Adopted

“Properly understood, adoption is one of the most precious, heartwarming, and practical of all our theological beliefs… [It] focuses our attention on a relational image and points us to the joy and assurance that comes from receiving a father who loves us and a family with whom we can enjoy our new freedom in Christ.”
~Iain Duguid~

In early April 2010, the world watched with horrified fascination as news reports announced that a mother put her adopted seven-year-old son on a plane back to his homeland of Russia, announcing that she had no desire to continue being his mom. In a typed letter she tucked away inside his little backpack, she explained, “After giving my best to this child…I no longer wish to parent him.” Her son was exhibiting signs of emotional and behavioral disorders, and rather than seeking counseling for him, she found it easier to put him on a one-way, 10-hour flight back to Russia unaccompanied by anyone else. Patricia Cogen, a child development specialist and family therapist, said that adoptive mother Torry Hansen discarded her son “like a pair of pants that didn’t fit.”[1] Hansen reported wanting a child whom she could love, but her adopted son did not meet her expectations. She just could not love him.

Adoption is a metaphor used in Scripture to describe our relationship with God in Christ, and the picture is strikingly different than the story of Hansen and her adopted son. Paul writes in Ephesians, “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding” (Eph. 1:4-8, emphasis mine). Notice the language used here. He chose us in Him before the creation of the world. Our adoption is not a haphazard decision made by God that lasts only for a season of life.

Romans 5:8 informs us that “…while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God did not spot something good or beautiful in us, and then decide to adopt us. He looked at us, saw the mangled mess of our lives with all of the sin and ugliness that keeps us from His presence and said, “You! Yep, you right over there! I choose YOU!” Dr. Al Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary writes, “The wonder of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is this—not one of us is worthy of adoption. In our sinfulness, not one of us has any claim on the Father’s love, much less a right to adoption. But, the infinitely rich mercy of God is shown us in Christ, in whom believers are adopted by the Father. And this adoption, thanks be to God, is eternal and irreversible.”[2]

God has a destination for us—to make us holy and blameless in His sight. He will not annul our adoption the moment we sin. For exclusively through the blood of Jesus, He has made us holy and blameless in His sight, and He will continue to make us like Jesus until He returns or calls us home to be with Him.

Because of Jesus, you and I are no longer orphans! We will never be shipped back on a jet plane to an eternity without Christ. We do not need to fear being rejected by God because He has redeemed us through the blood of His Son, He has granted us the forgiveness of our sins, and He has lavished His grace upon us. If you are in Christ today, when God sees you, He sees the perfect, spotless Lamb of God. And God will not reject His Son. Let this be your hope today. Rejoice! You are a chosen, holy, and dearly loved son or daughter of the King!

[1] Cogen, Patricia. “Torry Hansen Should Have Sought Help.” www.cnn.com. 14 Apr. 2010.
[2] Mohler, Dr. R. Albert. “When Adoption Fails, the Gospel is Denied.” The Christian Post. 18 Apr. 2010.