May 6 - God’s Great Big Family

God’s Great Big Family

Take the Test!  What do Moses, Superman and Cabbage Patch Kids have in common?  Here’s a little hint…if you are a believer; you can throw your name in as well.  Do you give up?  As they say on Jeopardy…”What is adoption?”

All of us recall the story of Moses’ rescue from the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter.  His mother and sister, Jochebed and Miriam set him in a basket in the hope of a miracle.  They got one.  Pharaoh’s mandate to kill all of the Israelite babies was foiled by his own daughter’s attachment to the child and would later become a burr in his saddle…and the rest is Hebrew history.

Superman’s rescue, while fictitious, has a dramatic flavor as well.  His parents from Krypton, aware of impending destruction, placed him in a capsule, which arrived on planet Earth.  While driving in the country, his “earthling” parents found this abandoned baby and adopted him as their own.

And, years ago, Cabbage Patch dolls won the hearts of countless young girls across the world.  Uniquely certified as parents, the adolescent adopters of these dolls get a taste of motherhood at an early age.

Adoption can often be seen as second best, an unfortunate footnote in the lives of many.  It can often breed lingering insecurities regarding our belongingness and plant seeds of doubt far into adulthood.  If we’ve been there, we know.  If we haven’t, we need to be sensitive.  God has instilled within us a deep need to belong so that such a revelation sends tremors of rejection through our souls.

Not so with our Lord.  He has a totally different perspective.  Adoption to Him is first class.  While many people have no choice as to what child will arrive or what parents will steer their future, adoption is all about choice.  The way God sees it, if you were adopted, you were deliberately chosen into that family with all the rights and privileges that follow.

Ephesians 1:4, 5 says, “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.  In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.”  Note closely the four words: “chose,” “predestined,” “pleasure” and “will.”  These ideas encapsulate God’s initiating and passionate heart in adoption.  Once we were not part of His family and now we are.

Consider a few of the benefits:

1.     Identity (Romans 8:15) We are now known as sons rather than slaves.

2.     Holy Spirit  (Romans 8:23) His presence, comfort and strength for every need.

3.    Privilege  (Romans 9:4, 5) All of the blessings and promises of God’s family.

Adoption places us in high company…Moses, Superman and even the famous Cabbage Patch doll.  But, better yet, it places us in the highest family…the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  How does it feel to be more powerful than a locomotive?

Terry Risser

Consider reading the Word today: