A PICTURE OF THE GOSPEL
When we meet the needs of the one out of every sixteen persons in Zambia that are vulnerable and in need of orphan care, we provide a picture of the gospel, that is, the good news of how God saves people in Jesus Christ. In Galatians 4:4-7 we read:
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!'” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Here we discover that a person who has never trusted Jesus as their Savior is like a slave, in bondage to sin and brokenness, not part of the family of God. Yet, when we trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, we are adopted into God’s family.
What difference does this make? In the 17th century Westminster Shorter Catechism, adoption is described this way: “Adoption is an act of God’s free grace by which we are received into the company of God’s children and have a right to all the privileges of his children.” What are those benefits? Here are just a few: We are forgiven of our sins and declared righteous because of the righteous of Christ credited to us, we are set apart unto God and enabled more and more to do God’s will and stop doing those things that dishonor him, the assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, fellowship with Christ, joy in the Holy Spirit, access to God for prayer, the ability to persevere in our faith, the certainty of being with Christ when we die, and finally we will someday live in the new heaven and new earth with perfected spirits and bodies, never to sin again, never to die again, and never to be ill again.
My oldest daughter and her husband adopted a girl a few years ago from India. Though she was not born into the family, yet, she has the same rights and privileges that her sister and brother have—as being part of that family. At the top of the list are having her physical and spiritual needs met.
When we engage in orphan care in Zambia we meet physical needs (food, clothes, shelter, in some cases, the need to be part of a family) and spiritual needs (telling children about Jesus that they might follow him and have eternal life). As we do this, we give a picture of what God has done with all those of us who are part of his family.
So, we have multiple motivations for orphan care in Zambia. We get to meet the significant needs of children and to reflect God’s glorious good news.
What a privilege to be part of what God is doing!
Joyfully involved in orphan care with you,
Tom Barnes