Sam Storms on Adoption

At the Together for Adoption blog there is a great interview with Sam Storms about adoption from a theological and physical point of view. He was asked this question:

"Why do you think it’s true that those who have been adopted by earthly parents often display unusual insight into vertical (spiritual) adoption?"

I greatly appreciated his response and his story of Janie:

I think we have to begin with the fact that to be the recipient of such marvelously unsolicited love from people not one’s biological parents must be a tremendous thrill. I’ve sensed this time and again from one young lady who was adopted at birth. Her appreciation for having been adopted into God’s family is understandably immense. She seems to rejoice in this glorious spiritual truth on a level yet unattained by most of us. I have learned much from her as she has shared with me her thoughts on the subject.

Janie’s biological mother already had four children and for reasons of her own felt compelled to give up her fifth for adoption. From the moment Janie entered her new home she began to learn about the kind of love God has for His adopted children.

The love her new parents had for her could hardly have been greater had she been their natural born child. Nowhere is this better seen than in the saying Janie’s new mom kept on her noteboard. It read:

“Not flesh of my flesh,

Nor bone of my bone,

But still miraculously my own.

Never forget for a single minute,

You didn’t grow under my heart

But in it.”

It’s a bit difficult for me to explain how Janie must feel, so I asked her to put it in her own words. After doing so it only confirmed what I said earlier about adopted children often having special appreciation for this spiritual truth.

“Being adopted,” explains Janie, “gives me an unusual ability to understand my adoption into God’s arms. My parents had no idea whether I would be a boy or girl. They wanted me regardless of my gender. God also loves us irrespective of gender. Knowing that they loved me before I was born deepens my gratitude that God knew me and chose me before the foundation of the world!”

“My adoptive parents chose to ignore my impoverished past. The fact that my natural mother was on welfare didn’t diminish their love for me. Likewise, God knows our wicked past, our spiritual impoverishment, down to the smallest disgusting detail. Yet He loves us anyway! To have been twice adopted and loved in this way goes beyond any words in my vocabulary.”

Janie brought me a copy of the Final Adoptive Decree and pointed out a fascinating and instructive paragraph. It states that “for all intents and purposes whatsoever, the said child is and is hereby declared to be in the same relationship to the Petitioners [the adoptive parents] as if born to them by natural birth, and remaining in such relationship as if the child were their own . . .”

What this means, among other things, is that Janie is legally as much a child of these parents as any other born to them by natural means. She is a co-heir with all others in that family. We, too, are co-heirs with Christ our brother. The good news is, whereas this earthly adoptive decree is stamped and notarized by the state, our “Spiritual Adoptive Decree” is sealed with the blood of Christ and signed by the God who cannot lie!

Whereas sometimes the love of earthly parents falters and even fails, the love of our Heavenly Father is immutable. No one in heaven or on earth can challenge the eternal legality of what God has done for us in making you and me His beloved children.

Janie also pointed out yet another statement in the decree which says that “the rights of all other persons, if any they have, to the care, control and custody of said child be and the same are hereby forever and finally terminated . . .” If you can’t get beyond the legal language, listen to how Janie explains it.

“These words can be used to describe God’s adoption of me into His family. When I was adopted by my earthly parents, my old identity was terminated. Legally speaking, anyway, I became a new and different person. I became Mary Jane Fox. When I was adopted by my Heavenly Father I also left behind my old self and was reborn with a new identity, a clean slate, a fresh start.”

I rejoiced with Janie and her husband when they celebrated the birth of their first child. At one point Janie said, “She is so fragile and vulnerable! She stumbles and falls and whines and often makes such a mess of things. But that’s the way we are with God. Every day I stumble and fall and mess things up, but my Father is there to pick me up. He comforts me when I’m down. I complain and get into trouble. Yet, He gently corrects me and loves me in a way that overshadows even the best of earthly affections.”

Earthly, adoptive love, is unspeakably special. Yet such sacrifice and passion, for all its beauty, for all its wonder, pales before the brilliant light of God’s love for us, one-time spiritual orphans. “Behold! Behold! What manner of love the Father has for us, that we should be called the children of God. And that’s exactly what we are!” (1 John 3:1-2).

Click here to read the whole interview.