Adoption is About the Gospel

Some of you know that my Adoption Works Well post wasn't unanimously well received. There were a few comments from strangers who are not pro-adoption. And that makes me sad. But honestly, it doesn't surprise me. And the reason it doesn't surprise me is because adoption is about the gospel and not all people are pro-gospel.

Some people would argue that everyone is already a child of God and there is no need for God to adopt us into His family. But that's not what the Bible says. John 1:12-13 tells us that when Jesus came into the world, some rejected Him. "But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." So according to the Bible, not all people are children of God.

As John Piper says in his excellent article, How to Become a Child of God, "God is not everybody's Father. He created everybody, and they are His. But Jesus says in John 8:42, "If God were your Father you would love me." God is not everyone's Father. And the test of who your Father is, is whether you love his Son." Allow me to borrow a little more from John Piper:

The deepest and strongest foundation of adoption is located not in the act of humans adopting humans, but in God adopting humans. And this act is not part of his ordinary providence in the world; it is at the heart of the gospel. Galatians 4:4-5 is as central a gospel statement as there is: “But 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.”

God did not have to use the concept of adoption to explain how he saved us, or even how we become part of his family. He could have stayed with the language of new birth so that all his children were described as children by nature only (John 1:12-13, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”). But he chose to speak of us as adopted as well as being children by new birth. This is the most essential foundation of the practice of adoption.

What I would like to do is lay out eight similarities between what God did in adoption and what happens in a Christian adoption today. I pray that whether you have adopted, or are engaged in assisting adoptions, or are pondering an adoption, God will use these comparisons to heighten your confidence that God is graciously involved in our adoptions. He has done it himself. He knows what it costs. And he stands ready to support us all the way to the end. [You can find the rest of this great article HERE]

Something else I do want to mention is that some people may not have an ideal adoption experience. I hope this is never the case for true Christians! But the possibility does exist because we live in a world marred by sin. Still, I would argue that this doesn't mean adoption itself is wrong or damaging. A friend had some helpful thoughts on this... J, I hope you don't mind if I piece together your words!

You can't negate that some people may have had bad adoption experiences, just like some precious children are born into families where they are abused and murdered. I also know that some biological children have issues--such as self-esteem problems, developmental problems, behavioral problems. I don't feel that it is correct to say that the reason that some adoptees have these issues is because they were adopted. We all have issues! And I can't even count the number of people (adults) who have been excited about our family adopting because they were adopted and it means so much to them!

We can only pray that God helps us to be good parents to our children and pray that they rely on Him as the grow up. And we can pray that God will intervene in the lives of these who are so hurt and that He will heal and change their hearts and help them understand what REAL adoption into God's family is....

So here's my takeaway. Adoption is far greater than us and it will cause some people to act out. As another friend reminded me, the same thing happened to Jesus! People who would target adoption or our family because of adoption -- they're not really targeting us. They're targeting God. So today I'm praying that the Lord will lift the blinders from their eyes and that they would understand the beauty of physical and spiritual adoption.