I look outside. The sun is shining off the snow blanket that covers the ground. Not being a big fan of winter or cold weather, the picture does not seem idyllic to me. However, I realize that snow does do one thing well—it hides what lies beneath it.

This is a metaphor of our redemption. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, and God thereby declares us righteous. This is a continuous act on His part, since we continue to sin and need His forgiveness daily. While our adoption was “once and for all” when we became followers of Jesus Christ, that does not mean that we passed into endless perfection at that point. This is the process of progressive sanctification.

When we adopted our sons, we expected that they would obey us and love us back in exchange for the love we had shown them. However, they would often test our limits to see whether we really “loved” them. This is where we needed to allow God’s adoption of us to remind us of how we needed to forgive them after recalling that we had adopted them permanently. We needed to allow the “snow” of love to cover all their wrongdoings, and confess our lack of forgiveness. When we looked at them, we realized that they too had been cleansed and forgiven by God.

When you think of your adoption, do you see it as God’s way of extending His forgiveness to you? Are you tempted to think that there are things God could never forgive? The ground of our sinfulness is totally covered by the snow of His cleansing. Claim this and extend it to your children. Feel free to comment below on how you have applied this in your relationship with your adopted child(ren).