The Sunday school teacher was finishing the roster for her new class of six-year-olds.
She didn’t need a lot of information, just the name of the student, the name of his parents, and the child’s birthday. One student said his name was Ben Fisher; his parents were Bob and Martha. He was born on June fifth. Another student said his name was Todd Fisher. His parents were also named Bob and Martha.
Must be twins, the teacher thought.
Apparently not. Todd, the second child, was born on June 23rd. The teacher, doing some quick mental calculations, thought, same parents, but born more than two weeks apart. The teacher blurted out, “That’s not possible. Your mother couldn’t have been in labor for two and a half weeks.”
Ben, confessed, “No, it’s very possible. One of us is adopted.”
The teacher, against her better judgment, asked, “And which of you is adopted?”
The boys gave each other a sidelong glance, accompanied with a smile. Ben answered for them both: “We wanted to know that too. When we went to dad and asked, he said, ‘Boys, I love you both … and I just can’t remember which of the two of you your mother and I adopted.'”
Is that story real? Of course, it is.
I know it’s real because it’s the story of every Christian who has ever lived. Scripture says, and we rightly confess, that the Lord has one and only one Son: Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
So that we, the wandering, might be invited into the Father’s heavenly mansions, God’s Son came to earth and took our place: “born of a woman, born under the Law to redeem those who were under the Law.” It is how Scripture defines Jesus’ mission of love: a labor of love which was, from start to finish, designed to demonstrate the wonder of God’s grace, which is great enough to embrace, forgive and rescue any and all who believe on the Savior’s substitution.
Now, because of the salvation which has been won successfully on Calvary’s cross, in the kingdom of heaven there are hundreds of millions of adopted children.
And when our loving Father looks at us, He sees neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, man nor woman. He sees only those who have been brought into the family of faith by the suffering and sacrifice of His beloved Son.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, adoption is always by invitation. There is nothing which I or anybody could do to make us Your children. Still, because You loved us, You did all which was necessary so the doors to heaven might be opened. By Your grace, may there be many more adopted children coming through those doors. In Jesus’ Name I pray it. Amen.