May 6, 2022 | Adoption
One out of every 25 families in the United States have an adopted child within it, and there are over 1.5 million adopted children within them, they make up about 2% of the total population. Around 140,000 children are adopted every year in the US and about 62% of those adopted are placed within the first month of their birth. Experts say that there are between one and two million couples currently hoping to adopt a child (adoptionnetwork.com, 2022).
Adoption has been a very important alternative for those couples who are unable to conceive, for those looking to increase their family and for those children who find themselves without a home because of abuse, neglect or death. Through adoption, children find a forever home where they are loved and nurtured.
Our adoption as sons and daughters of God also serves to do amazing things for us. Through it we become members of the family which includes Jesus Christ Himself. Through it we become heirs to heaven and through it we are loved with a fatherly love that only the Creator of all things could produce.
In Galatians 4, Paul is talking about all people when he talks about those who are held captive by the law. “At one time,” Paul says, “the law was our guardian.” But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:25-29). He goes on in chapter 4:4-7 to say, “… when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Just as an unwanted child finds a home on earth, we who were cast off by the law because of our own sin, have found a home with our Creator. We are no longer wandering aimlessly upon the earth because, with our adoption, has also come purpose and promise.
Before, we had no hope, but because Christ loved us enough to give His life to erase the curse that caused us to be lost, we now have newness of life which includes a new family that will last forever.
And, as a part of this family, brought on by our Baptism, we have certain privileges. We have the privilege to look forward to a life without all the sinful additions we see in this one and, because of Christ we have the privilege to live our life here on earth in the peace of our understanding that better things for us are to come.
From the very beginning of time, this was always in God’s plan. Paul told the church in Ephesus that, “(God) predestined us for adoption as sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will” (Ephesians 1:5). It wasn’t as if he suddenly saw that we could never do it on our own. He knew that from the first, yet decided that we warranted adoption despite our many shortcomings.
Now all believers may rest in the knowledge that our Heavenly Father considers us His own children with the same rights and privileges that come with any family. And, because we are now of one family, he asks that we treat each other like brothers and sisters.
John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive (Jesus Christ), who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” Do you believe? Can you count yourselves a member of God’s Holy Family? To those who believe in His name are given a place in the family of families headed by the Lord of lords. Are you willing to take your place, or will you place your hope in the things of the world? His invitation waits for those who are lost and wandering.
Claim your place at the family table. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1). Please pray with me:
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us enough to make us Your own. Help us to fully realize the honor of being Your children and lead us to opportunities to share this good news with others with the message that you invite them also. Amen.
