, but because of His un-selfish motivation to share this exhilarating Love with His children. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1 ). Only those who know who their Daddy is, can encounter this Pure un-defiled Love. When God created Adam and Eve He gave them all the privileges of son-ship. No-thing was withheld from them except the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Only a loving parent would place boundaries for their children. Such, God did. But, because the voice of an outsider (satan, liar, thief, murderer) that came to deceive and by their choice to believe the lie, they failed. The failure brought separation and produced a family of orphans. God did not leave us (humanity), we left Him for our carnal ambitions, to be fulfilled. The devil is ever relentless in his pursuit to deceive humanity into thinking they can be all they can be with out God. In reality we are incomplete and dysfunctional without a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. He formed us and fashioned us to be complete in Christ (Col. 2:10). He is our inheritance (Eph.1:11) and we are His (Heb.2:10). It is an inheritance that does not parish or fade away (1Peter 1:4).

 

 

There are many characteristics of an orphan mentality, but there are three  that I think are the most important in the mind of an orphan (Reference, “The Supernatural Skyline,” by Jim Hylton).

 

 

1. Provision Becomes an Obsession

 

 

Enough is never enough for an orphan. An orphan never feels complete and never has enough. There is a story about a man who knew Joseph Kennedy (the elder, in the millionaire Kennedy family). He asked him, “Mr. Kennedy how much money does it take to satisfy a man?” Mr. Kennedy replied back to the man, “Just a little bit more”. That is  classic orphan thinking. A little bit more is always necessary for the orphan mind because orphans never see themselves as endowed. They never experience the supernatural provision that Jesus spoke of in, Matthew 6:33,  “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”.

 

 

2. Provision is a Continuous Concern

 

 

Orphans in their insecure mind-set, not only conclude that there is never enough, but what they have is never safe. They feel a burning need to protect themselves and their possessions, no matter how meager. They cannot see their Father as their protector and they refuse to risk personal rejection, loss or even discomfort. Contrast that with the Apostle Paul’s willingness as a son to experience the loss of all things, because what he has gained in Christ. “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). All he had was considered rubbish to what he found in knowing Christ. Adam swapped son-ship and gained orphan status. Paul swapped orphan status and gained son-ship. The swap took place on the Cross when Christ swapped out being God’s own Son for being made sin, though He knew no sin (2Cor. 5:21). With that un-imaginable alteration, Jesus became an orphan crying out “My God, My God why have you forsaken Me!” (Matt. 27:46). Through His decision to be made sin for us, we have been made righteous and now bare the image of God’s workmanship as a masterful new creation (Eph. 2:10). Paul knew that, in the Cross and resurrection of Christ, everything that belongs to God is returned to us if we enter into our place in Christ through faith.

 

 

3. Position (Title or Role) Holds Great Importance

 

 

The issue for a son is not position but purpose. The orphan looses sight of purpose because of the need for position. Our purpose  is the same as the purpose of Jesus , to “display the glory of the Father”. As sons and daughters, we have the same relationship with the Father that Jesus had on this earth. Sons and daughters know their position in Christ and through Christ. They receive the same relationship that He had with the Father, which is the highest position that can ever be enjoyed. They have no need for position, titles or roles, they are sons and daughters! Our prayer to our Heavenly Father should be of gratitude for the glory that Jesus gave us. We need to celebrate and rejoice in our status as sons and daughters of God. “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:22-23). Lord, we commit ourselves to love You rightly in order to attract the orphans to You. We know it is in Your Big Heart that there be “No More Orphans!”  Amen.