From Orphan to Heir

There is a line in the song "So Will I" by Hillsong United that says, "As You speak, a hundred billion failures disappear." That lyric hit something deep in me. It captured the truth of the gospel in just a few words. That’s exactly what the blood of Jesus has done. Every failure. Every mistake. Every regret. Not just covered. Disappeared.

As I was sitting with those words, it began to overwhelm me. That number isn't big enough. Every failure from every person who has ever lived, erased by the blood of Jesus. The shock of it all and the immense potency of the cross. And God doesn’t stop there. He doesn't just erase our failures. He invites us into His love. He calls us sons and daughters. He gives us a new name and a seat at His table. No wonder John declares, “Behold! What manner of is this that we should be called the sons of God!”

I think about my own life. The times I should have died. My past addictions. The car accidents. The number of deaths I should’ve died…but God. That phrase has followed me everywhere. It shouldn't have happened but God. That’s not just my testimony. It’s the testimony of every son and daughter who knows they were rescued.

We didn’t earn our way into His love. We didn’t qualify by getting it all right. We were wanted. Chosen. Brought in by the Father who said, “I love you and I want you.”

And that brings us to something critical: our identity. The way we see God directly shapes the way we see ourselves. A. W. Tozer said it like this, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Our image of God directly shapes and forms our image of ourselves. Understanding this truth can change everything. 

If we view God as harsh, distant, or impossible to please, we will see Him as a taskmaster and ourselves as orphans. We may know the verses about His love, but something in our soul will still strive, still hide, still perform. 

Many of us carry fractured images of what a father is. Because of pain or absence or distortion, our idea of father is often built more on experience than truth. So when we hear God is Father, we often project our wounds and disappointment onto Him.

But that is not who He is. God is not like the father who left, yelled at us, ignored us, or shut down. He is kind. He is close. He is steady. He is merciful and present. He is truth and He is love. And even if all we have is a negative image of a father, that negative can still point us to the true image by contrast. He’s not absent. He’s not angry. He’s not unpredictable. He is good.

When we begin to live with a renewed image of God, instructed by the scripture, something shifts. We stop performing to earn His approval. We stop hiding our weakness. We let go of the pressure to be impressive. That’s the orphan mentality being replaced with sonship.

An orphan mindset says, I must protect myself. I must earn love. I must strive for approval. A son or daughter says, I am loved. I am seen. I am safe.

That shift is not always instant. It happens as our minds are renewed by the truth. As we meditate on God’s emotions. As we allow the Word to reshape our thoughts and feelings. Ephesians 1 says it so clearly:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

You were chosen before the foundation of the world. Not for performance. Not for perfection. But to be with Him. Holy. Blameless. In love.

This is the heart of the Father.  He made the universe just to get you. He doesn’t want another planet or another star. He wants you..

So here’s the question. Do you know the Father who longs for a relationship with you? Do you know the One who wants you more than anything else? The Father who desires to be close to you as you are?

If you belong to Jesus, you are no longer a slave. You are a son. You are an heir. And your Father is not judging your performance. He is looking at your heart. He has always loved you. And nothing you do will ever change that.

Let that truth renew your identity. Let it dismantle every orphan mentality. And let it anchor you in the love of the Father, where you belong.