We are about to go from a family of three to a family of five! We are adopting. We are not allowed give a lot of detail at this point, but we have two coming to live with us soon. We hope they are living with us by Easter! Then we hope the adoption will be finalized by late summer or early fall, but we are not sure of timelines yet. If they are living with us by Easter, I think it is very fitting. Easter has lost its importance in American culture. Even many Christians have lost sight of Resurrection Sunday’s significance. Christmas is just more “fun” to celebrate and we tend to prefer babies over crosses and tombs. But the cross and tomb are so much more. That which is most worthy of celebration is around the corner, and we may not give it much thought until the Saturday night before, as we pick out our “Easter clothes” for church or pictures. We don’t like thinking about the fact that Jesus was scourged and crucified in a bloody, painful spectacle of shame. Not only was His body tortured by men, but His body took the blow of God’s wrath for sin, our sin. The true Son of God took what we deserved and through His death and resurrection, gave all who believe in Him the right to become sons of God, what we don’t deserve.
When Paul later wrote about this, he utilized an idea from first-century culture. In that time, sons (as opposed to daughters) received their father’s inheritance. Paul makes the radical statement that any who believe are heirs to God’s inheritance through Jesus Christ. There is neither male nor female, neither Greek nor Jew, but all heirs to what Christ alone was entitled to (Galatians 3:26-4:7). We are adopted as a child of God when we receive Christ. That is why Paul speaks of our adoption with a Greek word that means “adoption as sons.” It is not a misogynist term or politically incorrect. In fact, it is just the opposite. We are adopted into God’s family with all of the inheritance that goes with it; it doesn’t matter what our gender is or where we were born. The kids we are adopting are very excited to have a family. They can’t wait to meet us and we can’t wait to meet them! We can’t wait to celebrate their new identity as they will get a new last name. They will be fully our children, as much as Macayla and Jacob are fully our children. There is no difference. Obviously, the reason they are available for adoption is that they come from a broken background. Our prayer and goal is to help give them a whole and healed future. This is what Easter is about. It’s about how our heavenly Father loved us so much that He wanted to restore our broken relationship with Him. He wants us to be His children. He wants to help us overcome our broken background and give us a whole and healed future. He wants to give us the inheritance we neither deserved nor would have ever had access to on our own. At the cross, both our sin and death met their end and at the tomb, Jesus declared victory over them both. The cosmos itself is and will be made new through the cross and tomb. If we receive Christ as our Lord, He becomes our Savior. We join His family and we get a new identity. Instead of “Easter clothes,” we put on Christ! When we finally realize this truth, we can’t wait to meet our Father! As we celebrate this amazing truth, it also points others to the Father they always needed and on the deepest level, longed for. Nothing should be celebrated more than this! I hope to add a few more posts in the coming weeks that will give ideas on how to celebrate these things with our families.
2 Comments
Michelle Johnson
7/2/2012 02:53:52 pm
Yay, yay, yay, yay! Love you guys!
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Jennifer
7/2/2012 02:56:04 pm
Yes a Yay is in order!!! I will be praying and praying hard for this to go so well. You guys are awesome and I love that you will be growing your family to share that love with others. God bless you sweet friends!!
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