the spirit of adoption

One of my favorite experiences this summer was watching an adoption proceeding. It was the sweetest thing I have ever witnessed, and I would definitely have shed a tear if I wasn’t a turnip with no emotions. Part of what made it so special was that the kid’s biological dad voluntarily gave up his rights as a parent so that the kid could be adopted by his stepdad. He wrote a letter to the court saying that he was supporting the adoption because he thought that was the best thing for his son. For my friends who don’t know law-related things, a biological parent’s rights have to be either voluntarily given up or involuntarily taken away by the court in order for an adoption to occur. An adoption has special legal significance because it severs the link (in terms of inheritance and other super cool legal rights) between the kid and their biological parent. That has to happen so that the kid can have all of those cool legal rights with their new adoptive parent. In that way, the adoption creates this whole new relationship—a formal, legal one—between the kid and the new adoptive parent. 

Seeing that process really stuck with me, and I guess that’s why, as I was reading Romans 8:15, the word adoption jumped off the page and straight into my heart. 

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.” 

Romans 8:15

Think about it for a second. That means, when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are adopted by God. That makes us heirs with Jesus. Let me repeat… heirs with JESUS! If that doesn’t make you just a little bit excited, I think you need to get your heart checked. To me, that new relationship created by our adoption signifies two things. 

First, it makes me think about the permanency and security that we have in our relationship with God. Just as a parent and child become legally bound through the adoption process, we become formally and irrevocably bound to God. There is such comfort in having that security in our relationship with God. Do our parents ever stop loving us when we mess up? No. God doesn’t either. In fact, He’s even more forgiving and gracious with us than our parents could find it within themselves to be. He loves us no matter what, always, forever, through anything and everything and the worst things we could ever do. We aren’t going to be able to push Him away. We aren’t going to be able to hide from the power of His mercy and love for as long as we live and then forever in Heaven with Him. What else does it mean? He is there to comfort us, to be our companion on our best and worst days, to guide us and discipline us, and to show us His path. 

He is our loving and kind Heavenly Father. How sweet those words sound as I type them, and yes I realize that typing has no verbal quality. But they sound sweet in my mind as I read them. I hope they sound sweet in your head, too. I can imagine Him sitting up there on His throne, smiling at all of His children as He watches us go about our lives. I imagine He is happy when we think of Him in his capacity as our Father. He calls us sons and daughters for a reason, folks.

Here’s the second thing this super cool adoption represents to me. It’s a deep, personal relationship with God. It isn’t just ideologies and mantras we follow. We get to talk to God, we get to read His word, we get to worship and meet with Him daily and feel the leading of His Holy Spirit in our hearts. We get to cry out to Him as “Abba, Father!” and He will hear us and answer us. That’s so special! We get to call him Father. We get to have that intimacy in our relationship with God. 

For some that may not have the best relationship with their dad, this is an extra blessing because you get to have an extra special Heavenly Father, who will love and cherish you even if your earthly father didn’t quite fill the role. You have someone looking out for you and offering you guidance and ready and waiting to pick you up when you fall down. And for those that do have an awesome dad that came to all of your little league games and threatened all your boyfriends and made all the dad jokes and, generally, loved you with his whole heart and taught you to love Jesus, then you get to say you have two extra special fathers and one of them is the Creator of the universe. 

You know what else struck me about that verse? It talks about the boldness that our spirit of adoption should give us. No fear. No bondage. Just love and adoption. Inheritance through God as His heirs and His children. So the next time you’re feeling a little outcast, a little disappointed, a little stressed, or whatever it is you may be feeling that is taking away from your joy, you better remember that you are a child of God, loved and adopted by Him, and you are called to a spirit of adoption and the rejoicing that comes with that.

all my love, 

ki