FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART OP-ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
When I heard earlier in the week that animal adoption centers are being overwhelmed with requests because people are giving live gifts rather than stuffed toys in these Christmas holidays, I said that is a good thing. But in the same breath, I began to think of the ongoing debate on abortion and adoption, which is about at a fever pitch, since the Supreme Court allowed to stand the Texas Law that permits private citizens to sue anyone carrying out an abortion.
If you asked my opinion on the law, I would have to say it is as tragic as abortion itself. And although I am not taking a moment to explain what I mean by “tragic” here, I have no question that when questions are caught up in the extremist political and legal systems, the outcomes cannot be anything but bad decisions.
As we move beyond the latter, my interest is not about adopting animals or babies that would be otherwise aborted; I suspend that for another time. But here I am thinking about the privilege that each of us has been given to be adopted into the family of God. I use the term “spiritual adoption” not to reference programs that discourage abortion but instead to note what God has sought to do to us by his Spirit.
We read the following in the Bible:
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” (Rom 8:15 NKJV)
“Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (Rom 8:23NKJV)
“. . . who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises.” (Rom 9:4 NKJV)
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born[a] of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Gal. 4:5 NKJV)
“. . . having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” (Eph 1:5 NKJV)
If you have been reading about the reality of adoption as I have, you should feel very special. In such a case, as you might realize, it is one thing to be born of the natural birth with all the possibilities of being aborted or facing a life of misery, while it is a different thing to be adopted.
As the Psalmist says, “Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psa 51:5). Where does this natural birth take us or leave us? In a state of rebellion and misery. If we are thinking correctly, we will realize that we are worthless and nothing in our lost state. But through the compassion of Christ, that is, through His life, death and resurrection, we have worth as we accept the possibility of becoming part of the new family through adoption.
God/Christ has sent the Spirit into the world to adopt us into the family of God. The reality that I have been adopted into such a family makes me want to shout out at least four things I note about my adoption:
1. I have given amazing grace: It did not have to be. I could have been thrown away by the wayside or aborted. I could have been left in my trespasses and our sins. But by the grace of God, I have been spared. I’ve saved, made alive and adopted. “For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8, 9)
2. I have been given a new legal status before God: I do not have to go into all of the adoption processes to talk about how the selection is made and the court papers that are signed, but I take note of what Christ said that those who accept him are “declared righteous” justified in him. The apostle Paul states it thus: “Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” (Rom 3:25)
3. I have been given a new identity. We are children of God by creation, but we have become a mess, rebellious, lost children. The Bible says it this way, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23). But it also states what has happened to all who accept the new possibilities in Christ when it says, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Rom 3:24)
4. I have been given new worth. I am not only a child of God by creation but also by redemption. I am not a slave; I am free. As I have read it, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn 8:36).
Thank God for my spiritual adoption.
