"As if he was born to you."

We went to our adoption training Saturday and heard more about the ins and outs of this process. It was very helpful, especially to be around others who are adopting. We heard from speakers on topics covering the legalities of adoption, newborn/infant care, fetal alcohol syndrome, open adoption arrangements, etc...

While listening to the speaker who presented information about the legal process of domestic adoption, I was moved by something he said. He explained that six months after our baby comes home with us, we will go to court for finalization. On this day, we will stand before a judge, who will make sure we understand the permanency of the adoption. I found an excerpt from the blog of a new friend of mine, where she describes this day...

Today is a day that will remain in my heart and mind forever. We went to court to finalize the adoption. My husband and I had to swear in and each take the witness stand. The lawyer asked us both several questions, but the one that repeats in my mind is: "You understand this is more than just a custody hearing. As of today, this child will be your son. He will inherit from you. If your marriage should dissolve, you will be asked to pay child support. It will be as if he was born unto you. You understand this?"

"As if he was born unto you"....WOW! As the lawyer who spoke on Saturday described the court finalization to us in the same way, I thought - this is the gospel of Christ! There are so many ways in which adoption captures the truth and beauty of the gospel. And, the imagery here runs deep with the mighty power of God's love.

Someday, I will stand before God, the rightful Judge of His creation, and there will be no mistaking who I am - a sinner who falls short of the holiness of God. I should at that point be separated from God forever - He is holy, I am not. But, instead, I will be CLAIMED as His child - AS IF I WAS BORN UNTO HIM. The Bible says that I was born into sin. Not a tendency to sin, but a slave to sin, one who loves sin and serves myself rather than serving God. A love of what brings MYSELF pleasure, attention and satisfaction rather than what brings God pleasure and attention, to His satisfaction. I have been a Christian for 23 years now, and this love of sin is still familiar to me.

BUT I am no longer a slave to it. As my husband recently said, it is important to remember where we come from to appreciate where we are now. I don't mean that in the sense of my level of virtue. So many times Christians communicate to the world that the mark of a Christian is the level of that person's morality. Morality is one aspect of living as a follower of Jesus, but the mark of a true Christian is humility.

We know where we came from - that we were helpless to save ourselves from our own love of sin. We know that we were outside a relationship with the Father. Spiritually speaking, we were orphans. And we know that it was God's work, through Jesus, that brought us out of that situation into sonship - being adopted as children of God. I cannot credit my salvation to myself any more than an orphan can credit his adoption to himself. I was saved, rescued. And I find that as I am growing with Christ, I grow even more dependent on Him. One phrase from a beautiful Andrew Peterson song says this, "The love of Jesus, it is like the widow's oil. When it's all you have, it's all you'll ever need...The closer that I grow, the more I come to know how much I need it."

I feel like adoption has so many dimensions that reflect God's love. It's brilliant, really. I'd like to say I was smart enough to draw these beautiful parallels between adoption and God's love, but nope. God himself chose to use the imagery of adoption to describe our salvation. "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ..." Romans 8:14-17

So, I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry a good bit that day when we stand before the judge and hear that our child is declared OURS - permanently and securely OURS....as if he or she was born to us. And, I will have the knowledge that this glorious day is but a shadow of what is to come.