Adoption

13 July, 201313 July, 2013Marissa

About two years ago I read a booklet that claimed it is a “misunderstanding” to describe Christians as “adopted” children of God “rather than His actual begotten sons.” The bulk of the booklet was excellent and had nothing to do with this topic, but I wanted to bring this up by way of introduction. If I had not felt uncomfortable with the way this part of the booklet was phrased, I probably never would have looked into the concept of “adoption” in the New Testament.

Once I began studying it, I started to think that adoption as presented in the NT is a way of describing the process by which we become God’s children. We were once separated from God by our sins, but because of Christ’s sacrifice we have been brought into God’s family (Col. 1:21-22; 1 Jn. 3:1-2). They are calling people who were once outside Their family and making them children. Sounds like adoption to me.

Romans 8

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together (Rom 8:14-17)

The word “adoption” used here comes from the Greek word huiothesia (G5206). When looking at the history of this word, there is no question that its intended meaning is adoption. Spiros Zodhiates says it is used “of the state of those whom God through Christ adopts as His sons and thus makes heirs of His covenanted salvation.” He goes on to explain that,

Paul in these passages is alluding to a Greek and Roman custom rather than a Hebrew one. Since huiothesia was a technical term in Roman law for an act that had specific legal and social effects, there is much probability that Paul had some reference to that in his use of the word. Adoption, when thus legally performed, put a man in every respect in the position of a son by birth to him who had adopted him, so that he possessed the same rights and owed the same obligations. Being a huios, a son, involves the conformity of the child that has the life of God in him to the image, purposes, and interests of God and that spiritual family into which he is born.

Several verses later in Romans 8, the same word is used again.

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body (Rom.8:22-23)

Adoption as Redemption

In Romans 8:23, “adoption” is so important to this process of becoming God’s sons that it is equated with “redemption.” This is not an isolated comparison.

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Gal. 4:3-7)

These verses tell us that Jesus Christ came with the purpose of redeeming us in order that “we might receive the adoption.” In such a context, adoption sounds like a description of the process by which God takes people who were not part of His family and makes us His children.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved (Eph. 1:3-6)

Adoption — being redeemed from sin and placed in God’s family — is something we were predestined to “according to the good pleasure of His will.” Another usage of huiothesia underscores the importance of this concept. In Romans 9:4, adoption is listed alongside “the glory,” “the covenants, “the giving of the law,” “the service,” and “the promises” as something which God gave to Israel (Rom. 9:1-5).

No Longer Orphans

Though Paul is the only New Testament writer to use the Greek word huiothesia in his writings, the concept of adoption is not isolated to his letters. When Jesus Christ promises in John 14:18 “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you,” the word “comfortless” is translated from orphanos (G3737). In the Septuagint, this same word is used in Psalm 68:5 to describe God as “A father of the fatherless.”

Zodhiates says this word is derived from “an adjective not found in the NT meaning obscure, dark, because the orphan is often little esteemed and neglected and thus forced, as it were, to wander in obscurity and darkness. Orphaned, bereved, spoken particularly of children bereaved of parents (James 1:27).” This darkness and obscurity perfectly describes the state we were in before Jesus Christ rescued us to be His adopted brothers and sisters.

From examining these verses, it seems clear that use of the word “adoption” in no way indicates we are anything less than God’s own children. Like the Roman custom Paul was likely referencing, this adoption takes someone previously not in the position of son and makes them a child in every sense of the word.

Bowtie Pasta Bake

10 July, 201316 November, 2014Marissa

bow ties are cool Doctor Who invented pasta — Bow-ties are cool

This is the first pasta recipe I made that my dad (a confirmed anti-pasta man) actually liked. It had a long, tumultuous history. My first attempt at making it was a disaster of soggy noodles, but there was something in the flavor that made me think it could be perfect. As a Doctor Who fan, I know that bow-tie pasta was the solution, and I was right (actually, any pasta that stays pretty firm when cooked, like penne, would have fixed [most] of the problems with this dish). Even after the pasta switch, though, I had to tweak the sauce several times before it got to it’s current state of yumminess. So, without further ado or sci-fi digressions, here’s the recipe.

Bowtie Pasta Bake

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6 ounces dried bowtie pasta

3/4 pound boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 head of broccoli, chopped

1-2 carrots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup chicken broth

bow tie pasta bake ready to go in oven — Ready to sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake

1, 10 ¾-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup

12 ounces dairy sour cream

1 teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 slice of bread, lightly toasted and crumbled

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Coat a large skillet with olive and cook chicken until it is no longer pink. While cooking, sprinkle chicken with powdered garlic and black pepper to taste.

Cook pasta until al dente according to package directions. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain.

Cook mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, garlic, and chicken broth in small sauce pan. Bring to boiling and immediately remove from heat. Do not drain.

Add soup, sour cream, onion powder, and pepper to large bowl. Stir in chicken, pasta, and vegetables. Spoon into a 13x9x2-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

bow tie pasta bake recipe — fresh from the oven delicious

Mix bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle over noodles. Cover with foil. Bake in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 5 minutes more or until heated through.

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Jesus The Christ

8 July, 20138 July, 2013Marissa

I’d like to share a quote from a book I picked up a couple weeks ago. I still haven’t decided whether or not I like Mysteries of the Middle Ages by Thomas Cahill, but it has given me several things to think about. For example, there is an interesting footnote to page 50, in which the author discusses the shift from approaching Christianity through a “Jewish conceptual framework” to a Greco-Roman view that disconnected Christianity from its Jewish roots.

By the time of Constantine, Jesus was already shedding his Jewishness; and the Greek word Christos (Christ), meaning ‘Anointed One,” a translation of the Hebrew mashiach (messiah), had become in effect Jesus’s surname.

The problem with this is that treating “Christ” simply as a surname can make us lose sight of an important aspect of Who He is and what He was sent to do. His names have meaning, but too often we pay no more attention to those meanings than we would to the fact that the names John Doe mean “God is gracious” and “a female deer.”

Christ, the Anointed, is a title that God gave Jesus. It is so important that it quickly became part of His name — the name “Jesus Christ” is used 198 times in the New Testament and “Christ Jesus” 58 times. “Lord and Christ” is how Peter referred to Jesus in his Acts 2 sermon.

This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:32-36).

Looking For a Messiah

Having read from the scriptures we know as the Old Testament (some were discussed in this post last week), the Jews of Christ’s day were expecting an Anointed Savior to appear from the Lord. When Andrew (who became one of the 12 disciples) first met Jesus, he said, ““We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ)” (Jn. 1:41, NKJV). Even the Samaritan woman who Jesus spoke with at the well said, ““I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things” (Jn 4:25, NKJV). In reply, Jesus said, “I who speak to you am He.”

The fact that the Jews were expecting the Messiah — the Lord’s Anointed, or masiyach (H4899) — is why He is referred to as “the Christ” seventeen times in the gospels. It is why John’s Gospel was written, so “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name” (Jn. 20:31).

What Was He Anointed to Do?

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)

This scripture is one Jesus chose to read as He taught in the synagog at Nazareth on the Sabbath. After reading it, He said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21). Quoted from Isaiah 61, this mission is what His anointing included. Here in Luke and Acts 10:38 are the only places I’ve been able to find where the word “anoint” is used this way in the NT, but I think it is safe to say that the anointing Jesus received from God included other roles, such as High Priest (Heb. 5:1-10).

If we forget the meanings contained in Jesus’s names, we lose sight of much more than just the Jewish roots of our faith. The fact that Jesus is the Christ, the One chosen and Anointed by God, is one of the founding principles of our faith, and should not be ignored if we seek to follow and honor Him.

The Lord’s Anointed

6 July, 20135 July, 2013Marissa

It happened again — I intended to write a post about one thing and got sidetracked by a different verse. This time, it was Psalm 2 out of The Holy Bible in its Original Order.

Why do the nations rage, and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Christ, saying, “Let us break Their bands asunder and cast away Their cords from us.” (Psalm 2:1-3)

The word translated “Christ” in this version is typically translated “anointed” (compare texts from the NKJV, NIV, and ESV). This is from the Hebrew word masiyach (H4899), which we typically Anglicize as Messiah. As pointed out in John 1:41, Messiah is, “being interpreted, the Christ.”

Messiah

Looking at the use of this word in the Old Testament, it is translated several ways. The first time it appears, it is referring to “the priest that is anointed” (Lev. 4:3, 5, 16; 6:22). Since it usually refers to a consecrated person, it can also be used of kings (1 Sam. 24:6; 2 Sam. 23:1) or God’s people (1 Chron. 16:22; Psa. 28:8).* Warren Baker and Eugene Carpenter say in their dictionary that the concept of “Messiah, as a Savior is not fully developed in the Old Testament. .. this concept is developed later, during the New Testament period and fits better with the parallel Greek word christos.”

Daniel’s prophecy is the only place where masiyach is translated Messiah in the KJV.

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Daniel 9:25-26)

Christ’s Kingdom

Though masiyach is only translated as Messiah once, its usage in the OT may not be as disconnected from the NT as Baker and Carpenter seem to think. Take 1 Samuel 2 for instance. Hannah’s prayer of thanks after Samuel’s birth ends with a prophecy:

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall He thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and He shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.(1 Samuel 1:10)

This seems to me like it could be a prophecy of Jesus Christ coming, and I’m not the first to think along these lines. Writing in the early 18th century, Matthew Henry said,

We have reason to think that this prophecy looks further, to the kingdom of Christ, and the administration of that kingdom of grace, of which she now comes to speak, having spoken so largely of the kingdom of providence. And here is the first time that we meet with the name Messiah, or his Anointed. The ancient expositors, both Jewish and Christian, make it to look beyond David, to the Son of David. Glorious things are here spoken of the kingdom of the Mediator, both before and since his incarnation; for the method of the administration of it, both by the eternal Word and by that Word made flesh, is much the same.

His Anointed

Though Henry does not not draw the same conclusions about the following verses, I would like to bring them up as well. When the Lord rejects Eli’s sons from being priests because of their sins (1 Sam. 2:22-36), He says,

I will raise Me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in Mine heart and in My mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before Mine anointed for ever. (1 Samuel 2:35)

Neither The Holy Bible in its Original Order nor the NKJV capitalize “anointed” in this verse, but I could easily see this as referencing two God-beings. It is a similar situation in chapter 12, when Eli addresses the people after anointing a king over them.

Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before His anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.

And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand. And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. (1 Samuel 12:3-5).

I would love to hear my readers’ thoughts on these verses. Could they be references to the Lord’s Anointed? or am I reading too much into this?

*according to Strong’s Dictionary and The Complete WordStudy Dictionary: Old Testament. See “About” for complete citations.

Baked Parmesan Chicken Skillet

3 July, 201316 November, 2014Marissa

Pasta is probably my favorite food. So when I came across this recipe through Pinterest, I was really excited to try it. Problem was, I didn’t have any pasta shells, I don’t like diced tomatoes, and all the basil in my house is dried. So I came up with a variation using spaghetti sauce and threw in some rotini I wasn’t sure what to do with (which was great, since the little spirals trap the sauce and hold flavor). It was a lovely dish, but a bit dry so I added more liquids the next time and it worked perfectly. I hope you enjoy!

Baked Parmesan Chicken Skillet

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1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Baked Parmesan Chicken Skillet — nicely melted cheese on top

1 cup tomato sauce

2 cups water

1½ cup low-sodium chicken broth

10-12 oz pasta (I used rotini)

¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 teaspoon dried basil.

Cook chicken in an oven-safe 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Once done, remove from skillet and set aside. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Add the oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt to the skillet and cook just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, water, chicken broth, and the pasta to the pan, stirring to combine. Bring the mixture to a vigorous simmer, then cover the pan and continue simmering until the pasta is tender, about 16-18 minutes. Stir the pasta frequently as it cooks.

Once pasta is tender, remove the cover and stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, the pepper, and the chicken. Sprinkle the top evenly with the mozzarella cheese, the remaining Parmesan cheese, and finally the basil. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and bubbles around the edges.

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Things You Should Know About INFJs

1 July, 201313 November, 2019Marissa

It might be terribly self-centered to devote an entire post to my Myers-Briggs personality type, but I’m going to do it anyway (think of it as a birthday present to myself). As the rarest personality type, we INFJs often feel misunderstood and alone. Most estimates say that less than 1-2% of the population have this type. That’s one reason discovering our label is so important to us (as I’ve written about before). It lets us know that we are not abnormal, flawed humans. We’re perfectly normal INFJs. This isn’t going to be the first list of it’s type. There’s a Top 10 Things Every INFJ Wants You To Know list and one titled How to love your INFJ? This last one is written mostly for romantic relationships, but it’s funny and true so I linked to it anyway. Though these two lists, and others like them, are excellent, I still wanted to add my voice to the mix. Which brings us to the first point:

Always daydreaming — image found on Pinterest

INFJ spend a lot of time thinking, and we like to share our thoughts. The problem is, we have a hard time putting them into words when we’re speaking, which can make us appear inarticulate or even unintelligent. That’s why so many of us become writers — it gives us the time we need to put our thoughts in order before we present them to other people. When we do talk with and listen to others, we crave depth and sincerity rather than small talk.
In keeping with all the time we spend inside our own minds, you’ll sometimes notice us staring off into space. There’s nothing wrong with me when I do this and there is certainly no need to wave your hand in front of my face, shout at, or poke me (you know who you are).
We really do need people. While some introverts can thrive in solitude for quite some time, INFJs love being around people. They might terrify us sometimes, and we do need alone time to recharge, but life without people makes us depressed. This doesn’t mean you’re likely to find us at parties, however. We prefer a few close friendships. And when we find those friendships, we want them to last forever and tend to work hard at being a good friend.
The flip side of this relationship thing is that it’s hard for us to make these deep friendships because we’re reluctant to share our true selves with others. It’s taken years for me to share bits of my inner world with my closest friends. In addition, INFJs have a horror of conflict, and will avoid it as long as possible even when something needs to be addressed in a relationship.
image found on Pinterest

We’re often feel like we belong in other worlds. For me, this fits quite well into my Christian faith and my fantasy writing. For other INFJs, it can mean feeling disconnected from the physical to such an extent that they’ll forget to eat (something I’ve never struggled with).
INFJs tend to be romantic idealists. We do dream of finding true love, but I mean this in the sense given in the fourth Oxford English Dictionary definition. We are fascinated by what might be, what could be, and what should be. We want to bring order and peace to the world.

4. Characterized or marked by, or invested with, a sense of romance (romance n. 5a); arising from, suggestive of, or appealing to, an idealized, fantastic, or sentimental view of life or reality …
INFJs are known in personality circles for being deeply intuitive. We just seem to know things without being able to explain them. This frustrates our more logical friends, but we find it very useful. It helps us see situations and arguments from both sides and appreciate different people’s perspectives even when we don’t agree with them. In spite of a strong sense of right and wrong and strict adherence to an inner value system, INFJs are very open minded and want to see the best in people.

If you’d like to know more about the INFJ personality type, check out my book The INFJ Handbook. I just updated it with a ton of new information and resources. You can purchase it in ebook or paperback by clicking this link.