Adoption

This subject could be titled “Salad Bowl Discourse #3 as it is a gift (shame! Shame!) that I have taken for granted until I read J.I. Packer’s chapter on “Sons of God” in his book, KNOWING GOD. (Yes, Dean and I are still inching our way through the book, but it really IS worth the journey.)

In our 21^st century culture we view adoption as a wonderful way to unite a baby or young child without parents with a childless couple or parents who unselfishly open their family to nurture additional children.

However, during the Roman era of world dominance which held sway during the time the New Testament was written, adoption generally dealt with bringing a young adult male into the family to carry on the family name in a worthy fashion and to inherit the family wealth.

As a child I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior (in the Baptist vernacular) and because of that decision, I grew up taking for granted that I was a child of God. That phrase “taking it for granted” is the bad guy here because as I read Packer’s thoughts on what it means to be adopted into God’s family, I realized I understood  only a tiny morsel of what that privilege meant.

Adoption into God’s family gives us eternal benefits starting with forgiveness. John 3:16 tell us God loved us so much He sent Jesus to take care of our sin debt by dying in our place. (Pat’s paraphrase) That’s just for starts. Also, in this awesome package of Godly adoption we get faith, hope, peace and other great helps for our sojourn on planet Earth.

Then there’s this inheritance factor. When I think about being a co-heir with Jesus, my Lord, it almost feels heretical—but that’s what the Bible tells me in Galations 4:7. When I try to imagine what heaven is like, my brain gets even more tangled up than when I look at the stars on a clear night and think about the galaxies beyond my sight. Yet that’s what I, as a child adopted into God’s family, will inherit.

I have been blessed with a great flesh and blood family here on Earth, but now that I’ve removed Adoption out of my spiritual salad bowl, I truly marvel at what a family I’m a part of—God, the Father and Jesus, the Son. Wow!