What means this?

Adoption

The question of a little one, “What means this?” He’s six years old and he’s so inquisitive. He loves to learn. He spells words and tries to find words that rhyme with each other: c-a-t, b-a-t, s-c-a-t, r-a-t, etc. In the spelling of words, he is visualizing what it is that he is spelling. You can see the wheels of his mind turning and churning and burning…ahem. His hunger to learn delights his dad. His dad is a proud dad who seeks to further his son’s knowledge, not just with information, but for life change. He teaches his son about Jesus Christ and reads to him every night and prays with him before going to bed.

His brother, a two-year-old, is just talking away. He sits in his chair and sings. He loves to be with his mom who rocks him every night before he is laid down to bed. He will place his little hands on her face and whisper sweet nothings to her and she just loves it. He’s active, too, but he is a helper. He loves to help around the house. To see a two-year-old clean-up is a rarity it seems, but he picks up his toys. When he eats at the table he will wipe his mess up (sometimes making a bigger mess, but he is praised for his efforts). An amazing thing, when he eats he really doesn’t get anything on his clothes. His parents generally don’t put a bib on him and he’s concerned about being nice and neat.

These two little ones are loved. They are first loved by the Lord. Read what Psalm 127:3-5 says:

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Then they are loved by their parents — their new parents. You see, their biological parents are no longer in the picture. Their mother has passed away from leukemia and their father has relinquished all parental rights. However, they are adopted now. They are loved by parents who have never been able to have their own children. The dreams of a name being passed on by a Dad to his sons has become a reality. Now comes the stewardship, the responsibility of training them in the way that they should go (Proverbs 22:6). It is their parents who are responsible to see that they are taken care of, that they are provided for, and that they are nurtured and brought up in the admonition of the Lord.

Thanks be to God! Praise His holy name! As His children — adopted by Him in order that we might be holy and blameless — we are free to live, to love, and to laugh. We are free to be a family who fellowships with the Father. We are free to show others the same love; after all, the Law has been reduced to this one command, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” The children that you adopt will be the closest of neighbors to you. Love them; cherish them; prize them. They are gifts from the Lord!

Adoption

…He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will…(Ephesians 1:5)

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!

Sunday Review, December 9, 2012

Fruit of the Spirit

Sunday was a great day in the Lord! We continued our study through the Book of Galatians and we discussed Galatians 5:22-23. Paul had just described what we used to be like in the previous verses prior to salvation in Jesus Christ. Now if we walk by the Spirit, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). The way to carry out the desires of the Lord is to see what it is that He has given us by and through His Holy Spirit. There is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against any of these traits that we have in Christ. And notice that this is a singular piece of fruit that has all of these parts! It speaks of the unity of the Spirit with the Father and with the Son. It also speaks of the unity that we have with the Spirit and the Son and the Father. (You can listen to the sermon by clicking here!)

Reach Out to Others

Sunday evening marked another great time with our Annual Missions’ Banquet. We heard from Dr. Aaron Meraz of Bridgeway Baptist Church of Prosper. He is a local church planter who is doing it right! Vinod John and Jun Shim are two others that we heard. These two men are being supported in ministry through Dr. Meraz’s ministry. These men are reaching out to others right where they are. All three of them are training others to do the work of the ministry and are reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through apartment ministries, college and university ministries, and church ministries, people are learning to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We finished our time together with a special offering for these three men and their prospective ministries. As usual, our Fellowship blessed them as we were blessed to hear them and what it is that they are doing in ministry.

Glory to God!

To God be the glory, honor, power and blessing!