A pilot had heroically gone down and the enemy fleet was fast approaching. The search was on but time was short. The rescue continued past all safe or logical limits. The conquering enemy had almost arrived. Why did the admiral risk destruction of 1000’s for one lost pilot? He considered that fallen aviator his daughter. Afterward, the admiral’s own estranged son asked him if he would stretch the search if he were the lost pilot. “If it were you, we would never leave!” Oh, what Father’s will do for their children.
Adoption. God includes us into his own family and calls us, in truth, His sons and daughters. We are legally, formally, and forever, welcomed into the family of God. There is great practical comfort and encouragement in knowing that God treats us as His beloved children.
What does adoption mean? “Adoption is the gracious act of God wherein He makes justified sinners His beloved children.” That is a short, theological summary, but what are the practical benefits? To be adopted is to receive God’s name, gain access to God’s throne. It is becoming the object of His pity, protection, and provision. He favors you with His discipline, and His promise to never abandon you.
I love my kids but they drive me crazy. They say and do somethings that make my receding hairline recede. But, they will always be my children. I have the joyful responsibilities of ‘father’ to them. Don’t tell them, but I would do anything to bless and encourage my children. I am much like my father who would, according to my mom, “give (his kids) the shirt off his back and the last dime in his pocket!” I live that my kids, and grandkids, would know life, and goodness, and grace! I am willing make any sacrifice.
And yet, I am not a perfect father. But God is. And we really are His children. There is great comfort and assurance in that. Galatians 4:4-7, “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.” If you are lost, broken, defeated, this Father will never stop searching for you. Galatians 3:38, “in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.