Adopted Heir of the Covenant

As I did the prayer exercise for Thursday of Week Three in Unbinding Your Heart (Martha Grace Reese, Chalice 2008, p. 136), I read in Genesis 28:10-22 about God’s affirmation of the Abrahamic Covenant with Jacob and thought about the spiritual implications of Elizabeth’s adoption. By virtue of Christ, I am an adopted heir of the Abrahamic covenant. (Romans 8:15; Galatians 3:6; 4:5; Ephesians 1:5) Rachel and David have talked about how this adoption process has strengthened their faith and made them more aware of God’s action and presence. So by adoption Elizabeth will come from a culture with a non-Christian heritage and an officially non-religious society into a family of the new covenant in Christ. I can’t begin to explain God’s sovereign hand in how this one little girl and this one family are brought together by adoption. Of course, just being in the family is not automatic faith for Elizabeth (Jacob’s conditional acceptance of the Abrahamic covenant shows the mystery of our role in God’s sovereign calling), yet the adoption is a claiming of Christ’s covenant for her, as well as a welcome into our family. For me, today, reflecting on the juxtaposition of Jacob’s experience and Elizabeth’s impending welcome into our family has heightened my appreciation of being an adopted heir of God’s covenant with Abraham through Christ.