Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Joel J. Miller

About
Resources
Joel's Books
Article Categories
- Spiritual Growth
- Theology
- Prayer
- Church Life
- Family Life
- Society
- Books
- Misc

Home
Evangelical
Daddy by grace: An adoption insight

Daddy by grace: An adoption insight

Last updated on: May 3, 2012 at 6:47 am by Joel J. Miller

Daddy by grace: An adoption insight 2012-05-03T06:47:26-05:00 Joel J. Miller

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Laurel Pankratz, eilasblog.com

My Moses can be a fickle child. The other night he said in his singsongy, Luganda-tinged voice, “You are not my daddy.” It’s a funny thing to hear as an adoptive father.

My response was funny too. It was a knee-jerk thing — accidental, really — but I dropped some theology on the boy. “You’re right,” I said, “I’m not your father by nature. I’m you’re father by grace.”

Come again? It was out of my mouth before I really understood what I had said. The words came from something I had been reading, but as I reflected on them I realized how appropriate they were.

God explains our place in his family with the image of adoption. Note these lines from the letters of Paul:

“God sent forth His Son . . . to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Gal 4.4-5).

“[H]e predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ” (Eph 1.5).

“[Y]ou received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father'” (Rom 8.15).

These verses might strike some as unremarkable, especially if you’ve been in the church your whole life, but think about what’s at play here: Jesus became like us so we could become like him and therefore call God “Father.”

Irenaeus of Lyons put it this way in book three of Against Heresies:

[I]t was for this end that the Word of God was made man, and He who was the Son of God became the Son of man, [so] that man, having been taken into the Word, and receiving the adoption, might become the son of God. For by no other means could we have attained to incorruptibility and immortality, unless we had been united to incorruptibility and immortality.

We are now part of God’s family, but our inclusion is not the same as if we were God’s natural sons. Theologically speaking, we participate in God’s divinity not by nature, but by grace. I’m not divine by myself, but Jesus became human so that I could become so. By God’s grace I can partake of the divine nature (2 Pet 1.4).

Just stay on that for a moment. It’s astounding. If we are in Christ, we are really, literally, actually sons and daughters of God.

Scripture says that the very concept of fatherhood derives meaning from the fatherhood of God. Couldn’t you then say that adoption works the same way?

Adoption is not merely a metaphor for the Gospel, something we attach to the Good News because of our experience grafting families together. Rather, human adoption derives its meaning from divine adoption.

Adoption is more than a legal designation. It’s a transformative reality wherein we are fundamentally changed through our participation. Because of the work of the Holy Spirit we call God Abba, Father, Daddy — and it’s true. That’s what adoption does.

Moses and his brother Jonah are not my natural sons. But they are my sons nonetheless. I’m sure it’s going to take Moses some time to figure this out for himself, but I was admittedly relieved when he later said in that same singsongy voice, “I love you, Daddy.”

Maybe he gets it after all. I suppose the bigger question for us is whether we really get it.

Previous Post

April 26, 2012

You get more of what you focus on

Next Post

May 8, 2012 What's growing while you're not looking?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Church Life Family Life Misc Prayer Quotes Society Spiritual Growth Theology Uncategorized Video

Select a Month April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 November 2008 October 2008 July 2008 June 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 August 2007 June 2007 October 2002 July 2002 November 1999 October 1999

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Where was Jesus transfigured?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mount Tabor Mount Sinai Mount Carmel Mount Hermon