A Blessed Reminder From Haiti

"... having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the beloved." Ephesians 1:5-6

The recent earthquake in Haiti has certaintly exacted a great toll upon the people there. Among those who have suffered greatly are the large number of orphans found on this island nation. In addition to the ever present pain they feel in having no parents and now from the injuries some sustained from the earthquake, they also have been subject to human trafficking and child slavery. Unfortunately, this situation has aptly illustrated their desperate plight.

The Apostle Paul had this kind of thing in mind when he penned, under the Spirit's guidance, the words in our text found in Ephesians 1:5-6. In those days of Roman dominion, it was not unusual for children to be discarded. More often than not this action was taken by the father of the child since the society in which they lived was patriarchal. The father did not have to have a good reason for his heinous action. This would obviously leave the abandoned child in a very vulnerable position! Unless someone determined to take the child in to care for either him or her, that child would very much be in danger of dying. Such was their plight!

Fortunately, there were some people who were filled with mercy and compassion who would seek to adopt a discarded child. In love, they could go to court to adopt. In those days, the law stated that if someone were to legally adopt the child they entered into a permanent relationship with the child as his or her parent. The agreement was an irrevocable binding agreement which bound the child and the new parents. This agreement guaranteed a new father as part of the deal for the child!

Nowadays, I have heard, children in some parts of Africa are discarded for many reasons too. The most prevalent reasons are related to deformities or the child being born with diseases like A.I.D.S. Many African parents often regard these children as "cursed" as declared by the local witch doctor, so the children are abandoned and given up to die.

The point is this, the recipients of Paul's epistle to the Ephesian church would definitely grasp the picture that the Lord through Paul was painting for them.

Imagine the scene in heaven. The Almighty and righteous judge of the universe holds court within the triune Godhead. In love, mercy, compassion and grace, He determines to adopt the "orphan like" children who repent and come to Him by faith in Jesus Christ's works upon the cross and subsequent resurrection. He then makes a covenant through Jesus' blood and seals it with the Holy Spirit to place Himself in a permanent, binding and irrevocable agreement to be the new Father of the adopted child. Up to this point, the adopted child was guaranteed death, was cursed, diseased and deformed by sin as well as being subject to slavery. Before this agreement was made, the child was hopeless and helpless just as orphans were in Paul's day and as many are even today.

And to top it off, this newly adopted child of God can climb up into His lap at anytime and cry: "Abba or Daddy" to his loving Father who is most eager to hold this child and wipe away every tear as the child's comforting defender! And all of this is according to the good pleasure of God's will and glorious grace!

Knowing these things makes verses like the following take new meaning and further endears me to Him because in a sense all of us were orphans before we meet Him:

"I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18

"For in You the fatherless finds mercy." Hosea 14:3

"You are the helper of the fatherless." Psalm 10:14

"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." Romans 8:15-16

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God!" I John 3:1

Oh how joyous to be accepted in the Beloved! What a Savior! Does anyone feel like dancing? I do! How 'bout you?