Adoption stories are often roller-coaster stories of emptiness and anguish, of waiting and hoping, of heartache and supreme joy.

What adoption story has more meaning and power than that of a little baby conceived in dysfunction or disadvantage who is adopted into an anxiously waiting, healthy family where that child’s basic needs are abundantly met?

Try this one: The message of the Bible is that a perfectly righteous God has made the supreme effort and sacrifice necessary to welcome (adopt) rebellious sinners into his eternal family!

Scripture teaches that when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden they were fundamentally alienated from God; their face-to-face intimacy was gone. This alienation was passed on to all of their children, so that even today this is the natural condition into which every human being is born. We are spiritual orphans by nature. Our only inheritance as such is meaninglessness, alienation, fear, and ultimately death forever.

However, in his love and mercy God sent Jesus, his only begotten Son. Christ was the means by which God could adopt unrighteous people into his perfectly righteous family without compromising his righteousness. To accomplish this feat, Jesus lived a completely righteous life, then offered his righteous life as a sacrifice on the cross. As he hung upon the cross, Jesus willingly took upon himself all of the sins of all humanity and all of God’s righteous judgment against all of our unrighteousness. By Jesus’ supreme sacrifice God’s perfect standard of justice was satisfied. Whoever believes in what Jesus did is reconciled with God; his or her sins forgiven.

Other scriptural metaphors for what God does for sinners include: born again (or from above), grafted in, justified, pardoned, and adopted.

These are extremely meaningful metaphors that illustrate aspects of what occurs when a person becomes a Christian, whether it is unconsciously (as with a child in holy baptism) or more consciously (as in the case of an older child or adult).

Arguably, the most dominant of those metaphors is justification. It pictures a court trial in which the defendant is clearly guilty of wrongdoing (sin) and is about to be sentenced. But someone else steps in and offers to pay the penalty on behalf of the guilty party. The guilty one is set free, cleared of all charges. Note that the guilty person is not actually innocent, but is declared not guilty by the judge.

Another fascinating metaphor for salvation is found in Romans 11:13-24, where Paul pictures the inclusion of “wild” Gentiles in God’s Kingdom. They are grafted into the “tree” of true righteousness from which some Jews were “broken off” on account of their stubborn unbelief.

These metaphors all emphasize the gracious work of God through Jesus Christ to change an otherwise desperate situation into one of hope and joy, reconciliation and unity.

Although it is not mentioned frequently in the Bible, adoption is present in both Old and New Testaments. It is no less beautiful or powerful than other metaphors as an illustration of what God does for sinners who believe in him.

Adoption, as a human activity, is a legally binding declaration that someone has become a parent of someone other than his or her natural, biological offspring. But it is so much more than a legal declaration! It is a huge change in which loving companionship and intimacy replaces loneliness; fulfillment replaces emptiness; and joy replaces sorrow. The one who is adopted now belongs to a family. He or she is legally able to receive support, care, discipline, and an inheritance—all the same rights and provisions of any natural child born to the adoptive parents.

In Galatians 4, Paul uses the metaphor of adoption to show the Galatian believers that it will be counter-productive for them to return to the dead-end of legalism as some troublemakers in the Galatian province were trying to pressure them to do. Up to this point he has been arguing that the message of Jesus is directly from Jesus himself to Paul and cannot be changed without eternal consequences. Paul tells them that, for the Law to make them acceptable to God, they must keep not only the Sabbath and circumcision rules, but every detail of the Law—something that no one can do. Even before the Law was written down, says Paul, God credited Abraham with righteousness. This came not through his obedience or goodness, but through faith that God would do as he promised.

In Galatians 4:1-7, Paul teaches that—thanks to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus—the Law has been fulfilled on our behalf. It cannot erase our sin or deliver God’s promises. Paul illustrates by the analogy of adoption: Judaism in that day was like a child of a wealthy father who was too young to inherit his father’s wealth. Although he was the heir and in a sense owned it all, as a child he was not really different than one of his father’s servants! The irony!

Paul tells the Galatians not to go back to a slavish spiritual immaturity, but to grow into maturity through faith alone. Faith that trusts God to keep his promises without feeling the need to “help” God by trying to keep some of his laws.

Paul urges the Galatians to recognize that through their “adoption as mature sons” they are “old enough” to inherit what has been promised!

As evidence of that adoption, they (and we today) not only inherit all that God has promised, but we have the privilege of knowing God intimately. An expression of this intimacy is in calling the Almighty Creator “Abba”—the equivalent of the American term “Dad.”

Having been adopted, all fear, formality and distance are gone. We really belong in God’s family and we stand to inherit all that he promises in Christ Jesus. The privilege is ours, not because we somehow impressed God, but because God loved us and acted on that love. It was costly love for him, but a free gift for us!

Rev. Mark Erickson is professor of New Testament and Practical Theology at Lutheran Brethren Seminary in Fergus Falls, MN.

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