What Did God Teach Me Through Adoption?
As I mentioned in a previous post, I went into this adoption process thinking I was going to bless a child’s life. What I didn’t expect is what the adopting of a child would do for me. I have been raised in church and attended church all my life. I am very familiar with all the different stories in the Bible. I have heard the Roman Road of Salvation more than I can count. It is safe to say that I didn’t go into this process intending on really learning anything. God saw it differently.
The biggest lesson learned from adopting was I saw God’s plan of salvation in a whole new way. It has always meant everything to me, but after adopting I appreciated it even more. I caught a small glimpse of it from the Father’s point of view. First, adoption is biblical. James 1:27 says:
“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
We are to take care of those who cannot care for themselves. We are not to turn a blind eye and pretend they don’t exist. That’s what I attempted to do. I thought I could throw a little money at a problem and it would be good enough. Money does not buy love, attention, parenting, discipline, or anything else a child needs to be successful. Regardless of what the world says, there is no replacing the love of a complete family with a mama and a daddy.
I tell my Sunday school class all the time that God is not the author of confusion. It even says it in the Bible. Check out 1 Corinthians 14:33. Having said that, the Bible is full of examples of metaphors that God uses to illustrate His love for us and how He sees His relationship with us. He does this to try and help us understand where He’s coming from. In Ephesians 1:5, He shows us that we can be His adopted children if we allowed Him.
“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,”
The Greek word for adoption used in the Bible is “huiothesia”. It means adoption, as a son into a divine family; sonship – legally made a son/daughter; the placing as a son. Why would He use such wording? He wants us to understand His love for us. He knows that everyone can relate to a love between a child and their parent/grandparent. In Poland, the court considers our adoption as a ‘complete adoption’. This means the child’s name is changed, their file is sealed, and it is as if the child never existed under their old name. God does the same for us. When we accept Christ as our Savior, God completely adopts us into His family. He recognizes us only through the blood of Christ. We are no longer seen as a sinner. We are no longer a liar, adulterer, drug addict, thief, or any other title the world may know us as. He sees us as perfect and flawless, just like Jesus.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old thing are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalms 103:12
Once an adoption process is completed, according to law, the adopted child is considered to have the same rites as the biological children (if there are any). This means in our case that my son has the same rites as my two daughters, who are Marcia and I’s biological children. Once again, it is no different with God. See Galatians 4:4-7 and Romans 8:14-17. To think that I am an heir to the kingdom of God just like Jesus! It’s humbling that God would even want me.
When we adopted Gehrig, 3 things changed immediately for him: his status, his family, and his future. He went from an orphan with no claim to anything, to an equal heir as his sisters. He went from having nobody to having a mama, daddy, 2 sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and a church family. Lastly, he went from having a future filled with doubt and darkness, to one that is as bright as he chooses to make it. Plus, these changes are forever. They are not temporary. We have a similar change when we enter God’s family. We go from a nobody to a child of the King of Kings. We become a member of God’s people. We inherit an eternal future with Him in paradise.
My last thought on this is one that really didn’t click with me until a few months after we brought Gehrig home. My wife and I were talking about the process and how long it took us to bring G home. It dawned on me that our process began in 2010. Gehrig was not born until October 2011. God had us start a process to bring a little boy home who, at the time, did not even exist. He was not even born. Thousands of years ago, God started a process to bring me home with Him. Before I was even born.
If you find yourself realizing that you have never allowed God to adopt you into His family, please don’t wait. Click the link at the top of the page titled “How To Be Saved”. It will show you all there is to becoming a child of God. I promise you will never regret it. And when you do make that decision please leave a comment and let us know because we would love to rejoice with you.