Counsel for Couples Pondering Adoption

00:00:00.000 | Last time in episode number 349, you encouraged folks who were considering adoption with your

00:00:11.000 | own story of adopting Talitha when you were 50 years old.

00:00:15.320 | Pastor John, do you have any more encouragements or guidance as couples ponder this huge life-shaping

00:00:21.080 | issue?

00:00:23.200 | Adoption is huge.

00:00:27.160 | It was especially huge for us.

00:00:29.720 | At least it seemed at the time just overwhelming to me that my wife wanted to adopt this little

00:00:36.520 | girl and I was 50 and that wasn't in the plan and God had to do a deep work on my life.

00:00:43.320 | We had raised only sons.

00:00:44.880 | She was going to be now the first daughter.

00:00:46.440 | She was going to be African-American and I'm an old man and this seemed, "Whoa, why are

00:00:50.880 | we doing this?"

00:00:52.840 | And God wonderfully turned my heart around.

00:00:55.840 | So I'm aware of how huge this can feel for a mom or a dad and they've got to get on the

00:01:01.400 | same page about that.

00:01:03.160 | And I want to nudge folks in this session toward taking the risk.

00:01:09.400 | Adoption is one of the most glorious truths in the Bible, right?

00:01:13.600 | I'm thinking of God's adoption of us and it is glorious not only because of what it means

00:01:19.880 | vertically between us and God but also because of what it means horizontally between us and

00:01:26.760 | our family.

00:01:27.760 | I mean the horizontal effects of a vertical experience of being adopted are phenomenal

00:01:35.920 | in the Bible and should be in our lives.

00:01:39.080 | But vertically, this is one of the greatest realities in the Gospel.

00:01:44.100 | Something that God the Father planned, Jesus the Son achieved, and the Spirit of God applies.

00:01:52.560 | In other words, it's a Trinitarian event.

00:01:54.840 | Let me give you a text for each of those.

00:01:57.740 | So here's the Father in action in adoption.

00:02:00.920 | He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, Ephesians 1.5.

00:02:06.200 | So the Father thought this up and planned it and destined it.

00:02:10.660 | This whole concept of us being adopted into the family of God.

00:02:14.600 | And then in Galatians 4, here's the action of the Son.

00:02:18.300 | When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the

00:02:22.760 | law, to redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

00:02:28.720 | So Christ died so that I might be adopted into the family of God.

00:02:34.480 | And then here comes the Spirit's role in Romans 8, 14.

00:02:40.660 | For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.

00:02:44.660 | For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received

00:02:49.180 | the spirit of adoption.

00:02:52.340 | The sons by whom we cry, "Abba, Father."

00:02:55.620 | So every time a Christian feels welling up in his heart, "Father, God is my Father.

00:03:01.500 | I love you."

00:03:02.500 | God Himself applying his predestined work and the Son's purchased work in our experience

00:03:10.300 | of adoption.

00:03:11.920 | So it's simply amazing how powerful, precious, deep, and wonderful this is.

00:03:19.980 | So the Spirit comes and he cries, "Abba, Father."

00:03:24.160 | And when John the Apostle pondered this, he was just staggered.

00:03:29.100 | He said, "Look, look what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be

00:03:34.860 | called the children of God."

00:03:36.380 | And so we are, beloved, we're God's children now.

00:03:41.300 | And what we will be has not appeared, but we know that when he appears, we'll be like

00:03:45.700 | him.

00:03:46.700 | John just, it seemed to me, in that kind of language, is blown over by the kind of love

00:03:53.060 | that would look at a sinful human being, send his son to die for us, so that sinners and

00:03:59.020 | rebels could not just be saved, but be folded into the very family of God.

00:04:07.620 | So the Spirit bears witness with us now of what?

00:04:11.980 | That we have a spectacular inheritance.

00:04:15.980 | This is one of the greatest things.

00:04:18.460 | If it's wonderful to belong to God as his child, which it is, it's beyond words wonderful,

00:04:27.100 | then to ponder its implications, like the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that

00:04:31.860 | we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ,

00:04:38.540 | who by the way owns everything, provided we suffer with him, that we may be glorified

00:04:45.820 | with him.

00:04:47.300 | So when we ponder the reality of our own adoption, we remember it's an awesome thing.

00:04:56.980 | Not only because it is showing God's indescribable love, but also because it's an evidence of

00:05:04.460 | his predestining care for us, it's an evidence of Christ's purchase at infinite cost, it's

00:05:12.260 | an evidence of the Holy Spirit's effort to make it an experienced reality in our lives,

00:05:19.460 | and it's a proof that we're going to have an inheritance that makes every rich person

00:05:24.980 | in this world, Bill Gates, Buffett, whatever, they don't own anything compared to what we

00:05:30.580 | own by inheritance.

00:05:32.380 | So this is what God did for us.

00:05:34.260 | He adopted us.

00:05:35.660 | So you parents who are considering adoption are about to do something like that.

00:05:44.420 | Take a deep breath and say, "You're about to do something like that."

00:05:48.140 | So be encouraged that not only is it a beautiful thing to imitate, but that your own experience

00:05:55.740 | of it is the guarantee that God your Father will be there for you in every single chalice

00:06:03.700 | you face in adoption.

00:06:05.260 | There's the connection between the vertical and the horizontal.

00:06:08.900 | Because of our experience of the vertical, we can now take the massive risks of the horizontal

00:06:14.860 | knowing that He's going to be there for us in every way.

00:06:19.380 | Beautiful.

00:06:20.380 | Thank you for making those theological connections for us, Pastor John.

00:06:24.180 | And in case you missed it, this is the second part of a little three-part series on adoption.

00:06:28.180 | Be sure to check out yesterday's episode number 349 to hear the story of Pastor John, who

00:06:33.380 | chose to adopt at age 50.

00:06:35.940 | So assuming a couple does adopt a small child, how do you explain adoption to them?

00:06:40.720 | How early do you start?

00:06:41.900 | What do you say?

00:06:42.900 | Tomorrow in episode 351, we will hear from Pastor John on how he and Noel very thoughtfully

00:06:48.300 | introduced this topic early on to their daughter, Talitha, and some things they did to make

00:06:52.540 | the conversation a natural part of their home.

00:06:55.180 | I'm your host Tony Reinke.

00:06:56.180 | Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast.

00:06:58.380 | [END]

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Counsel for Couples Pondering Adoption

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