Adoption

Adoption:
Natural: The giving to any one the name and place and privileges of a son who is not a son by birth.

Spiritual: An act of God's grace by which he brings men into the number of his redeemed family, and makes them partakers of all the blessings he has provided for them. Adoption represents the new relations into which the believer is introduced by justification, and the privileges connected therewith, viz., an interest in God's peculiar love. (John 17:23; Rom. 5:5-8)

To you and I the dual definitions for adoption may seem straightforward and clear. However, when a student in the Christian Resource Centre embarked on a study of the relationship one has with God when they accept Christ as Saviour, he just could not fathom the permanency of the relationship. You may ask, "Why on earth not?" Let us provide some background:

In Zambian culture family is community. Not only your immediate blood relatives but also extended family members and fellow villagers belong to that "family circle". Each, traditionally, took care of the other. For instance if a brother or sister passes away, their children become dependents of another family member or resident of the village. Nothing legal is documented. No one changes surnames. The children are simply passed on and integrated into the family unit. Unfortunately, that child never has a sense of "belonging" in most cases. Though the child has been integrated into the extended family, the same child is not afforded the rights and privileges of the birth child in the home to which they have been relegated. There is always that sense of separation, inequality, instability. A situation may arise whereby a family member in another part of the clan may need a servant or caregiver to younger children and frequently that same orphaned child will be sent to another home to serve as opposed to becoming a member of the family.

When we understand this concept of integration in the Zambian setting yet no permanency or sense of belonging, it helps us to realize that what you and I take for granted as understood, is an entirely foreign idea in this culture. We now know why so many of our Zambian believers think that their eternal life is conditional upon their behavior. To assist the student in his comprehension of adoption we are able to use the example of our son Colin and how he was made Sherry's son through adoption. She made the choice to make him a part of her life, relegating all the rights and privileges that would have been bestowed upon a child of birth, to him. He is loved, taught and disciplined as any other child would be that is loved by a parent.

Translating that into how God has chosen us, given us His name, His love, His gift of eternal life, a place with Him, blessings, an inheritance, discipline etc. the student was finally able to come to terms though he stated that it takes great faith to truly know that God will not "excommunicate" you or regret his decision and throw you back.

Adoption should not surprise God's people. Adoption in Christ is the way God chose to create His family even before He created the world (Eph. 1:4-5). Adoption as God's act is an eternal process of His gracious love, for He "fore-ordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will"

Pray for our Zambian friends as they come to grips with the concept of adoption. Pray for us as we make clear the mysteries of God's Word.

In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry