Why Are We Adopting?

1.  We are adopting because we've been adopted!  Not physically, but spiritually.  The Bible teaches that we are all sinners and born enemies of God (Romans 5:12-17).  There is nothing we can do to earn favor with the Lord (Gal 2:16, Titus 3:5).  However, we can be reconciled to the Father by putting our hope and faith in Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life, died on the cross to atone for our sins, and was raised again defeating Satan and death (1 Corinthians 3:3-4).  God promises that if we confess our need for salvation and believe in what Christ has accomplished on the cross then we will be saved and he will purify us from all unrighteousness (Romans 10:9; 1 John 1:9)!  He promises that He will not leave us as orphans (John 14:18) but instead give us the Holy Spirit, who intercedes on our behalf.  When this happens we are no longer called enemies of God, but children of God (1 John 3:1-2)!  In addition, as God’s children, we are also called heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17).  So, in an attempt to show the love of Christ to another we desire to physically adopt in order to symbolize our spiritual adoption.

2.  We are adopting because God has called us to adopt!  Over and over again in scripture God commands believers to care for the poor, needy, widows, and ORPHANS (James 1:27)! We do not believe that this means every believer should adopt, but we are confident that God has laid that on OUR hearts!  For me (Amanda) the desire began when I was studying abroad in Thailand and Burma.  One afternoon as I was walking with a friend through a small village, a distraught woman approached us, handed over her child, and went away.  We did find the woman and gave her back the child, but my heart was broken.  I wept and wept over that child and if there would have been any way in the entire world I could have kept it, I would have.  My heart has longed to return to Asia and bring home a child to call my very own.  Shortly before Josh and I were engaged, we agreed that we both felt adoption was in our future.  After three years of marriage we began trying to have biological children and struggled with infertility.  The desire in our hearts for adoption grew during the trials we faced although we did not have a peace about pursuing adoption at that point in time.  Soon afterwards the Lord was gracious to give us not one, but TWO biological children.  We have truly experienced what joy children bring and firmly believe that they are a blessing from the Lord.  After much prayer, we finally feel God leading us down the path of adoption that we have known for so long that we would one day travel.

3.  We are adopting because there is a need!  Statistics vary depending on where you look but one thing is certain, there are hundreds of millions of children worldwide who have lost one or both parents.  It is estimated that between 70-80 million orphans exist in Asia alone. Every child deserves to be loved!  For more information on orphan statistics please click here.

Scripture

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless
and the widow. ~ Deuteronomy 10:18

The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.  O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. ~ Psalm 10:16-18

The true light (Jesus), which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him,who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born,not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. ~ John 1:9-13

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. - John 14:18

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 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, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. ~ Romans 8:12-17

And not only creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. ~ Romans 8:23-24

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ~ Romans 8:28-29

To them (the Isrealites) belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ.  But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.  Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. ~ Romans 9:4-8, 14-17

Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.' And in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'sons of the living God'. ~ Romans 9:25-26 (Hosea 1:10, 2:23)

I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.  ~ 2 Corinthians 6:18

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.  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 3:23-29, 4:1-4

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 the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. ~ Ephesians 1:3-14

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ~ Ephesians 3:6

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration andrenewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  ~ Titus 3:4-7

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. ~ James 1:27

Quotes

"The Gospel is not a picture of adoption, adoption is a picture of the Gospel." ~John Piper

“A son or daughter in any human family is either born to or adopted by the parents. By definition, a child can't be both. But with God we're both born of Him and adopted by Him.” ~Jerry Bridges

"Time and experience have taught me a priceless lesson: Any child you take for your own becomes your own if you give of yourself to that child. I have born two children and had seven others by adoption, and they are all my children, equally beloved and precious." ~Dale Evans

"Adoption is when a child grows in its Mommy's heart instead of her tummy." ~Unknown

"Being a family means you are part of something very wonderful.  It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life.  No matter what." ~Unknown

"If anybody understands God's ardor for his children, it's someone who has rescued an orphan from despair, for that is what God has done for us. God has adopted you. God sought you, found you, signed the papers and took you home." ~Max Lucado

"Love cannot be measured by how long you wait.  It's about how well you understand why you are waiting." ~Unkonwn

"Dream without fear and love without limits." ~Unknown

"It would have been extraordinary enough for God simply to redeem us, to forgive our sins, to declare us righteous.  But he does not stop here- he makes us his children (Gal. 4:4-7)." ~Russell Moore

One day an elephant saw a hummingbird lying on its back with its tiny feet up in the air. "What are you doing?" asked the elephant. The hummingbird replied, "I heard that the sky might fall today, and so I am ready to help hold it up, should it fall.”  The elephant laughed cruelly. “Do you really think,” he said, "that those tiny feet could help hold up the sky?”  The hummingbird kept his feet up in the air, intent on his purpose, as he replied, "Not alone. But each must do what he can. And this is what I can do.”  ~ A Chinese Folktale