Adopting A Child
For all who are being led by the Spirit
of God are sons of God.
For you have not received a spirit of slavery
leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by
which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"
Romans 8:14-15 NASB
We have a family in our congregation who adopted an adorable baby girl last
year. The parents already had their hands more than full with a gaggle of their
own children, but they saw a child in need and opened their hearts to make room
for one more. The adopted girl was immediately embraced as one of the family.
She has the same right to be cared for and receives the same love as the other
children. She has done nothing to earn these blessings, yet she will always have
a place within this family--she is home.
I was able to observe the adoption process closely. It required a huge
investment of prayer, hard work, time, and money. Once the baby arrived in the
home everyone in the family had to adjust, and everyone lost a lot of sleep. So
here's the bottom line: There is no adoption without sacrifice, and the
sacrifices are made by the ones doing the adopting.
This experience enriches my understanding of the Lord's choice of "adoption"
as a figure for the relationship between himself and those who put their trust
in Jesus. As adopted children, we have no natural claim to a place in the family
of God. We have done nothing to earn or deserve such blessing. But through the
sacrifice of Christ, who suffered and died on the cross for our sins and arose
victorious from the grave, we find ourselves invited to address our infinite
Creator as our own father. Muslims regard this Christian practice as terribly
disrespectful of the divine majesty, yet we may even call him by the intensely
personal, affectionate term "Abba"--Aramaic for "Daddy". We have a home with God
forever, and it's all by his grace, for his amazing love led him to bear the
cost of adopting all those who believe.
Yet to all who received him, to those who
believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:12 NIV
Pastor Charlie Scott
c. 2006
