Last week our church had a guest speaker who spoke on adoption. Check it out here. He was only in the morning service, and sadly we go to the 5pm. However yesterday the topic was "Adopted for Life." It was also baby dedication Sunday. I totally had my kleenex ready.
There were two things that used to cause me to intentionally skip church. Mother's Day, and baby dedication services. When you are high on fertility treatments you tend to be super emotional. When even those leave you infertile, anything baby related can turn you into a melted pile of despair. Sometimes it is just better to avoid such events.
Yesterday was my second baby dedication service since Aiden's birth. The day he was dedicated is a sweet memory, it was in fact, also Mother's Day. I was blessed to have all three of my Momma's and my Grandmother in attendance to help celebrate sweet Aiden's blessing in our lives. I also had the dad's lol, they just aren't in this picture, sorry guys. As I reflected on that day, and the parents before me with their sweet little ones, I quietly sniffled in gratefulness for a different place in life that allowed me to once again rejoice in those moments.
I had begun to pull myself together when our Pastor got up and started talking about a friend who had adopted a little boy and girl from China. Sniffle, sniffle. It only went downhill from there. We are studying through Romans 8, and it is a passage that speaks of adoption that I wasn't as familiar with.
So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God's very own children, adopted into his family - calling him "Father, dear Father." For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God's children. And since we are his children, we will share his treasures - for everything God gives to his Son, Christ, is ours, too. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Romans 8:15-17
The moment Aiden's adoption was finalized he became our full heir. All that we have is his. Now we don't have that much, but what we do have, is his, because he is OUR SON.
The moment of my Salvation in Christ I became a child of the King. Joint heirs with Christ. An heir of the kingdom. Why? Because I am HIS. He adopted ME.
We learned about the three implications of our adoption in Christ. Security, Intimacy, and Inheritance. Remembering those words can change our perspective on so many things.
Security offers confidence, assurance, and approval. I don't have to work for my approval with God, He has wiped my sins away and sees me pure and spotless like Christ. It also means I don't need the approval of others, which is a really good reminder for me.
Intimacy offers me an Abba Father. Yes I need to have a healthy reverence and awe for the Creator of the universe. Yet my adoption offers me intimate access to my Father.
Inheritance means I am a Co-heir with Christ the Savior. I will inherit things I can't begin to fathom.
Adoption, however, does not mean a life of ease.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart I have overcome the world. John 16:33
God doesn't promise the Christian an easy life, in fact quite the opposite. I will share his sufferings. However, I can have peace because I know God is greater than any tribulation I may walk through, and He has overcome the world.
We will never have scads of money. Aiden will not have the finest things in life, but his needs will be fully met. I hope that more importantly Shem and I will point him to an even greater adoption. That he will experience the salvation Christ provides, and become an heir to the kingdom. For the things we offer Aiden here on earth are temporary, but God's adoption, its eternal. In that we have hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment