God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” (Heb. 5:5)
Expanded Passage: Hebrews 5:4-5
As one who is adopted, identity is a reality that cuts deep. The wound of being called “orphan” and feeling “un-chosen” by my birth parents is a childhood memory that never ceases its need for Christ’s cleansing. So, the first time that I read the Father speaking identity over the Son, those words had weight to me, more than I imagine they would for most.
The calling, glory, and honor, however, had less to do with Christ taking high roles on himself. Rather, it was more about him receiving who the Father said he was as “Son.”
How often we allow ambition and a sense of lack to crowd out the assurance and confidence that we already have in him whose pleasure it was to choose us in Christ “before the creation of the world” (Eph. 1:4)?
Whether out of forgetfulness or discontent, abandoning our first calling as children adopted by him is often the source of our life’s many strivings. If we reject rather than receive the place that the Father has appointed for us, we ought not be surprised when we find ourselves lost or lacking. No performance, work ethic, reputation, or even relationship will ever be a satisfactory replacement for receiving the truth of who the Father says we are in Christ.
Let your “self” be undone by the One whose love calls you “son” or “daughter.”
Receive who the Father says you are.
Amy Boyle lives in Indianapolis, where she’s a disciple, friend, and neighbor, an Indiana Wesleyan alum and twenty-something, passionate about knowing Jesus and making him known.
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
