Tag: adoption

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Imagined Image

Dear Sister,
I’m guilty. Are you? I often live my life according to how I think others think of me. I have no idea what they are truly thinking, but that does not matter. My image is formed by imagined thoughts of others. As a kid, my image was determined by having the “in” shoes and style for the first day of school, having good grades for my parents, being the best soccer player I could, and being at every church function available. My teenage image had all of those but added the desire to be liked by popular guys and girls. Onto college and my image morphed into being the most perfect person I could: from daughter to student to Christian. You see, I wanted the perfect perceived image inside and out. I wanted to make everyone happy and feel comfortable around me. Now as an “adult” my image is still formed by what I think others are thinking about me: I need to be a good mother, hot wife, best lover, best friend, thoughtful, servant hearted, and hospitable to others. At other times I want others to imagine (ha) me as not caring about any of these things so I become apathetic. This gave me a humble image, right? Are you tired? Phew I was/am. I honestly almost died trying to meet this imagined image of myself. I became anorexic and was sent away for two months to begin healing and repenting of this sinful pattern of life where I lived for an imagined image rather than for the image for which I was created. Genesis 1:26a says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” Hmmm…there is nothing in there about looks, ability, grades, or perfection. It says that our image is determined by the Trinity, not by what we think other human’s think of us. Our worth is being made in the image of God. But wait, there is more!!!

Sin tarnished our image forever, but God has told us in His Word that He made a way for our image to be restored once and for all eternity. He sent Jesus to live a perfect life and die for all sin once and for all. He rose again conquering sins penalty of death so those who put their trust in Christ will be forgiven and their image will be restored to what is was in the garden. Look at what Paul says of the image of the believer in Ephesians 1:3-14

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard he word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee4 of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Holy cow! Do you see this? Paul is reminding believers of their identity because we forget it!

• He has blessed us in Christ with EVERY spiritual blessing
• He chose us before the foundation of the world
• We are holy and blameless because of Christ
• We are adopted into the family of God and have full inheritance
• We have redemption, we are no longer slaves to sin, we have been saved into a family because of Christ
• We are FORGIVEN of all past, present, and future sin to the riches of His grace
• He LAVISHED his grace on us

I could go on and on…and Paul does in every letter to churches. He reminds the believers in the churches of what their image truly is before correcting behavior or addressing questions. Why? Because I forget the gospels meaning and power in my life. I try to form my imagined image on my own instead of remembering who we are in Christ and letting that form my image.

Sweet sister, we act like we believe. If we believe that our imagined image is what is important, then we work at it with all our might! We buy certain shoes and clothes, we join certain groups, we eat certain food, and we behave in a certain way. I pray this New Year we will all stop. Stop letting things and behavior determine our imagined image. I pray that we will actively think on what our image truly is: we are created in God’s image with intrinsic value, we were bought with a price, we are adopted, forgiven, showered with grace and mercy, loved, and have an inheritance, all to the Praise of His glory! Now act accordingly!

Your Sister in Christ,

Colleen

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The Greatest Gift

My Dearest Sister,

It all starts the day after Thanksgiving. Department stores are flooded with shoppers, television commercials spout the latest holiday sales, and wrapping paper is sold by the thousands of yards. It’s the season of giving and even the best of us can get caught up in the mad rush to find the perfect gift for our loved ones. All too often though, we forget the very first and greatest gift ever given. It was over two thousand years ago that God sent His Son to this world in the form of little babe born in a stable in Bethlehem. In doing so, He made a way for us to become a part of His family, adopting us as His very own children.

The apostle Paul tells us more about this gift of adoption in Romans 8:15: “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God, and if children then heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified together.” To fully understand the magnitude of this adoption process, we have to consider the audience to whom Paul is writing, the Romans. In order to adopt a son in Ancient Rome, the adoptive father had to buy him three times from the biological father, selling him back again after each time. After the son was sold to the adopting party for the third time, the biological father could claim him no longer. The son was then considered to be in the family of the adoptive father and had the same inheritance rights as one of his natural-born children. However, unlike a natural-born son, he could never be disowned by his adoptive father; the adoption was permanent.

Usually these adoptions happened when a person of great wealth or influence needed a son to carry on their family name and heritage. For example, Caesar Augustus was adopted by his own uncle, Julius Caesar, who had no children of his own. As a result, Julius was able to carry on his lineage and Augustus inherited an incredible position of power. It was a win-win. Because of this custom, it was virtually unheard of to adopt a slave. After all, the adoptive father needed someone worthy of carrying on his legacy, not some poor, dirty wretch who wouldn’t know the first thing about being the inheritor of a wealthy estate or important position. Yet we know from scripture that we were indeed once slaves to sin, following the desires and whims of our flesh. What, then, does God have to gain from adopting us as slaves of sin into His powerful family? What do we have to offer Him that makes us worthy of His affection? The answer is absolutely nothing. That’s what makes His desire to adopt us so amazing!

You see, God already had a Son to carry on His legacy and inherit all of His riches and glory: His name was Jesus Christ and He was perfect in every way, the apple of His Father’s eye. And yet God chose to send Him to this world in the form of a little baby boy, so that He would grow up to be persecuted, mocked, and killed by the very people He came to save. Do you understand what a sacrifice that was? Jesus took the blame that was not His and God, not being able to look on sin, had to forsake His precious only Son on the cross. And for what? For us, sister! Just as a Roman father had to buy his adopted son three times, God bought us with three days and nights of Jesus’ death.

There is only one thing that could explain such an amazing sacrifice: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 1:3). LOVE, dear sister. God cared about us – poor, wretched slaves to sin as we were – enough to purchase our adoption with His own Son’s blood. And not only that, He made us equal inheritors with Christ. I ask you, what greater love can there be than that? So this season, let’s take a break from all the last minute shopping and present-wrapping to appreciate the greatest gift we will ever receive – our adoption as sons and daughters in the family of our ever-loving Abba Father. Merry Christmas, my precious sister!

In His love,
~ Lauren

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Slaves No Longer

“I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Galatians 4:1-7

My dear sisters,
Paul is reminding the believers in the church of Galatia what they have in Christ. They were reverting back to the law to save them from their sins rather than to trust in Christ for the salvation of their sins. He tells them that the law enslaved them to the ways of the world but there was a much better way to be a son of inheritance…by the birth of a tiny baby in Bethlehem.

This child lived a perfect life honoring his earthly parents and his Heavenly Father. He fulfilled the law of the Jewish nation satisfying the Creators commandments perfectly. Then he was crucified and killed taking the penalty of sin that the law required. The final act was rising again on the third day conquering sin and death. The curtain of the temple was torn in two symbolizing access to the heavenly thrown with no more sacrifice! Both Jews and Gentiles now get God freely by faith in their Messiah…no works required.

Those who put their faith in Jesus, no matter what nationality, have been grafted into the family of God through Christ! He has adopted us as sons! That means we have access to the chosen family with all the inheritance and blessings of a son. We can’t earn this right, God has given it to us freely by faith alone in Christ alone! Wow. Slowly, the realization of the power and amazement of this passage is becoming sweeter to me.

Why has this become sweeter to me lately? We are months away from grafting two more children into the Craig family through adoption. It has taken heartbreak, tears, and years to reach this point. We have fought hard with paperwork, agencies, and even countries. When these two chosen children become Craigs, they will never be orphans again. They will receive all of our inheritance and rights as Craigs. They have been chosen not because of what they have done, but out of our love for them. How exciting! It has made me realize that I was an orphan once, living in poverty and the stench of my own sin, when my Father chose to make me His child, His son (yes, son!) with all the blessings and inheritance that comes from His heavenly home. Not for what I have done, but because of His love for me. So dear sister, rejoice this Christmas! Bask in the glory of Sonship! You have been chosen! Not for what you do or earn, but because of what Christ has finished! You are no longer a slave to the world, you are a son! By His spirit you can cry “ABBA, FATHER!” What a gift! You can come confidently before the throne of God because of your given Sonship. Run to Him this Christmas. Run to your daddy and thank Him for His unconditional love.

Your Sister in Christ,
Colleen

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Grace or Merit?

My Dear Sister,

It’s been a long day.  Annabelle, my 14-month-old daughter woke up cranky and continued to be so throughout the day.  She would not eat the food I prepared for her and she even gave me angry eyes as she forcefully pushed it away.   She wouldn’t play in the grass and she complained when I took her for a walk.  No treats for her tonight!  I don’t want her to think she can get away with how she behaved today.  As a parent I should correct consistently so she won’t build bad habits, right?  Finally, bedtime came complete with cries and leg kicking.  I shut the door to let her cry it out.

Giving her grace was nowhere in play this day.  And what is grace? Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.  Grace involves two parties where one party has wronged the other in some way, yet the one who was wronged gifts the wrong-doer not according to what he or she deserves, but rather out of a heart of unconditional generosity.  Wow, that’s a lot of words.  There is a difference between merited favor and grace.  Often we treat people with merit thinking its grace…if Annabelle is normally a well behaved child, then I will gladly give her a treat or overlook an act of disobedience because she is normally well-behaved. That is merit, not grace.  What if a badly behaved child does the same disobedience?  Would I give them the same treat or overlook the same offense?  If I was honest, I probably would not because I give treats based on past or overall behavior.  That is not grace.  Grace is given freely without regards to good or bad behavior.

The gospel is our example of grace.  Jesus lived a perfect life with no sin and was crucified a horrible death to take the entire penalty of sin.  He then arose three days later thus conquering the penalty of death.  This is called the “great exchange”…where Jesus took on ALL the sin of His children and then put His perfect righteousness on them so that God now looks them as righteous, as His adopted and chosen sons complete with the full inheritance of heaven!  Nowhere in the gospel are believers chosen for what they have done or not done…for how they behaved or did not behave.  They are gifted salvation by God’s unconditional generosity.

This day with Annabelle could have been so different.  If I had only remembered what God has gifted me in Christ (forgiveness of my sins, eternal life, righteousness, adoption, and the riches of heaven) and that He gave me this not because I deserved it, earned it, or merited it, then maybe I could have looked at Annabelle in the same manner.  I should have loved her in grace, had patience with her in grace, and not gotten flustered or frustrated with her lack of obedience or her foolishness.  Christ loved me before I believed; he gave me grace in my bad behavior…how much more should I give grace to my daughter (or husband, family, and friends)?  How would Annabelle act if I treated her with grace instead of merit?  Sure, there is a place for discipline, structure, and obedience, but it should be under the umbrella of the gospel of grace.  To give her a treat when she doesn’t deserve it and tell her that is what Jesus did for me!  He gave me life when I deserved death!  To play with her, when she “deserves” a time-out, to show her that the Father never turns His back on His children.  These actions and training can only come when her mom remembers the unmerited grace that was given her.  Annabelle might not have acted any different in this day, but her mom would have.

~Colleen