Our granddaughter was adopted. She was longed for and prayed for, long before she existed. She wasn’t chosen for her good looks or her wit, though she possesses both in abundance. There was nothing known about her when she became the very love of her parents’ hearts. They waited with ever-increasing excitement for the day they would bring her into their home and call her by her name: Eloise! I’ll never forget that day. It brings tears of joy and thanksgiving to my heart even now. It’s so amusing to watch her now as she seeks to emulate everything about them. She observes them with such a deep concentration. She watches their expressions and mimics their gestures. She puts on their shoes and tromps around the house in great dramatic fashion. I wish I could crawl inside her mind for a peek at what she thinks and feels. It’s so obvious how much she admires them, how much she truly loves them. She wants to become the likeness of them. She’ll draw them both close to her simultaneously to have a family hug. She says, as she is doing this, “faaamily”. She is as much bone of bone and flesh of flesh as any natural-born child could be. The natural DNA is of minor importance under the shadow of the DNA of love. This adorable two-year old is their daughter. She is our granddaughter. And although adoption is a beautiful gift, we never think of her this way. She is our family.
I love this relatable image God gives us through adoption—of how we come to be a part of his family. The Bible says he chose us before the very foundations of the world. That means before there was even any human need for God—before any of the typical struggles of life may cause us to look to God for help or answers or relief. It says he chose us in love to be adopted as his children into his family. This choosing wasn’t based on our looks or our abilities or our potential for goodness, but rather, because it gave him pleasure to choose us. This speaks of the warm and tender emotions of a Father’s love and the joy his children bring him. The Bible says that Jesus was his only natural-born son, born of a virgin, divinely Fathered. We, those he chooses to call into his family, are adopted through Christ and for Christ. We are given as gifts to his Son, to be his brothers and sisters. These are deep mysteries of faith, hard to comprehend. But, with that calling comes the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and it is by this divine power we can believe even in the mystery. Faith is a gift from God and nothing we can muster up for ourselves. (Eph.2:8)
When I consider this adoption language God uses in the Scriptures I have to ask myself if, like my granddaughter, I am observing him with great interest and desire to be like my amazing and interesting Father. In other words, in the likeness of him. The Scriptures say that “Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God.” (Col. 1:15) Do I resemble him in any way? When I look in the mirror of Scripture what image is looking back at me? Do I seek to emulate his life, his actions, his love for others? Of course, I am fully aware that my efforts will always fall short of his perfection because unlike Jesus, I am born in sin and carry the tell-tale signs in me. But, his blessing of adoption shows me that his spiritual DNA has overshadowed my nature and born me anew into a life where all things are possible with God (Matt. 19:26). I can put on his gigantic shoes and make my way, one step at a time, down that long road of obedience in the same direction. I can simultaneously draw in close to him for a hug with my brothers and sisters of faith and say “faaamily”.
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure .So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his Son”. Ephesians 1:3-6 NLT