Today, Genesis 48, the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh. That just so happened to return last week from this very same instance and the adoption of Safiyyah. And now it just so happens I have the great privilege of preaching on the subject of adoption this morning. So if you would please open your Bibles with me to Genesis chapter 48 and let's look at this picture of the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh and its significance. And as we journey here to Genesis chapter 48 and talk about the issue of adoption, let me sort of set the stage for you as to why this is incredibly important for us in this particular time. You may think that adoption is something that is common and has always been common. Let me read this to you from Jerry Baer, who is a law professor at Texas Tech School of Law. writing on the basics of Texas intestate succession law. Inheritance. He writes, the ability of a person to adopt a non-biological person and cause that person to be treated as a biological child was recognized thousands of years ago. However, the concept of adoption was beyond the grasp of common law attorneys and courts. The idea that a person could have legal parents other than the biological mother and biological father was unthinkable in terms of the law. In fact, English law did not recognize adoption until 1926. Accordingly, modern law relating to adoption developed in the United States with Vermont and Texas taking the lead when their legislatures enacted adoption statutes in 1850. practice that has been around for a long, long time. But not a formal legal proceeding until rather recent history. Here's what we know. Adoption, unfortunately, is a forgotten doctrine. And here's the irony in that. We understand adoption because of what the scriptures teach us. For thousands of years, adoption has been happening. thousands of years and yet most people now know what they know about adoption from the legal standpoint you know that law 1850 1926 very recent historical development most people know what they know about adoption from that legal perspective but know very little about it from a biblical or theological perspective Also, there has not been much work done for much of church history on the doctrine of adoption as it relates to the order salutis, or the order of salvation. Secondly, adoption is on the rise. There have been more adoptions in recent years than we've perhaps ever seen before. Some of the factors for that include the introduction of open adoption. That's one factor that has led to the rise of adoptions. The introduction of open adoptions has made birth mothers more willing to make adoption plans for their children because no longer is adoption for a birth mother the practice of going to an adoption agency, signing papers and never ever knowing or hearing anything again about that child. A second factor The rise of the pro-life movement in response to the culture of death. The rise of the pro-life movement in response to the culture of death. Since Roe v. Wade, there have been over 50 million babies slaughtered in the United States alone. That's just the United States. We murder babies in this country at a rate of over 3,000 per day. And as people become aware of this onslaught, there is a rise in people's desire to do something, which is another reason that adoption is on the rise. Again, also the rise of adoption ministries throughout the country, raising awareness and providing support and financial help. Third thing is this, fear and confusion still abounds on this issue of adoption. people are indeed afraid and confused when it comes to adoption factors include again the introduction of open adoptions people are terrified of adoptions because of the introduction of open adoptions they think that this means that when you adopt a baby that you have to have the birth mother over for dinner every week when in fact that is not at all what open adoption means secondly movies and news stories about birth mothers coming back to take adopted children. Something that almost never occurs and because of laws in various states today, it's not even possible. But yeah, if there's a movie about it, if there's a story about it, and everybody knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who adopted a baby and then a year later Stormtroopers came to their house and kicked down the door and took the baby away Now nobody knows that person But they know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who heard about it one time From the person down the street from their second cousin twice removed Three Fear and confusion abounds because of opposition to adoption by very prominent national ministries who warn against things like generational curses and familiar spirits. Very prominent national ministries who warn people not to adopt because you never know what you're going to get. I guess adoption is like a box of chocolates. You don't know what generational curses abide on that child. You don't know what familiar spirits abide on that child. Therefore, you need to be cautious when it comes to adoption. I've talked about this issue before, and you know my response to people who say this to me, okay? If I believe that, we never would have had kids because of what I do know about the family I come from. Amen. Here's what you need to know. Everyone comes from a dysfunctional family. Because every family is a dysfunctional family. Adam and Eve, the first man and woman created by God respectively, Adam made from the dust. God breathes into his nostrils the breath of life. Eve formed from the body of Adam. And what did they create? The first dysfunctional family. And every family in the history of the world has been dysfunctional. Not just like Adam and Eve, but because of Adam. Every one of us is born into this world with a curse abiding on us. Every one of us. So it is absolutely ridiculous that we would be afraid that a child might come into our home with a curse abiding on them. Let me just remove that fear. Every child who comes into your home through the womb or via adoption, it comes into your home with a curse abiding on their head. everyone. There's also naivete and unrealistic expectations that often lead to disappointment in adoption. People are naive and have unrealistic expectations and it leads to incredible disappointment in adoption. For example, number one, the inevitable questions that arise when difficulties come. not if difficulties come, but the inevitable questions that arise when difficulties come. To adopt a child into your home is to invite difficulties and spiritual warfare. Newsflash, to bring a child into your home through the womb is to invite difficulty and spiritual warfare. But here's the difference, when a child that was born into our home goes and abides for a while on what my grandmother used to call Fool's Hill, we simply say that's a part of raising a child. But when a child who came into our home through adoption goes through a time of difficulty and lives on Fool's Hill, immediately we say, oh, must not have been a good idea for me to adopt that one. Because of course it would only have been a good idea if there were no difficulties attached. That's foolish. That's naive. That's misguided. Two, internal conflict that accompanies the balance of love and justice and the discipline of a child who enters our home through adoption. See, we're naive and we're misguided. because we bring a child into our home through adoption and all of a sudden we believe that because this child was adopted from circumstances that were difficult that somehow what they need from us is more love and less justice. We feel guilty about correcting the child who came to our home through adoption. Because we want to make sure that they always and only feel loved. And as a result, they lack the justice and discipline necessary to be conformed properly to our home. Thirdly, People are often disappointed because of fantasies about grateful children who cannot imagine wanting to know their birth parents due to the overwhelming joy of having been adopted into our home. That's foolish. That's foolish. The overwhelming joy of having been adopted into our home ought to be enough for this child to never go through an identity crisis and want to know who their biological parents were. And because of that kind of foolishness, many a heart is broken when a child normally and naturally determines, I want to know the story and I want to know these people who allowed me to come here. If we have unrealistic expectations, that crushes us. If we understand adoption biblically, we ought to be leading that effort, not surprised by it. for the ignorance and insensitivity of those with whom we come into contact. It's disappointing. The ignorance of people, the insensitivity of people, is disappointing for an adoptive family. When you are riding around, for example, or walking around at a conference, just hypothetically, If you're walking around at a conference and you happen to have children who came into your home biologically and children who came into your home via adoption and all of a sudden as you're walking around and pushing the stroller and carrying babies and everything else, people come up to you, meaning well, with huge smiles on their faces and say ignorant things like, which ones are your real children? Just hypothetically. No, that would never ever make a child who came into a home via adoption think, huh, some of us are real and others of us are not. Huh, some of us are natural and some of us are not. Huh, some of us are their own children and some of us are not. disappointing but newsflash when you adopt a child you signed up for that that is your opportunity to instruct and educate finally theological illiteracy results in wrong and misguided motives for adoption because we do not understand the doctrine of adoption There are many who go into adoption for wrong or at least misguided reasons. For example, the desire to adopt a child that will fill a void in the life of the adopted parents. Wrong reason to adopt. Wrong reason to adopt. We'll see that in Genesis chapter 48. If you are intent on adopting a child to fill a void in your life, you are committing the sin of idolatry and saying that God is not enough. Secondly, some people desire to have a child but not just any child. They want to adopt a child that will look like what a biological child would have looked like, because they have an internal desire to see the picture that exists in their head. You know why some people wait a long, long, long time for a baby? Because she's got to have red hair and green eyes. He's got to have blonde hair and blue eyes. Why? because that's what our biological children would have looked like, and this child is actually a replacement for the biological child that we weren't able to have. Therefore, when I look at this child, and when we have pictures of ourselves and this child, the picture needs to look right, because that broken image is what I am trying to correct. Thirdly, Another wrong or misguided motive is the desire to adopt a child for the purpose of social justice. There are poor children in this world. We live in a rich environment. The socially just thing to do is to bring the poor into the environment of the rich in order to balance the scales. wrong motive for adoption. There are far worse things in this world than being poor. Finally, the desire to earn God's favor through doing the ultimate good deed. The desire to earn God's favor through doing the ultimate good deed. This is misguided. This is not what we see in the Scriptures. So what do we want to do today? Five things, and a half. Number one, I want you to see the significance of this particular adoption in the Genesis narrative. I want you to see this beautiful picture of Jacob, Israel, adopting his two grandsons. He didn't adopt all of his grandsons. He adopted these two grandsons in particular. He also adopted them right before he died. So the adoption was not for himself at all. I want you to see the significance of this adoption in the Genesis narrative. Secondly, I want you to see the beauty of adoption through the lens of God's adoption of a people for the praise of His glory. I want you to see the significance and beauty of adoption through the lens of God's adoption of a people to the praise of His glory. God has adopted Israel as a people to the praise of His glory. It's adoption. And I want you to see the beauty of that. Thirdly, I want you to see the beauty and significance of your own adoption in Christ. It's only when we understand adoption in general, that we understand the particular implications of our adoption in Christ. Listen to this in Galatians 4, 4 and 5, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. If you don't understand adoption, that may mean something to you, but not enough. Not enough. Four, I want you to see the beauty of horizontal adoption as an earthly expression of a heavenly reality. I want you to see the beauty of horizontal adoption as an earthly expression of a heavenly reality. I want you to grasp the fact that adopting children here on earth by us is not about us. It is about the reflection horizontally of a vertical reality. It is painting a picture of God who is the adopter. and it is painting a picture of us who are the adopted and when we understand that portrait there is greater beauty and meaning in the horizontal adoption and a more realistic set of expectations that come along with it finally I want you to consider the ministry of adoption I want you to consider the ministry of adoption You may never have done so before. I want you to consider it today. You may have considered it before, but then stopped thinking about it. I want you to consider the Ministry of Adoption. Perhaps for yourself, perhaps to get involved and help someone to engage in this crucial endeavor. with all those purposes in mind let's look at the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh Genesis chapter 48 we'll just read the chapter together and then make observations after this Joseph was told behold your father is ill so he took with him his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim And it was told to Jacob, your son Joseph has come to you. Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me and said to me, behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you. And I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession. and now your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are mine Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as Reuben and Simeon are and the children that you fathered after them shall be yours they shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance as for me when I came to Padan to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem. When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, who are these? Joseph said to his father, note that this adoption is occurring sight unseen. He did not say, I saw those two boys and my heart leapt. They are brought to him and he says, introduce us. Joseph said to his father, they are my sons whom God has given me here. And he said, bring them to me, please, that I may bless them. Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age. so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your offspring also. Then Joseph removed them from his knee, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand and brought them near him and Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim who was the younger and his left hand on the head of Manasseh crossing his hands for Manasseh was the firstborn and he blessed Joseph and said now pause here for a moment understand what's happening You got it. We don't understand the significance of this because we don't live in the ancient Near East. We don't understand the significance of this because we don't understand the symbolism. We don't understand the idea of the son of my right hand, the son of my strength, the blessing of the right hand. So when Joseph presents his boys to Jacob, He brings them in with the oldest on his left and the youngest on his right because he's facing his father and his father is about to bless the boys. That way when he brings the boys to his father, the oldest will be by his right hand as he is supposed to be. The youngest will be by his left hand as he is supposed to be. Joseph knows this. Jacob knows this. And Jacob, knowing what Joseph has done, does this. He crosses his hands. He does it, according to Joseph, the wrong way. Verse 15, he said, he blessed Joseph and said, the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil bless the boys and in them let my name be carried on and the name of my father's Abraham and Isaac and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim it displeased him And he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. And Joseph said to his father, Not this way, my father, since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head. But his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he. and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations. So he blessed them that day, saying, By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, God make you as Ephraim and Manasseh. Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. Then Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to you, rather than to your brothers, one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow." A beautiful picture that we see here. Several truths that we need to understand about adoption, both vertically and horizontally, in order to accomplish all of those goals that we set out. In each of these points, here's what I want to give you. I want to show you how this occurs in the text. I want to make the connection to the theological truth in the New Covenant and then finally make the connection to today in horizontal adoption. First, the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh gave them the full privilege that belonged to a son. The adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh gave them the full privilege that belonged to a son. They were not second-class members of Jacob's household. They become tribes, the tribe of Ephraim, the tribe of Manasseh. The reason that they're referred to as half-tribes is because they were given their father's portion. They replaced, as it were, their father Joseph as tribes. But they are not called half-tribes because they were less blessed than the others. They have the full inheritance of sons, not the partial inheritance of sons. Notice what he says in verse 5, Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as Reuben and Simeon are. Interestingly enough, he doesn't say Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as the rest of my twelve sons are. He says Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as Reuben and Simeon are. In other words, Ephraim and Manasseh are the firstborn sons of Joseph. Jacob says they shall be like my firstborn sons. Reuben and Simeon, my number one and my number two. In other words, they will not be slighted in any way. They are as much my sons as my two firstborn sons. They are not lesser sons to me. These are my sons. Listen to this. In John chapter 1, Verses 12 and 13. But to all who did receive Him, who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. That is adoption. We are children of God. We are sons of God, daughters of God. Listen to this from Charles Haddon Spurgeon in his sermon, Adoption, The Spirit and the Cry. He writes, Adoption gives us the rights of children. Regeneration gives us the nature of children. We are partakers of both of these, for we are sons. We have the nature of children and we have the rights of children. We belong to the household of God. He is our Father. We are His children. He does not merely rescue us from hell. Get this, please. It is not as though God comes along and He sees us in peril and rescues us from peril and we forever have a relationship wherein we say, I belong to you, I am your servant for the rest of my life because you saved my life. No, He rescues us and adopts us and places us into His home and we are His children as much as Christ is His child. We are his sons and daughters, which is why it is so important that we get rid of this idea in our minds of the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. We are not all God's children. If we are all God's children, adoption into God's family means nothing. We are by nature objects of His wrath. That's what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2. We are by nature objects of His wrath. We must be adopted into His family to become the objects of His love. Not all men are my brothers. But those who are bought by the blood of the Lamb are my brothers in every sense of the word. We are sons. We are daughters of the Most High. Today, in horizontal adoption, we don't understand this reality, and we must. That is why we ask the question. These questions that we ask, they come from somewhere. When you ask the question, which ones are your real children and which ones are your adopted children? That is not a slip of the tongue. That comes from the fact that we do not understand adoption. We actually think an adopted child is a second-class child. Which are your real children and which are your adopted children? Which are your natural children and which are your unnatural children? Which ones are yours and which ones are somebody else's that you happen to be borrowing? Those questions come from somewhere. Because we have a wrong understanding of adoption. And because we have an overblown appreciation for biology. We believe that the ultimate reality is the blood and the genes that we share. If you're a child of God, you know better than that. If you're a child of God, there are people in this church who are closer to you than your blood relatives. Why? Because blood might be thicker than water, but it's not thicker than adoption. When we are adopted into the family of God, it changes everything. And when we adopt a child into our home, it changes everything. They are not less than. They are not second class. Listen to me. If you have children who came to your home by adoption, and they're converted and born again, and you have children who came into your home through the womb who are not born again, guess which ones you spend eternity with? This is bigger than biology. This is more consequential than genetics. This is real. And when we look at a child who has come into a home through adoption, we can only understand this if we understand that our adoption in Christ does not make us second-class citizens. When we all get to heaven, What a day of rejoicing that will be. And on that day of rejoicing, trust me, angels will not be walking around saying, which ones are your real children and which ones did you adopt? We are all His in Christ. Secondly, The inheritance of Ephraim and Manasseh were based on the promise of God, not the possessions of Israel. Here is the beauty. If you go back to the beginning of this section of Genesis, you go back and we look at the life of Joseph, and what does Jacob do? Jacob loves him more than his other brothers, and he signifies that by giving him this coat of many colors. He gives him a possession to set him apart. He does not bring Ephraim and Manasseh in and give them a special coat. Verses 2 to 5, Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said to me, Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you a company of people, and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession. And now your two sons, who were born to you in this land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine." Notice what he connects it to. The promise of God. The promise of God. I am bringing them into my family. By the way, I'm getting ready to die. I called you in in a hurry so that I could get this done before I die. This is not about Jacob's enjoyment. This is not about Jacob's fulfillment. This is about the passing on of an inheritance. And he gives what God has given because that matters more than all else. Theologically listen to this Romans chapter 8 verses 15-17 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him, in order that we may also be glorified with Him. All that is His is ours, including His suffering. It's a heavenly possession. That's what He gives. That's why this adoption is important to Him. He gives these boys what matters most. Listen to the London Backs Confession, chapter 12 of adoption. also all those that are justified God conferred in and for the sake of his only son Jesus Christ to make partakers of the grace of adoption by which they are taken into the number enjoy the liberties and privileges of children of God have His name put on them, receive the spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are enabled to cry, Abba, Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him as by a father, yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation. Why do I have security in my salvation? because I inherited it as an adopted son. It's my inheritance. It's my inheritance. It's mine. It's mine. Well, I thought usually in order to get an inheritance, somebody had to die. Yeah. Bingo. Somebody did die. for my inheritance. Jesus Christ laid down His life. He died, and I have an inheritance. It is mine. Today, how do we view this horizontally? We must look at adopted children, or we must not look at adopted children as an inheritance to us. The idea that I'm going to adopt a child for me. I have a void and I want the child to fill the void. I don't have a child that looks the way that picture in my mind looked when I got married and I thought about what our family photos would look like. I need a child to fill that void in the picture. I feel like less than a man, less than a woman. I need a child to make me feel fulfilled. We mustn't. Or view their adoption as an inheritance to them. That's the social justice angle. This child would have had a bad life because they would have been poor. However, now they're not going to be poor. Folks, there are worse things than being poor. but instead see them as an inheritance to Christ. We must adopt children with a view toward raising them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord with a view toward Christ having His full inheritance. That's the goal. The child is adopted into our home. What do we have to give? The only thing I have of worth is that which has been promised to me by God. So here's the gospel. I want you to have that. I want you to hear that. I want you to know that. Here's Christ. I want you to have Him. I want you to know Him. My desire is for you to belong to Him. That's my desire. Because it is the most important thing I have to give to you. Thirdly, their adoption was based on the love the father, Israel, had for the son, Joseph. Not anything Ephraim and Manasseh had done. Israel doesn't need sons. He has twelve of them. Amen. He didn't need sons. He has twelve of them. This was not about his need. This was about the love the father has for his son. I almost don't need to make this connection theologically to the new covenant, do I? Our adoption is based on the love that the father has for the son. It's not about you and me. It's about Christ. Well, listen to this in the text. Genesis chapter 48, verse 8 and 9. When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, who are these? Joseph said to his father, they are my sons whom God has given me here. Who are these? I don't even know them. Because it wasn't about them. It was about the love he has for Joseph. He wanted to bless Joseph. And so he adopts these boys as a blessing to Joseph. Listen to this in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 through 6. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His gracious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved." Who's adoption about? Christ! my adoption is about Christ now we can turn this on its head and we can put ourselves as an even exchange for these characters but this is not about an even exchange if it was the adoption had to do with the father's love for the son as an adoptive father what does my adoption have to do with my love for the son Christ It has to do with my love for Christ. That's why we do this horizontally. Because of our love for Christ. What is our goal for all of our children? That we might give them to Christ. When we adopt children, what are we doing? We're going and getting some more children that we can hand over to Christ. for His glory, for His honor, and for His namesake. It is for Christ. Oh, I'm so heartbroken because they have an identity crisis and they want to know their history. They want to know their birth parents. Was I not enough? When did this become about you? There are a lot of people who are afraid to adopt because they're afraid that this child might have some allegiance outside to those birth parents and that somehow they will feel cheated because of that. We beg God on a regular basis that the children who have come into our home through adoption will one day go back and be a blessing to those who loved them enough to make an adoption plan. Why? So Christ can have even more. That's why. This is not about me hoarding the love of another person to myself. This is about Christ. This is about His glory. His honor. His name. Four, Israel adopted Ephraim and Manasseh with a view toward kingdom expansion. Israel adopted Ephraim and Manasseh with a view toward kingdom expansion. Look at the text, verses 15 and 16. The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day. Let's just love that in light of where we were a few weeks ago talking about the shepherds The angel who has redeemed me from all evil bless the boys and in them let my name be carried on and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Why? It almost sounds selfish. Let my name grow. No, no, no, no, no. He says me, my father Isaac and my father Abraham. Notice that he doesn't go back further than that. Why? Because this is not about his earthly family. It's about the covenant promises of God. That's why he only goes back to Abraham and not Tamar. He just goes back to Abraham because he's going back to the covenant. God has made a promise. And may these two boys flourish in the context of that promise. Not, may they make me proud, I'm going to be dead in a matter of days. But may the promise flourish in them. That's the goal. Romans 8, 28 to 30. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to His purpose For those whom the Father foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers." There's your goal. There's your goal. And in horizontal adoption, this happens in two ways. First, horizontal adoption is an incredible opportunity to proclaim the Gospel. Here's what I didn't say. You adopt and therefore the adoption is proclaimed, or the gospel is proclaimed. Because you adopted. I am not making the St. Francis of Assisi argument. Okay? Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words. That's wrong. You can only preach the gospel with words. Amen. You can only preach the gospel with words. Your life does not preach the gospel. It cannot preach the gospel. Adopting a child does not preach the gospel. Preaching the gospel preaches the gospel. But adoption can be an opportunity to preach the gospel. Why? Children come into your home through adoption. Really? Why did you adopt a child? I'm glad you asked. Because it is a horizontal expression of a vertical reality that drives who we are. We are adopted by our Heavenly Father in Christ. And through this horizontal adoption, we are extending and expressing that spirit of adoption to these children. We adopt because we were adopted. Christ laid down His life Took it up again. That we might become children of God. That we might inherit the promises. And we do this horizontal adoption for that same reality. It is an opportunity to preach the Gospel. But secondly, it's another captive audience. Amen. It's another captive audience. You know, an adopted child comes into your home, and they go, well, you think he'll be tall? I have no idea. Do you think he'll be, you know, smart? No idea. You think he'll be, whatever, all this sort of, you know, no idea. Really, really don't know. Here's one thing I know. He'll be preached to regularly. Amen. They'll get the gospel. I know that. That I can promise you. The rest of it, Tall, short, fat, thin. No, can't tell you that. But really, it doesn't matter. I can tell you they'll be preached to. I can tell you that. Finally, Israel continued the tradition of blessing the younger versus the older, thus demonstrating the reality that the promise is not based on birth order or biology, but on calling and election. He said it again, Israel continued the tradition of blessing the younger versus the older, thus demonstrating the reality that the promise is not based on birth order or biology, but calling and election. We saw that, did we not? Here comes Joseph. He's doing what he's supposed to do. He has Manasseh over here and Ephraim over here. So that as he hands them off to his father, they'll be in the proper order. The older on the right hand, the younger on the left hand. And his father crosses his hands. And Joseph is just undone. Can you imagine what's going through his mind is it though? It's just great. It's great that my father's doing this It is wonderful that he's doing that. He's got the wrong hand on the wrong child. This is a precious moment This is huge. I've got a switch No, you don't of course I do no you don't why don't I Ishmael firstborn Isaac promised son Esau firstborn Jacob promised son Reuben firstborn Judah promised son Don't switch your daddy's hands Get the greater point The greater point is, it's not about birth order. And it's not even about biology. It is about calling and election. That's the point. So what does this look like today? Couple of things. We can miss the point. I get letters like this all the time. I have two here. I'll just share this one. I realize that you're a very busy man. may not be able to answer or even read most of these emails, all the same, I hope that you get a chance to read my little note and give me your thoughts on the matter. To give you a very brief version of my story, I'm married to a wonderful man who happens to be a pastor, a great dad. We're going on 15 years of marriage. We have two biological sons and two adopted daughters. The only reason I differentiate between biological and adoptive is that I understand you are also an adoptive parent. My question to you is regarding adoption. We were privileged to adopt our daughters two years ago and are now considering adopting again. We really feel that God is calling us to adopt. He has blessed us with a large house and the ability to care for a few more children. We are Caucasian. Our daughters are half Hispanic. We live in a rural area that is predominantly white, but we would really love to adopt an African-American boy or two. Our main reason for desiring to do this is that we realize there are so many black children in the system and few homes waiting to adopt them. I know that we would be able to meet the physical and emotional needs of another child, no matter the race, and that we would be able to love and accept him into our home But I do worry about our ability to teach a black child to fully appreciate his ethnic background and to be proud of his African-American heritage and to be secure in who he is as a black child being raised in a white environment. As an adoptive dad, African-American, a family guy, I'd love to know how you feel about white families adopting black children. My husband and I really have the desire to do this, but we want to do it right. I get that letter or email regularly. Here's the question. The question is, how do I honor the biology. That's the question. How do I honor the genetics? How do I honor the culture? Let me respond. You can't. And you don't have to. A couple of things. there is the cultural myth. The myth that these people are dealing with is that black people have a culture. Well, black people in Los Angeles, different than black people in Chicago. Black people in Chicago, way different than black people in New York. Black people in New York, nothing like black people in South Carolina or Georgia. Black people in Georgia, not a whole lot like black people in Texas, other than their melanin count. It is pure myth that there's a such thing as a quote-unquote African-American culture. It's a pure myth. Here's the second thing. The only thing in anyone's culture that ought to be lauded is that which is derived from and bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ. If there is a part of quote-unquote black culture that is Christ-less, I do not embrace it because I happen to be black. We embrace those things in our cultures that are derived from and bring glory to and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we do. And here's the question, and here's what we get hung up on. We think that somehow, that these difficulties are worthy of foregoing the opportunity to give someone the gospel. Listen to me. When children are adopted into a home, there is always going to be an identity crisis. Always. It is going to be difficult. But what we have to give is the gospel. That is what is most important. And we overcome those difficulties as they arise. But this question comes from this idea that the most important thing for a black person is to be black. That doesn't come from here. Give me the gospel and let me be culturally awkward. It is for Christ and for His kingdom and for His glory. Here's the great irony. These people can adopt a child who look exactly like them. And here's what's ironic. This is what nobody ever asks. Nobody ever says, you know, we're a white family in Beverly Hills. We're adopting a poor white child from the Appalachian Mountains. Now in the Appalachian Mountains there is a completely different culture than there is here in Beverly Hills. I wonder if it would be appropriate for us as a family in Beverly Hills to bring this child from the Appalachian Mountains out to Beverly Hills and give them a Beverly Hills culture instead of an Appalachian Mountain culture. Nobody ever asked that question. And there might be more difference between A white family in Beverly Hills and a white family in Appalachian Mountains than a white family and a black family anywhere else. But we don't ask that question. Why? Because we believe that biology is really what matters. And as long as they're raised by a family that looks like them, they'll be okay. Newsflash, that kid from the Appalachian Mountains raised in that family in Beverly Hills is probably going to come to an identity crisis someday. We ask the question because we major on the wrong things. That's why. That's why. Does that mean that we completely ignore it? No. Because it's part of that child who came to us. But we don't put it above the gospel. We now have two children in our home who weren't born in the promised land. Two non-Texans. Born in Georgia. How are we going to deal with that? I don't know. But you know, God gave them a daddy who happens to be the only other person in our family not born here in the promised land. We'll figure it out. Are you hearing me? This is bigger than you and me. And I'll go back to where we started. Let me restate my goals. Number one, I want you to see the significance of this adoption here in the Genesis narrative. I hope you've seen the significance of the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh. I want you to see the beauty of adoption through the lens of God's adoption of a people to the praise of His glory. I hope you've seen that. Number three, I wanted you to see the beauty and significance of your own adoption in Christ. I hope you've seen that. Number four, I wanted you to see the beauty of horizontal adoption as an earthly expression of a heavenly reality. I pray that you have grasped that today. And finally, I want you to consider the ministry of adoption. And I pray that you do that today as well. There are some of you in this room whom God would have adopted a child. then you may be, from all earthly accounts, the least likely candidate. Wouldn't that be just like our God? There are others of you in this room whom God would call to partner with that family or with another like them. But here's what I know. There's millions of babies out there. Oh how I wish that every last one of them could come to my house. But they can't. Oh how I wish that every one of them would go to a house where their parents have been adopted by Christ. And we'll view their adoption through that lens. We'll raise them with a view toward them being twice adopted. And we'll never, ever let them go. Can it happen? With God, all things are possible. But here's what I know, there are millions of children who in the environment that they're in right now will not hear of the glories of Christ. And I want them to. Millions of babies who will not know how sweet that name is. But oh, how those of us who know Him and love Him want them to. This is about so much more than a family being able to finally have a child. This is about Christ, His kingdom, His work, and its expansion. Let us glorify the King. Father, how grateful we are that you have adopted us through the work of your Son on the cross, that you have purchased us at the dearest price. May we embrace this reality, rejoice in this reality, celebrate this reality, proclaim this reality, and live in open expression of this reality. This we pray in Christ's name, for His sake, Amen.