How Are You Adopted?

While I do not consider myself a theological expert in any way, I love Jesus Christ and am keenly aware of what He has done for me every day of my life.  And, I consider nothing in my life more important than sharing the gift of Christ with others.

What is the Gospel?

While the Gospel is often associated with Christianity, Christianity is not the Gospel.  Christianity describes the religious aspects of the followers of Christ.  Christianity is made up of fallible men and women who claim to love Jesus; many do and some do not.  Those who do, sometimes screw up, as we are humans in a sinful world.  Christianity is not perfect; the Gospel is.

So, then, what is the Gospel?  The Gospel is a story of redemption. The most unlikely redemption, that of the king and ruler who had been betrayed by his subjects.  God--in trinity as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit--created the world, and it was good.  He created man and woman in His image.  Because even the first man desired to be His own God, man sinned and created a fracture in the universe that had to be repaired by something perfect, holy and righteous.  Although God created laws and rules for us to follow, He did not create these rules for us to use as the standard for our own behavior. He created these rules for us to see that every man (including ourselves) is unable to give full glory to God, and therefore, earn favor with the Lord.  The rules were made to show that, no matter how hard we try, our sin keeps us from fellowship with a perfect God.

And, just when the world appeared hopeless and man distraught, God brought grace into the world.  Grace did not come into the world with power and might.  Grace came into the world in the form of a baby, Jesus.  Jesus was God (He created with God), yet He was not spared any of the troubles or temptations that man has suffered.  Why?  So He could be the ultimate sacrifice.  So, He could be the perfect Lamb, who died on the cross for my inability to go a day (and sometimes, a minute) without flexing my muscles in the face of an almighty God.  And grace is the fact that, through Christ, I do not have to keep a tally of my right standing in the Law; I only have to rely on Jesus' work on the cross and subsequent resurrection that defeated the decree of death that sin had over me. 

Okay, so how does the idea of adoption fit within the Gospel?

It makes the Gospel even that more amazing.  In Galatians, Paul says that if we are Christ's then were are "heirs according to the promise." Not only did Christ's work on the cross save us from the death of sin (Romans 6), but it also granted us "adoption as sons".  Isn't that beautiful?  Those who are in Christ are heirs, sons (of whom Christ is the firstborn) of God, to fully be redeemed to Him in the future.  In the Jewish tradition, an adopted heir received the exact inheritance of the other sons.  Therefore, we aren't just eternally pitiful souls who barely scrape by because of the cross; once God redeems all things, we will be fully renewed as well, by Him and through Him. (*Please note this does not promise a perfect life on earth. Christ lived through a great deal of suffering, and Romans 8 makes clear that suffering (to some degree) is part of faith in Christ. The Gospel promises that we will get more of God and that will be enough.)

Therefore, in light of the Gospel, in light of the incredible gift we have been given through the sacrifice of another, and in light of the clear mandates to love our neighbor, we must act.  But, we must never act for the sake of making ourselves feel or look better (and I would argue not even just to alleviate someone's daily circumstances).  We must only act because, in doing so, we show the nature and character of God: that, because we have been transformed by His Spirit to be His reflection, we point back to Him and He receives worship and praise.  In delight of His father's saving grace,  David remembers that God saved Him, so that "[m]any will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord."  (Psalm 40:3b).  May our motivations be pure so that they point only to the Savior.