I’m Adopted

My daughter is the girl I call “Precious” and “Sweet Girl.” Ever since a nurse put her little ink-covered footprint on my hand, my little girl has been daddy’s girl. We have gone on dates together, danced in our living room together, and read countless books together.

She’s my daughter…

…by adoption. The story of her adoption is remarkable, but so is every adoption story. Every adoption may be similar to another, but no two are alike. I never get tired of hearing adoption stories, because there is always a detail that makes it unique.

Recently, though, my sweet girl has been asking a lot of questions. At age 9, she is inquisitive, but my daughter also has a heart that just will not stop. So, she is trying to grasp just what this whole “I’m adopted” thing means. We talk to her openly about it, but only as she wants to. Lately, though, that has been quite a lot.

Part of what we have told her is something she cannot fully understand. Honestly though, it is not something I fully understand, but it is something that I appreciate more and more in my life.

What is it?

I’m adopted, too.

No, my mom and dad did not go through some system or agency or orphanage to bring me into their home. I was born from my mommy’s tummy (thanks for the constant jalapeno pepper eating, mom), and raised by them.

Biologically, I am not adopted, but I’m adopted in a far more profound way.

Consider this: the New Testament makes it clear that every child of God is His child by adoption. Read the following passages carefully.

“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!'” (Romans 8:15)

“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. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!'” (Galatians 4:5)

“[God] predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will” (Ephesians 1:5).

Did you notice something? In comparing our conversion to Christ with adoption, the Bible says that this is something that happened in the past. Obviously, that is the case. When one obeys the will of God, he/she becomes a child of God. If you are a Christian, that is something that happened in your past, when by faith you put Christ on in baptism.

However, the impact of that–the results of being adopted by the Lord–are ongoing. We are His children by adoption…not we were.

We are completely, totally, and fully part of the family of God. Whatever He gives as a Father, He will give to us, because we are His children. And we are His children by adoption.

If that isn’t amazing enough, consider this: when God adopts us into His family, we become joint heirs with Jesus Christ. (Let that one sink in.) Don’t believe me? In one of those “adoption” passages, Paul continued with these remarkable words:

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:16-17, emphasis added).

Jesus is the very Son of God. While He is the “only begotten” (John 3:16), we become children of God through adoption and, thus, are heirs of the home of the Father, heaven. I simply cannot fathom that.

My precious treasure of a daughter will never fully understand what a blessing it is to be adopted. I am not a perfect father, but I am most definitely her father. All I can ever give as a dad is hers without reservation.

But each day I live, I am trying to understand more fully how blessed I am by Jehovah, that He would adopt me into His family and bless me in ways that I cannot describe.

I’m adopted, and though I can’t understand it fully, I’m thankful for my Father who brought me into His family.

Are you adopted?

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