Adoption Message

I put both a sermon I heard from Randy, and Kelly and I's story of adoption, to present the gospel in a new format. When I say new, I probably mean old, because Paul also knew that adoption was the heart of the gospel when he presented the message to the Romans.

Adoption is to choose or to take one’s own child or to make one’s own child by selection, to take and raise a child by a formal act, or to take or receive a child in any new kind of relationship.

There are many benefits of being adopted:

1. Having a mom and a dad
2. Love and Security
3. Becoming part of a family
4. Inheritance

The deepest and strongest foundation of adoption is not located in humans adopting humans, but in God adopting us. Here are the steps we went through with our adoption, both our own spiritual adoption, and S’s physical adoption.

Step 1 : Adopted children are chosen. – When we adopted, we had to make all of the decisions about who we wanted to adopt: country, gender, age, special needs, race, etc. We had to make these decisions. We had to make a decision about pursuing medical treatment for a natural birth, which would be expensive, and may not bring us a baby. We had to make tons of decisions. When we went through the home study, a process I will talk more in depth in a minute, we thought that any child that needed a home would be the child for us, but we did have limitations. We wanted from zero to two years of age, and we wanted a child that was not suffering from a terminal illness, because we would not be able to handle the pain of losing one so quickly.

God chooses also. From the very beginning of creation, God has had you and I in mind. He knows our country, our gender, our age, our special needs, our race, and everything else about us. God wants all of us as children. Adoption is not God’s Plan B. He chose us before the foundation of the world. It is His Plan A. God knew that S was going to live with us, be part of our household, and fulfill everything God created her for. He has the same aspirations for you. God believes we can do incredible things in His name. Peter got out and walked on the water, because he saw Jesus doing it. When Peter sinks in the water, it’s not because he loses faith in Jesus; it’s because he lost faith in himself to be like that God. I want everyone here to know that God is the eternal optimist. God believes in you and wants the best for you. He wants all of us as children.

Step 2: Going through the legal action – Justification. Justification means that someone has to stand on behalf of those who cannot stand for themselves. Kelly and Nathan have gone through so much red tape in order to adopt Sasha. Sasha could not have done this on her own; we had to stand up and be accountable for her. Back in the beginning of 2007, Kelly and I started our road to adoption. We had some help from a couple who had adopted from Taiwan, Korea, and domestically. Through them we learned we needed a home study. A home study is where they come to where you live, check out your apartment, run all kinds of tests on our blood, question us to find out why we were adopting, question us over how we would discipline our child, showed us the differences between domestic and international adoption, and many other things. Basically, these people determined our ability to be parents. Once we got their approval, we were able to start filling out applications with adoption agencies, which would also do their own analysis as well. This process took forever, and is still going on. Once we were matched with the birthmother, we had to jump through a lot of hoops at the hospital just to get her out of the building! After taking her home, we had to start going through a court process to legally say she is our child. This process will be finalized on April 17!!!

In the Old Testament, God gives the chosen people, the Israelites, a law. This law required them to live a certain way, and when they did not live that way, there was punishment. God’s law demands justice for disobedience. In the Old Testament, God had a way of satisfying the justice by providing a way to be reconciled to God. There had to be a sacrifice for each disobedient act. A sacrifice would have to be the blood of an innocent animal, crops of food, or burning a special incense. In the New Testament, God satisfied His justice and His law in order to adopt everyone, not just the Israelites, into His family. He did it through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus stood for us when we were not able to stand for ourselves. His sacrifice provided our innocence. He satisfied all the legal work for us.

Step 3: Paying the adoption expenses. S’s adoption costs were expensive. These costs include emotional costs, physical costs, and financial costs. When we were searching for Sasha to become parents, we knew the costs and sufferings that we have had to sacrifice to provide S with a home full of love and hope. When we started the adoption process, we had another little girl in mind from Taiwan, Chia Ling. We bought clothes, bought frames for the pictures the agencies were sending us, started learning Chinese culture. However, through the contact of many adoption agencies, we learned that we were not financially prepared to take on this international adoption. We chilled for awhile and mourned the loss of the failed adoption of Chia Ling. The next process we went through was for a little boy named Gabriel. Gabriel was born and had a diagnosis of a brain disorder. When we talked with the agency, they assured us that this was the work of God and that the disorder was not fatal, and also had not shown any signs that it was affecting Gabriel. We did not buy any clothes this time in fear of failure. The adoption agency approved us and we were ecstatic! Joy was abounding off the walls, but they still wanted us to take the x-rays of his brain to a neurosurgeon for a diagnosis from a medical professional. Meeting with the doctor was not good news. He told us all that we would have to do to take care of him, and it was likely that Gabriel would pass away. That devastated us. I had to call the agency to tell them that we would not be able to care for Gabriel in the way he needed. That was the hardest call of my life. Again, we mourned the loss of another adoption. However, we did not see God’s hand at work. During the failed Chia Ling adoption, that was when S was being conceived, and during the failed Gabriel adoption, that’s when the birthmother chose life for her baby. Soon after the failed adoption of Gabriel, we had another situation arise. A birthmother was due within a month and a half, and needed a family to choose. We were able to meet with her, and after talking with her, we were very cautious in our emotions. Within a couple of days, she choose us, and told us later that after she met with us, she stopped having nightmares, which started after she went to the clinic. The rest of the story is going to the hospital and spending time with her as she gave birth to S, then we finally took our baby home.

We were also bought for a price. God needed a way to reconcile us to Him. Jesus came down from heaven to become a man. As a man, Jesus followed all of the laws of God. While Jesus was on earth, He showed many people that He was God’s Son by performing miracles and fulfilling the prophecies in the Old Testament. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He was providing a perfect sacrifice to reconcile all of us to God. God knows the physical sufferings Jesus had to go through to allow us to be adopted. God knows the emotional costs that losing Jesus caused for both of them. God knows all of the costs, and He knows we are worth the cost of redemption. He wants to provide us with a home full of love and hope through adoption. God especially knows the cost of people who turn their back to Him. That hurts Him so badly, but he continues to pursue us, putting aside the pain, longing for a restored relationship with His children.

Step 4: The planning of the adoption – At this point, we were willing to do anything. We were always prepared, at any moment, to drive to the hospital to be with S’s birthmother. We had done the selection process, we had done the legal action, we had paid the price, and now we had to wait.

God is also waiting. At this point, God has done everything. The selection process, the legal action, God paid the expenses. Now, he is waiting. He is waiting for us to come to Him. He wants to provide for us. He wants to give us rest. He wants us not to worry. He wants us to have peace. He wants us to love others as He loved us. He wants us to call Him, Daddy.

We get to call Jesus’ Daddy our own Daddy. We get the ultimate love and security of having our heavenly Daddy being able to provide for us. In the Bible, Paul used the word adoption because in Roman law, adoption was synonymous with permanence. Basically, a biological child could be written out of their inheritance, but if a child was adopted, they could not be written out of their inheritance. It cannot be taken away. It is permanent. As an adopted child of God, we get to share in the inheritance of Christ. In the New Testament, Jesus tells his disciples that after He has departed from this earth, He will be preparing a place for His disciples to come home to. The disciples were the first people to hear the Gospel. Imagine the excitement! No wonder it is called “Good News.” They get to tell everyone in the world that God wants to adopt them. They get to tell everyone that God cares about them. They get to spread the message of the Gospel to others, and those others are adopted and become disciples and spread the word to others.

One of our friends, Randy and Teresa, went to pick up their child in Taiwan, Jeremiah. When they went to pick Jeremiah up, his face, arms and legs were covered with mosquito bites. None of his clothes fit, and his shoes were too big. He was 17 months old and could not walk; he could stand, but could not walk. He stayed 20 hours a day in a playpen. Every day he ate gruel, which is boiled rice. He never slept more than 3 hours at a time because he was in a room with 30 other children with the lights on all the time.

You’d expect that Jeremiah would want to run away and leave that place, right? He held on to the caregiver with everything he had, screaming at the top of his lungs. Believe it or not, he wanted to stay there. This is because he was comfortable with what he had. What he had was terrible.

When Jeremiah was on the way home, he did not know that he will have clothes that fit. He will have his health taken care of. He will have shoes that fit. He will be eating popsicles, and he will be smiling. He has parents that will love him and provide for him.

Are you holding on to things in your life that are preventing you from having a personal relationship with your heavenly Daddy? Are you holding on to things because they are comfortable, even though they are not of God?

This is what Jeremiah was doing. He did not know what was on the other side. There was no way he could know until he came home. In the same way, there is no way to know the love of God, our Daddy, unless you want to join His family. Would you like to join His family today?

There is a plan of salvation that refers to certain scriptures in the Bible that have enormous importance for the decision that you are about to make. It’s a matter of FAITH:

F is for Forgiveness – We cannot have eternal life and heaven without God’s forgiveness. Read Ephesians 1:7

A is for Available – Forgiveness is available for all, but not automatic – Read John 3:16 and Matthew 7:21

I is for Impossible – It is impossible for God to allow sin into heaven: because of who He is; God is loving and just; his judgment is against sin; Because of who we are: every person is a sinner. Read James 2:13 and Read Romans 3:23

T is for Turn – Turn means to repent. Turn from something. Sin and self. Turn to Someone. Trust Christ only – Read Luke 13:3 and Read Romans 10:9

H is for Heaven – Heaven is eternal life. Here and hereafter – Read John 10:10 and John 14:3

How can a person have God’s forgiveness, heave, and eternal life, and Jesus as personal Savior and Lord? By trusting in Christ and asking Him for forgiveness. Take the step of faith described by another meaning of FAITH: Forsaking All I Trust Him.

Prayer: “Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and have displeased You in many ways. I believe You died for my sin and only through faith in Your death and resurrection can I be forgiven. I want to turn from my sin and ask You to come into my life as my Savior and Lord. From this day on, I will follow You by living a life that pleases you. Thank You, Lord Jesus for saving me. Amen.”

After you have received Jesus Christ into your life, tell a Christian friend about this important decision you have made. Follow Christ in believer’s baptism and church membership. Grow in your faith and enjoy new friends, brothers, and sisters in Christ by becoming a part of His church. There you will find others who will love and support you.