Adoption

     I can remember having an interesting conversation with my mother after her mother passed away about her feeling like an orphan.  My grandfather (my mom's dad) had passed several years prior and it was hard for my mom.  He died suddenly of a heart attack.  She did not have an opportunity to say goodbye or reconcile any hurt feelings.  It took her a while to come to terms with this.  By God's grace, she still had her mother to help her through her grieving process.   

     However, when her mother died the reality of both parents being gone took her to a place of uncertainty. Her mother was not there to give her direction and wisdom and faith.  The long conversations they use to have in the kitchen over life, love, and old family recipes were now silent .  The family house was now filled with foreigners instead of grandchildren and the smell of freshly baked cookies.  All of what she had ever known, for better or for worse, was now gone.  In this frame of mind she cried and said, "My gosh Jason, I am an orphan."

     It sadden me to see her hurt this way.  Her words were real and weighty.  Her anguish was deep and resolute.  It is one thing to grieve the loss of a loved one, particularly a parent; but it is something entirely different to grieve the loss of your identity as a daughter.  In this it seemed as though her grief was multiplied.  It was at this moment I realized the significance of my adoption into the kingdom of God.

     At the time of my conversation with my mother, I was not equipped to guide my mother through her grief with the hope and comfort that comes in being adopted into the family of God. I was not aware of the rich truths the bible offers us in understanding our position and privilege in Christ.  For the next several posts,  I would like to explore our adoption into God's family further, offering a working definition, and three meditations of scripture in regards to our adoption.

Adoption: Instating of sons and daughters

     Adoption, as J.I. Packer puts it, is the instating of a son or a daughter to a family.[1]  It is a process that creates a new, permanent parent-child relationship where one didn't exist before.[2] It is the way in which one legally, emotionally, and socially becomes graphed into a family, with all rights and privileges of a son or daughter.  In the realm of the world in which we live in, in and of itself, adoption is a remarkable picture of love and consideration.  In the sphere of God’s kingdom, adoption is the apex of redemptive grace and privilege.[3]

Is adoption just another synonym for justification?

    Adoption, in the bible, encompasses two ideas; justification and family.  Born in our transgressions, we are by nature “sons of disobedience” and are in need of redemption (Eph 2:1-10).  God’s wrath poured out on the cross offers the sinner a justifiable way for his sins to be legally dealt with (Rom 3:25, 4:25, 5:16, 5:18, 8:1-2; Heb 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10).  However, this does not automatically mean we become adopted.  Justification does not guarantee the person is given familial privileges and rights. Justification guarantees that the sinner is deemed not guilty.  Therefore, adoption is not just a synonym for justification.  Trevor Burke explains that adoption,

" is related to justification and is incomplete without it...[however], adoption ought not to be subsumed under justification or mistaken as a synonym for justification…it is an act of God’s grace different and distinct from and additional to justification."[4] 

Adoption: A familial term

     Justification deals directly with the legal transferring of alien to family.   Adoption on the other hand carries both justification and familial connotations; from “sons of disobedience” to “sons of obedience.”   Packer rightly points out that adoption is a familial term conceived in terms of love, family, fellowship, affection, generosity, and heirs.  Dan Cruver, the director of the ministry Together for Adoption, rightly states,

 “Through adoption, God brings us into the warmth, love, and gladness of his own family.  Redemption was never intended to be God’s ‘be-all and end-all’ work of grace.  God redeemed us in his Son so that he might love us and delight in us even as he loves and delights in His eternal Son.”[5]  

What does all of this mean?

     Essentially, this means two things.  First, adoption has its own distinct place in the order of salvation: regeneration, faith, justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification. [6]  It is a distinct act of God's grace that is related to justification but is not the same thing.  The sinner who is saved by grace is not left to work out his salvation as a red headed step-child.  The sinner is given not only legal status, but familial status; enjoying all rights and privileges as a natural born son or daughter.  Justification, in and of itself, falls short of this. 

     Second, it means that we must view adoption in light of position and privilege.  The old adage that says, "We are all God's children," (meaning that since God created all of us by default we are his children) is theologically wrong.  It is one thing to be created by God, it is another to be called a child.  The bible is clear, the only way to be a son/daughter of God is to be adopted into His family.  This is done exclusively through His Son Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).  Only those who have accepted Christ as Lord are considered sons/daughters of God.  Therefore, as sons/daughters of God, we are heirs to the kingdom of the Father.  We are given rights and privileges of the kingdom that are not given to nonbelievers; and angels for that matter (1 Corinthians 6:3).  God has seen fit, through His Son Jesus Christ, to set His love, warmth, and gladness on us and has made us brother and sister to Christ.

What is biblical adoption?    

When we put both ideas aspect together, that is legal and familial, we are able to come up with a working definition:

 Adoption is the distinct act of God’s grace, different and additional to justification, that creates a permanent relationship between the Father and the sinner in which the sinner is graphed into the family of God legally, socially, and emotionally; enjoying all rights and privileges as a son or daughter in the warmth, love, and gladness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.   

In the next three post I will work out aspects of this definition in scripture.  The first aspect I will look at is our adoption in relation to the Trinity (Ephesians 1:3-14).

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[1] Packer, J.I. Knowing God. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 1973.

[2]Media, Adotion. Adoption.com. 1995-2011. http://adopting.adoption.com/child/what-is-adoption.html (accessed November 12, 2011).

[3] Burke, Trevor. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2006.

[4]   Burke, Trevor. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2006.

[5] Cruver, Dan. Reclaiming Adoption: Missional Living Through the Rediscovery of Abba Father. Edited by Dan Cruver. Adelphi, Maryland: CruciformPress, 2011.

[6] Burke, Trevor. Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor. Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2006. Pg 24