5. Adoption is a process It may be long, gut-wrenching, and even infuriating at times, but most adoptive parents would agree that adoption is a process...gradual, forward movement along an ever-reaching continuum of filling out paperwork, fundraising, waiting, praying, soul-searching, and traveling. When they finally reach the point of holding their new son or daughter in their arms, this new little person that they have never met before, they find that a whole new process must begin, that of cultivating a relationship and bonding together. Though there is the immediate dimension to adoption when a orphan becomes physically and legally part of a family, it may take years for him or her to fully assimilate into this new home and reflect this changed identity. Similarly, on a spiritual level, there is a process of coming to know and love Jesus as our Father. He first plants the seeds of His truth in our heart through the influence of His other children and the power of His Word, then gradually draws our heart and mind nearer and nearer to Himself until we recognize Him as our Creator and Lord. And even then while there is a one-time, instantaneous component of salvation (justification), when we admit our sin and take on the righteousness of Christ through faith, the process of learning to love God as our Father and develop His character and attributes (sanctification) spans our whole lives. Romans 8 tells us that we must learn to discard our former, fleshly ways and increasingly reflect our spiritual adoption as sons, even as we wait for its completion in glory. We see, then, that the process of earthly adoption once again sweetly and beautifully paints a picture for us of the realities of our Heavenly adoption story. Just as a former orphan learns to become part of a new family, so we work on becoming who we already are in Christ as His adopted children.
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