“We are All God’s Children.”
Over the years I have heard person after person use this phrase to attempt to position themselves in the family of God. Their logic is that God created every person, so we must be His children.
Sounds good, huh? Well, maybe. It always bothered me a bit, but I was never in a position to dispute their logic….until now.
Over the weekend, I was scribing in my Journible. The Journible that I am using currently is the book of Romans, and I was in the eighth chapter. As an aside, I am convinced that we, as Christ-followers, do not study the book of Romans nearly enough. It is rich, deep, and incredibly foundational. So, if you are looking for a book of the Bible to study, I would suggest Romans.
The thought that ‘we are all God’s children’ is a nice one. It makes for warm, fuzzy feelings in the heart; a bit like sitting around a campfire singing ‘Kumbaya’. The problem is that it is not Scriptural. So, today I want us to consider three reasons why we are NOT all God’s children.
Relationship
The basic assumption in the ‘we are all God’s children’ theology is that God created all of us, so we must be His children. I can give the ‘we are all God’s children’ proponents a gold star for acknowledging that God exists and creates. But, to be someone’s child assumes a parent-child relationship. It also assumes that one of two things happened: the child was either born into the family, or they were adopted.
In the Old Testament, God had children. Those children were the nation of Israel. He was their God, and they were, for better or worse, His people. Only when an outsider believed in the God of Israel were they taken into, or adopted into, God’s family, i.e. Ruth, Rahab.
In the New Testament, and going forward, the Jewish people rejected Jesus, God’s Son by relationship. In doing so, they set themselves outside of God’s family. From the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the only way to be part of God’s family, or to be His child, is to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life. Jesus made this crystal clear in John 14:6 when He said that no one comes to God except through Him. Hebrews 2:11 also speaks to the issue of God’s family.
First, there must be a relationship in order to be God’s child.
Spirit
Once you have asked Jesus to be your Lord, and to forgive you of your sins, you are saved. In that moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of Christ, comes to live within you, and He never leaves you. He is the seal, or guarantee, of your salvation.
Romans 8:9 (ESV) is the verse that spoke clearly to me on this issue is a child of God. Paul is seeking to clarify what qualifies a person as belonging to God. Consider this verse:
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
“Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” [God]. Also consider Romans 8:14 which tells us that anyone who is a child/son of God is led by the Spirit.
Second, in order to be God’s child, you must have His Spirit living within you.
Obedience
In a parent-child relationship, the parent can, and should, expect obedience from the child. The motivation for obedience can vary. At times as a child, I was highly motivated to be obedient to my parents because I did not want the Bolo paddle applied to my backside. Other times, my motivation came simply from a heart of love toward my parents. Either way, as their child, I was expected to be obedient.
God expects no less from His children. He has set forth His commands in Scripture, and He expects His children to know the expectations and follow them. They are for our good because He knows what we need. He is not some cosmic judge just waiting to zap us when we are bad. He loves His children and wants them to be the recipients of His best for them. That best comes when we are obedient to His Word. (John 14:23-24, John 15:10, Romans 8:7, and 1 John 5:3)
Third, God’s children must be willing to be obedient to His commands in Scripture…..all of them.
We are NOT All God’s Children. Only those who are adopted into His family through the saving work of Jesus are God’s children. Are you one of God’s children?
