Adoption

Adoption is such a wonderful thing. When you think about it, if you have trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, it is because God has adopted you through Him. But what does this mean? After all, many believe that they became adopted when they chose salvation through Christ. However, the Bible says something different. You can look at the caption of the picture and see what Paul the apostle was teaching the Christians in Ephesus. God is the One who is choosing to adopt you. Now this rubs us raw sometimes because we want to have something to do with His infiltration of our lives. Again, God has adopted us even before we trusted Him. And think about this: if one adopts someone else, the one doing the adopting is the one that is doing the choosing. Adoption of children is by the choosing of the parents that are doing the adoption!

Now this should not be a distasteful thing to us. More than anything, we ought to be thankful of the fact that God has loved us with an everlasting love and has taken interest in us that we have been adopted by God the Father in order that we might be saved by Jesus Christ. This is a love that passes all understanding. Quite frankly, I am not so lovable! But before you start laughing (or crying), none of us really are that lovable. We sin. We hurt each other with words and with deeds. We do stupid stuff all of the time. We are people and we need someone to love us. What greater love can we have but the love of the One who created us? There is no greater love.

So what should we do with this idea of adoption? I met a man this afternoon by the name of Dale. He has a 10-year-old daughter. He’s 59 years old. His daughter is adopted. She has been with Dale and his wife for over nine years now and to her, Dale and his wife are Dad and Mom. She knows that she was adopted. She also knows that Dale and his wife chose her to adopt. They did not just choose adoption, they chose her! What greater love can this girl have but the love of parents who chose her to be their very own?

I tell you that short story to say this: It matters not what age you are. If you are compelled by the Lord to adopt a child or sibling group, GO FOR IT! God through His Son Jesus Christ has saved us from sin, death and law because He has adopted us — He has chosen us. There is not a greater example of what He has done when we turn to those in need and love them as we love ourselves. There is no greater example than adopting a little one, or a teenager, or a sibling group. God is gracious! God is loving! God has adopted us in order that we might be holy and blameless through Jesus Christ (cf. Ephesians 1:4). God is the God of adoption!