Recently the project to replace streets in our housing subdivision got underway on our street. The first step was the demolition of the old street and the removal of the debris. Breaking up concrete is a noisy and dirty process, with no picture of what our future street might look like after the process was complete.

When we are adopted by our Heavenly Father, our old natures similarly go through a demolition process. God our Father wants to change our desires and expectations. Paul struggled with his old nature even after he became a Christian believer (Romans 7:15). He not only regretted his persecution of Christians before becoming one, but also his sinful nature after repentance. His adoption made it possible for him to access the Father with his new nature and relationship, but his old nature had to be broken down and removed.

For most of us, adoption looks more like a demolition derby than a gradual remodeling. The struggle between the old and the new man is not overnight, and we must constantly run back to the Father and ask Him to transform us into the image of His Son, so that we will hate the sin we have become accustomed to doing. Perhaps this was the reason that Paul retreated to Arabia and Damascus after his conversion (Galatians 1:17). God does justify us fully after our repentance and conversion, but our sanctification is a lifelong process. The realization of our adoption into God’s family can be a noisy, sometimes dirty, and painful process, and we may not have a roadmap of the final destination other than having our character “repaved” in the image of Jesus Christ.

The major tools that God uses to do His work in our lives after our adoption are His Word and the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures provide the architectural plans for the God’s project (particularly Galatians 5:22-23), and the Holy Spirit is the One who guides the project by giving us the desire to be changed. Once God’s transformation of us is underway, there is no turning back, even if we think we “liked” our former way of life and the new one looks messy to us. God’s blueprints will be fulfilled in our lives, but the fuel for this project is our faith in the One who is doing the replacement work.

The very reason that adoption is messy is that it requires us to give up our old ways and habits of living in exchange for an entirely new life. Our adopted children wrestle with this transformation, just as we do as God’s children. However, it is the picture of the eventual outcome that energizes us to keep pressing on. May God help us to do so!