C H R I S T MA S I S AN ADO PT I O N STORY By: Matt Hollingworth
WHAT IS CHRISTMAS?
decree that all the world should be taxed.
the redemptive cost on the cross so that by
Christmas is an adoption story. It is yet
In what must have seemed at the time like
adoption, all men might call God Father.
another example of how God has sovereign-
humiliation upon humiliation, amidst all
Christmas truly came through adoption.
ly used adoption to accomplish His will. But
the whisperers, Joseph of Nazareth took his
Christmas came by adoption. And Christmas
most importantly, the purpose of Christmas
espoused wife Mary, who was very pregnant,
came for adoption.
is adoption.
to Bethlehem. When they arrived, there was no room for them, so they stayed in a stable.
Today, we live in a world with millions of
Now, you might know an awful lot about
While they were there, Joseph’s adopted
orphans. Are you an adopted son or daughter
Christmas, and this is the first time you’re
son—the Son of God—was born, and they
of God? Do you worship the adopted Messi-
hearing these things, but let me assure you,
laid Him in a manger. The 700-year-old
ah, Jesus? If so, if you’re a Christian, you have
they’re all true.
prophecy of Micah that the Savior would be
been called to care for the orphan.
born in Bethlehem, had been fulfilled. And Let me take you back about 2,000 years. This
with the birth of Christ, a sliver of hope had
This Christmas, why not trade away material-
was a very dark and hopeless time. Israel had
slipped into this hopeless world.
istic insignificance for doing something bigger
been occupied by a whole series of foreign
than yourself? This Christmas, as you ponder
oppressors. One of these oppressors, a
When the Magi visited and King Herod
the birth and the adoption of your Savior,
man named Antiochus Epiphanes, had
learned of the birth of the Christ, he con-
as you consider your own adoption by God
actually rededicated the Temple to Zeus
spired to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem.
the Father, realize this—you can do for the
and desecrated it by sacrificing a pig on the
It was the adopted father of Jesus, Joseph,
orphan what God did for you. You can bring
altar in the Holy of Holies.
that fled with the Christ child, saving Him
hope to the hopeless through adoption.
from Herod’s slaughter. But amidst all this darkness, God was still at work. Through adoption, God raised up
A little over 33 years after that first Christmas,
yet another oppressor. It was this adopted
the Son of God, this adopted son of a man,
man of war, Caesar Augustus, who issued a
the Messiah who had lived a perfect life, paid
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” –John 14:18
This article was transcribed (with permission) from a video written by Steve Eimers. Steve and his wife Melissa have adopted six children. The video was edited and published by their oldest daughter, Hannah Eimers, who passed away in 2016. She is dearly loved and missed by all who knew her.
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FARRAGUT LIFE
HOLIDAY/WINTER 2022
