The End Goal of the Gospel: Sonship through Adoption (Part 5)

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies — Romans 8:22-23

Every thirst of the soul is supremely a desire for God, and the God for whom every desire of the soul is longing is the God we meet only at the resurrection-illumined cross of Jesus. When the crucified Christ who is risen stands before us, we see in Him the answer to all our desires, the end/fulfillment of all our thirsting

— Christopher Powers

The endless wandering of our souls, manifested by disappointments we experience once we get to a mountaintop and discover dissatisfaction, is evidence we thirst for something greater. As the deer yearns and groans for its thirst to be filled, so too our souls spiritually pant (Ps 42:1). The groaning to be adopted is at the heart of all believers. Though we are positionally adopted we ache for the day to be physically adopted for all eternity in new bodies. Our souls ultimately thirst for Him who created us, manifested in the crucified and risen Jesus. Although adoption is not our identity, it is the means in which our identity is “in Christ”. Adoption is both a sanctifying reminder of who we were and a glorious declaration of who our God is! For no matter how deeply our souls crave satisfaction, security, or significance, we all, through adoption, find our ultimate contentment in Christ. The day when a child is legally adopted is often called the “Gotcha Day”. Indeed, we long for our own “Gotcha Day” when our souls, whetted with a taste of coming glory, cry out in unison “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev.22:20).

The fractured relationship that began with Adam & Eve, will be forever restored through adoption in Christ. One day soon we will experience perfect fellowship with Him. As our eyes dim to this world, they will awake to newness of life basking in Him who adopted us before we were born. After 30+ years litigating adoptions, attorney Ted Youmans explains what it’s like for the adopting family starting out,: “it is not a legal process that we're going into...it's a process of revelation of our own adoption”. Adoption is indeed a beautiful process. Even thinking through and writing about the depths of adoption feels inadequate, and truthfully it is. Not surprisingly, it’s Jesus who says it best…

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you — John 14:18