Adoption & the Advent: Devotional Reflections and Prayers for the Orphan

The advent season is a beautiful time to reflect on God's adoptive love for a broken world. Join me in preparing for Christmas by meditating daily on the coming of Christ and praying for the fatherless. 


From Everything to Nothing

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself  by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!"
  Philippians 2: 5-8

We have discussed what it means for Christ to be fully human, but lets take a moment to reflect on what it means to be fully God. 

Many of us day dream of what it would be like to be a millionaire, a famous movie star, a President, or a King. We are drawn to these positions and titles because they seem so full of power, respect, and prestiege. Even though we know deep-down all of these people who hold such positions in our culture are only human, we imagine them as more then human. We imagine all of our life problems being erased if only we had what these individuals had.

But each of these examples are weak, pale comparisons to God Almighty. The most powerful human has had about the same power as a dust mite when you compare them to God's power. God's power, majesty, and might are too much to fully wrap our minds around. God told Moses that a direct look at his face would have killed him. The heavenly beings that God created with a few breaths of words provoke fear and trembling. His awesome splendor is shouted throughout all creation.

And then there is Christ.

Christ is the second person of the Trinity. He always has been and always will be part of the one-triune God. Magnificent. Holy. Righteous. Fierce. Powerful. And yet, Christmas reminds us that Christ did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. Instead, he made himself nothing.

Nothing.

That is what humanity is compared to God. Nothing. We are clay pots who have rebelled against the creator and ruined his creation by pursuing our own evil desires. We are a world where kindergardeners get shot to death. We are a world that has genocide. We are a world that walks by the hungry, desolate orphan on the way to continue to enjoy our own excess. 

Christ was everything and had everything. For eternity (an infinite amount of time longer then the universe has existed) Christ benefited immensely from deep fellowship with God the father. The Trinity's love had been so deep, so rich that there was an abundance of joy, peace, and love. The love that flows so powerfully and richly between the Father and the Son was perfectly satisfying and fulfilling. 

This was Christ reality as God's son, but he made himself nothing. He made himself human. He entered into the deepest, darkest evil. He humbled himself and plunged into the suffering and sin of humanity, to the point of death on the cross.

Why? 

So we could be made children of God. He became human so we could share in that rich, overflowing, abundant joy, peace, and love that the God-head has enjoyed for all eternity. God loved the nothingness of humanity so much that he was willing to give up everything to rescue us from our own evil and our own darkness. 

Prayer for the Orphan:

Pray for the orphan and those called to work with orphans world-wide to place their faith, trust, and love in Jesus Christ. Pray that there would be a revival among child welfare workers, social workers, orphanage workers, and anyone else involved in orphan