Adopted as Sons

Intro:

Good morning.

This morning I want you to think about one of the most unique of human relationships.

That of an adoption.

The family and I rewatched a good movie the other day about two families who had experienced this very phenomena together when a lady gave up her son for adoption.

The boy ended up going to a great family and ended up being a very solid young man.

But eventually the movie comes around to the fact that the birth mother had originally considered another option — abortion.

And so if I were to just list those two words for you — adoption, abortion:

Just a difference of two letters in each word (changing a ‘d’ to a ‘b’ and a ‘p’ to an ‘r’), and yet the difference couldn’t be more of a stark contrast!

Well, the movie goes into descriptive detail about how the mother had actually gone to the clinic to have the procedure done, but she ended up choosing life for her son instead.

Incidentally, if you don’t think that your teachings (or lack thereof) sink down into the hearts of your children, listen to this!

Here are the wise words of my 6 year old when she saw the abortionist in the movie:

“That’s not a doctor. He isn’t fixing anything!”

Exactly!

Anyways, the lesson this morning is not about adoption vs. abortion, expect that brief comparison by way of introduction.

But what I really want to look at this morning is the LOVE that is found in an adoption, and then we want to look at how that relates to God’s love for us!

A COMMON EXCUSE I’VE HEARD:

Let’s be honest — Adoption is a touchy subject sometimes — Not that the process is hard to understand from a NEED standpoint, but from a DIFFICULTY standpoint.

It takes a special person to adopt a child, from an emotional standpoint, from a commitment standpointd, from an empathy standpoint …

There are often tremendous financial difficulties that must be overcome — One site I saw said that it can cost between $30k and $60k to adopt a child!

It can be a lot more financially feasible to FOSTER to adopt, but then you have to deal with the possible heartbreak of the child being taken back.

So needless to say, adoption is a HUGE commitment (financially, emotionally, and more).

Furthermore, there can be tremendous emotional needs of the one NEEDING to be adopted, too.

Sometimes there are tremendous emotions involved in the family who is CONSIDERING adoption and their reasons for that (perhaps infertility, which the Bible speaks about with Hannah, Sarah) … But the family wants to make the right decision (versus a knee-jerk decision).

I’ve often wondered why more members of the church DON’T adopt children, but I think we have to be honest with the facts that it’s just very difficult.

I wonder what would be better, to send orphans to a group home, or to have more Christians step up and allow them into THEIR homes?

I believe it would be a wise use of the Lord’s money to help individual Christian families achieve their aspirations of adoption.

But let’s get into the excuse that I’ve heard on more than one occasion.

“I just don’t believe I could ever love another child like my own.”

Really? I’ve heard that more than once.

Let me lovingly remind myself and you both that real agape love involves things like this: “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:4-8).

And so, in short, true agape self-sacrificing love puts OTHERS ahead of self, and a Christian that has that figured out … would have NO PROBLEM loving another child like his own.

And that kind of love is the highest form of love! (And it is the kind of love God has for US, by the way, which we will talk about momentarily).

PURE AND UNDEFILED RELIGION:

James 1:27 NKJV

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

The KJV puts it this way: “To visit the fatherless and widows in their AFFLICTION.”

Is this sermon a Biblical topic this morning?

You better believe it — It involves pure and undefiled RELIGION!

It involves putting our money where our mouth is, so to speak!

It involves “getting our hands dirty,” “going the extra mile,” and “where the rubber meets to road,” and any other metaphorical catchphrase you can think of to describe what CHRISTIANS do!

Again, I ask the question — If pure and undefiled religion is THIS (James 1:27), then why don’t more Christians do it? (It’s a completely viable question to ask) ....

AND … Going very briefly back to that adoption vs. abortion thing — What is one of the very first arguments that the abortionists like to make against us?

“Well, if you want to do away with abortion, then you need to sign up for adoption then!”

Now, technically speaking, that is a logical fallacy of an argument.

Someone can be AGAINST abortion without being in a situation where he can adopt a child … (Just like one can be against murder even though he doesn’t spend his time volunteering to help families of murder victoms) BUT … Still, wouldn’t it be great if many more Christians adopted?

Let’s get into what the Bible says about this being …

A PICTURE OF GOD’S LOVE FOR US:

John 1:10–12 (Read in Bible) - “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

That same thought is put another way in Ephesians 1:3–5 - “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.”

God finds GREAT PLEASURE in adopting us as His sons (children) when we become Christians!

John 1:12 says that God gives us a right to become CHILDREN of God.

Here in Ephesians 1:5 we see that we are ADOPTED as those children of God.

Thus, the GRAND PICTURE that is Christianity is that of a loving Father in heaven taking children which had been estranged from Him because of sin and adopting them as His own!

Romans 8:15 says: “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.”

Galatians 4:4–7 - “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

Galatians 3:26 - “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Don’t forget Galatians 3:27 - “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

Think about it this way — Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, in Whom He is well-pleased (Matt. 3:17)!

But He views US as His children, too!

A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people (1 Pet. 2:9)!

That’s LOVE!

“For God so egapesen (a form of the word agape) the world that He gave His only begotten Son ...” (John 3:16)

Is it any wonder then that James writes that taking care of orphans and widows represents two out of the three things included in pure and undefiled religion?! (The other one being keeping oneself unspotted from the world) …

Have you ever thought about a list of people in the Bible who were adopted?

Moses was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exo. 2:10).

Esther was adopted by Mordecai (Est. 2:7, 15).

After Samuel was born to Hannah, he was essentially adopted by Eli to be raised into the priesthood (1 Sam. ch. 1).

And how about Joseph TECHNICALLY not being the father of Jesus by blood, but raising Jesus as His own (Matthew chapter 1)? (Which is a beautiful story in iteself, by the way - Matt. 1:18-25).

Let me give you 5 facts about adoption:

These are from barna.com, which is a very reputable research organization that does polling in Christian circles.

One - Today, there are more than 150 million orphans worldwide.

Two - While one quarter (25%) of all adults say they have seriously considered adoption, only 2% have actually done so.

Three - Practicing Christians are more than twice as likely as the general population to adopt (imagine that!).

Four - The global weight of adoption efforts is carried by just 2% of Americans. (By the way, American adoption efforts comprise approx. HALF of adoptions worldwide!)

Five - The typical adoptive family is a multi-ethnic one (meaning, that the majority of families who adopt do so without the bias of racism) (and George Barna points out - “This results in not only a multi–ethnic family portrait, but increasingly multi–ethnic churches as well. This trend may pave the way for renewed cross–ethnic hospitality and reconciliation within today’s Christian community, which remains one of the most ethnically divided parts of U.S. society.)

(“5 Things You Need to Know About Adoption - Barna Group”)

Conclusion:

God has a heart for orphans and widows.

Psalm 68:5–6 - “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.”

Deuteronomy 10:18 - “He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.”

Psalm 27:10 - “When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me.” (That’s adoption!)

Isaiah 1:17 - “Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.”

1 John 3:1 - “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”

(And we could go on and on with what the Scriptures say about this subject).

Yes, adoption is really the perfect description of the love of God for His children!

Christians need to do more of it ourselves, I think.

What better legacy could we as Christians leave than a legacy of rearing godly children, including perhaps, even those who were not born to us, but we loved them just the same?!

I want to conclude with the words of a friend who was adopted by a Christian family that made all the difference in his life (Read from phone).