Adoption is near and dear to my wife and I. Our son Matthew is adopted; even though I daresay most would not think he is if we did not share the fact. But the adoption I would like to talk about is the Holy Spirit adopting each follower of Jesus into the family of God.
The Book of Romans begins by laying out sinful humanity’s problem with their relationship with God without Jesus. Paul then goes on to say in Romans 8:15 that for all those who follow Jesus: “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Jesus welcomes all into the family of God. No one is too young, old, hurt, broken, or sinful to be welcomed into Jesus’ family and His extended family, the church. Talking about family systems can be difficult. However, whether we come from a stable home or one with more stress than we would like to remember, Jesus is offering us a family life which is unique. In Romans 10:9-10 the Apostle Paul will say, “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved”. It is by grace through faith alone we are saved; we do not have to earn our way into the family of God. We can freely receive God’s free gift of grace, by asking and believing that He has done all the work for us! Not only that but we receive a tremendous inheritance. Just read Ephesians 1-3 and see how Jesus wants us to participate in the blessings of the church (the family of God) no matter what our background has been. We only need to be in Christ. We do not have to wait to be adopted, anxious and uncertain, like children who sometimes feel trapped in the foster care system. No, we just need to come to Jesus and He will take us into His family. We need to emulate Jesus and welcome those He has welcomed into the family too. I am so thankful Jesus adopted me, when I was, as Scripture says, “still a sinner”. Let us make the churches of Bowman County places where people are being adopted and welcomed into the family of God!
Ed Kvaale serves as pastor of the Bowman Assembly of God.
Why DO you share your son’s adoption publicly, if people would otherwise not guess? To pat yourself on the back?
Do you care how your son feels or might feel in the future having the private details of his life made public?
Adoption in real life is NOTHING like biblical adoption. Adoption today is a privatized BUSINESS with the average cost $40,000, much of which pays corrupt baby brokers.
Children are trafficked worldwide to meet the demand for babies. Nearly 90% of children in orphanages worldwide are not orphans but have family who use such institutions for temporary help with education, food and health costs.
It’s a business and a corrupt business. If Jesus walked the earth today and saw the exploration and coercion is adoption he would again throat all the “money lenders” out!!
Mirah Riben, author, THE STORK MARKET: America’s Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry