Adopted for Life

Recently I have been reading Russell Moore’s book Adopted for Life.  Wow!  Break out the tissues!  I cried at least five times in the first fifty pages.  In the book, Moore tells about his experience adopting his two sons from Russia, but more than that, he reminds believers of our adoption by our Heavenly Father.  I’d like to share with you a few of the themes that I’ve been pondering after reading his book:

IDENTITY. When we trust in Christ as our Savior, our identity is no longer in the flesh, but our identity is found in Him.  We are a member of God’s family.  This is HUGE, considering that we are by nature children of the devil.  It’s like a family choosing to adopt a child after the social worker tells them that the child’s father and grandfather are convicted rapists and murders, he has a history of violence, and he’s been in and out of psychotherapy since he was three.  Yeah, you’d think twice about adopting that kid.  But God doesn’t.  He adopts us anyways and then instead of looking at our “biological” past, he looks to His Son who has washed our past away.  We are His now.

ABBA.  We often hear of the word Abba (Daddy) in a kind of cute way.  But Moore says that in Scripture the Abba cry is more of a scream.  Here’s a quote from the book regarding Moore’s son’s Abba cry:

“Of all the disturbing aspects of the orphanage in which we found our boys, one stands out above all the others in its horror.  It was quiet…If you listened intently enough, you could hear the sound of gentle rocking – as babies rocked themselves back and forth in their beds.  They didn’t cry because no one responded to their cries.  So they stopped. That’s dehumanizing in its horror.  The first moment I knew the boys received us, in some strange and preliminary way, was the moment we walked out of the room for the last time on that first trip.  When little Maxim, now Benjamin, fell back in his crib and cried – the first time I ever heard him do it – it was because, for whatever reason, he seemed to think he’d been heard. (pg 52) Walking out of the room to prepare for the plane ride home, Maria and I could hear Maxim calling out for us and falling down in his crib, convulsing in tears.  Maria shook with tears of her own.  I turned around to walk back into their room, just for a minute.  I placed my hand on both of their heads and said, knowing they couldn’t understand a word of English, ‘I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.’ (pg25)”

Little Maxim understood.  He didn’t like the orphanage anymore – that’s not how it was supposed to be for him.  And God says that this world is not how it’s supposed to be for us either.  The Spirit within us groans “Abba, come save us!  This is not how it’s supposed to be!”  Praise God that He too has promised that He will come for us.

“When you see Him for the first time face-to-face, when your legal adoption is fully realized, the Spirit within you will cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ And you’ll hear another voice, louder than all the others, cry out the same thing.  You’ll turn to see him, the Messiah of Israel, the Emperor of the universe, Jesus of Nazareth.  And you’ll call him ‘brother.’” (pg43)

INHERITANCE. When Russell Moore picked up his sons to take them home from the orphanage he says it was a harder transition than he imagined.  They had never seen the sun or felt the wind, so it was scary for them.  They reached their little arms back toward the orphanage as the car pulled away. They didn’t know that they were going home to a family who loved them and would take care of them and feed them and play with them.  All they knew was the orphanage.  They didn’t know that they were longing for a pit compared to the place they were going.

How true of us believers too!  All we know is this world.  We cling to such meaningless stuff – stuff that seems wonderful and important because it’s all we know.  But God says that believers have so much more to look forward to – an inheritance in heaven.  One day He’s taking us out of this pit-of-a-fallen-world and bringing us home.  Home to heaven!  I want to be more focused on my true home and stop reaching back to the orphanage.

BROTHERHOOD. Russell Moore says that often people will ask of his boys (who are three weeks apart), “Are they brothers?”  To which he responds, “They are now!”  It doesn’t matter who gave birth to them or when.  They belong to the Moore family now, and yes, they are as much brothers as are the two other Moore boys who came along biologically later.

This concept is huge to believers, especially Gentile believers.  Throughout the New Testament there are epistles written to Gentile Christians assuring them of their place in God’s family – of OUR place in God’s family.  God’s family was not just the Jewish people anymore – it was, and is, anyone who is in Christ.  But of course there was controversy.  The Jewish believers wondered if the Gentile believers could really be a part of the family without circumcision.  In essence they were asking, “Are they our brothers?”  To which Paul and others respond that yes, in Christ, we are now! Today’s churches can sometimes fall into this fault too.  Instead of seeing one another as true brothers in Christ, we draw dividing lines over race or background or denominational beliefs.  How awesome would it be if we could really grasp that the gospel that saves, saves EVERYONE the same. One last quote:

“Our adoption is about more than just belonging. Our adoption is about the day when the graves of this planet will be emptied, when the great assemly of Christ’s church will be gathered before the Judgement Seat.  On that day, the accusing principalities and powers will probably look once more at us – former murderers and fonicators and idolaters, formerly uncircumcised in flesh or in heart – and they may ask one more time, ‘So, are they brothers?’  The hope of adopted children like my sons – and like me – is that the voice that once thundered over the Jordan will respond, one last time, ‘They are now.’” (pg 57)

So pick up this book, my brothers, my sisters!  These themes are just a crumb compared to the amazing feast of Scriptures that Moore illustrates in his book.  Every believer is adopted and we are all called to be involved in ministering to orphans in some way… maybe this book will help you know how God is calling you to be involved.

Abba, come quickly!

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