November 13, 2005

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

Children of God—What Does it Mean?

 

Introduction:

 

   “As he saith in Hosea, I will call them my people which were not my people, and her beloved, which was not beloved.  And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said, You are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.”  (Rom. 9:25-26.)

 

   “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 you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”  (Rom. 8:14-16.)

 

   A common analogy in the Scriptures is our being like children.  In what way is that so?  We are described as being children of God.  But in what way can we lay claim to such a relationship.  We understand what it means to be children of our parents.  We were begotten of them physically.  We actually have some of the same genes and, therefore, physical characteristics.  We may even walk like our parents and sound like them.  With DNA, scientists can actually prove our relationship to our parents and siblings.

 

   Being children does not mean that we are like our parents in every detail.  We may choose different occupations.  We may have different gifts than our parents.  Our parents may have been frugal financially, but we might be wasteful.  We may have college degrees, but our parents not have finished high school.  Yet, we are still their children.

 

Offspring of God  (Acts 17:28-29.)

 

   When Paul reasoned with the philosophers on Mars’ Hill in Athens, he said something important about man’s relationship to God.  He said, “For in him, we live and move and have our being.  As certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.  Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.”  (Acts 17:28-29.)

 

   Paul often would use a true statement made by current writers and poets that were well known to build common ground and reason with them. Paul’s point here is to teach them concerning the nature of God.  If we are God’s offspring, then that means not only that we will be like Him in some ways, but also that He will be like us.  Our parents could not be rocks, any more than God could be made of wood or stone.  By the way, our parents could not be monkeys or apes either.  Common sense would compel us to reach that conclusion.  Suppose I showed you a new born pony.  Then I pointed to a giraffe and said to you, That is his father over there!

 

   Paul was arguing, rightfully so, that if we are the offspring of God, then we will be like him and he will be like us in many respects.  While there are differences, to be for sure, there is also much that we have in common.  We were made in his image and in his likeness.  (Gen. 1:26-27.)

 

   From Paul’s words, we understand what idolaters really believe about the nature of their idols.  The idols did not just represent their god, but the worshippers acknowledged the idols as holy.  They became to them their gods. If not, then Paul’s words have no meaning.

 

Children of Adam & Eve  (1 Cor. 15:47-50, Rom. 5:12-21.)

 

   Eve means the mother of all living human beings.  (Gen. 3:20.)  Adam in Hebrew means man.  Paul wrote about our relationship to Adam to the Corinthians.  He wrote, “The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy.  And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”  (1 Cor. 15:47-50.)  Paul is speaking about our relationship to Adam and to Jesus Christ.  We have borne the physical image of Adam; we will also by the resurrection to a new body, bear the image of the Lord.  (Phil. 3:21.)

 

   In another section, Paul relates this discussion to our spiritual relationship to Adam.  (Rom. 5:12-21.)  In the Corinthian letter, he wanted to persuade those who had rejected the resurrection that they misunderstood how we would be made like unto our Lord in our resurrected bodies.  To the Romans, Paul explains something more inward and spiritual.  Here is describing our relationship to Adam spiritually.  Adam’s disobedience brought sin upon all of us.  We are like Adam, not only in the flesh, but also spiritually.  We are condemned because of what he did.  Jesus, on the other hand, brought justification unto eternal life.  We can be declared to be righteous upon the basis of the grace of God and the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  (Rom. 5:21.)

 

   All of this discussion helps us to understand how we are children of God.  We are both physical and spiritual in our nature.  We are like Adam and Eve; we are their children.  All of mankind has descended from these first parents.  We look like Adam and Eve looked.  We have similar physical traits.  But we also are like them, in that we have all sinned.  They brought this terrible condition upon us all.  But we are also the offspring of God.  Adam and Eve were made in the image of God.  They were created by God.  We have a divine likeness, as well as an earthly image.  It is God’s plan to bring us back unto himself and make us in the end more like him.  This complete restitution will occur only after the resurrection of the dead.

 

Children of Isaac, Not Ishmael  (Gal. 4:21-31.)

 

   Paul further described who we are as children of God to the Galatians.  The churches in this region were being troubled by a sect of the Pharisees who taught that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised and keep the Law in addition to following Jesus Christ. This so misrepresented the truth of the Gospel that Paul fervently withstood this teaching.  (Gal. 1:6-8, 2:5.)  One way to understand this problem is that this teaching misrepresented what it meant to be a child of God.

 

   Paul wrote, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again unto Christ be formed in you.”  (Gal. 4:19.)   This is a telling statement.  What does it mean to be children of God?  It means that “Christ is formed with you.”  But the Judaizers misrepresented that spiritual meaning by their emphasis upon circumcision and such physical things. Our likeness with God is not dependent upon such Jewish rites that belonged to the shadows of the first covenant.

 

   Paul then gave an interesting analogy from Abraham’s two sons, Isaac and Ishmael.  (Gal. 4:21-31.)  In the analogy, the son born of the flesh, Ishmael, represented the first covenant and the bondage of those under that covenant.  The other son, Isaac, was born not of the flesh, but of promise and of the Spirit.  Paul concluded that we are like Isaac, not Ishmael.  “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.”  (4:31.)

 

   We are like Isaac, in that we are children of promise, of the Spirit not of the flesh, and of the free woman.  These descriptions tell us more about how we are children of God.  A good summary of this spiritual relationship is given in these words.

 

   “He (Jesus) came unto his own, and his own received him not.  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.  Which were born, not of the flesh, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”  (John 1:11-13.)

 

   How are we children of God?  We are sons of God by being begotten of God.  The apostle John tells us how we are not children of God.  His words seem to have Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and Ishmael in mind.  He said that we are not children of God by being born of the flesh, or of the will of man, but by being born of God.  A little later, John recorded Jesus’ words to Nicodemus about this new birth.  Jesus told Nicodemus that one must be born again in order to enter into the Kingdom of God.  (John 3:1-6.) Nicodemus did not understand this new birth.  Jews became Jews by virtue of lineage, their fleshly birth.  Jews were physically related to Abraham and to Adam.  But Jesus and John are not making clear that something else, more important, describes children of God.  They must be born again, not of the flesh, but of the Spirit of God.  There is a spiritual birth that must take place before one can be called a child of God.

 

   One is not a real Jew who is just born of the flesh.  Paul made that clear in his letter to the Romans.  (See Romans 2:24-29.)  A real Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly, whose circumcision is of the heart, not just of the flesh.  John added that one must believe in Jesus Christ in order to be born of God.  The fleshly Jews rejected Jesus and killed him in large measure because they were so prejudiced against the Gentiles.  They staked out their claim as sons of God based upon physical traits.  They grievously misunderstood God’s will.  They were angered at Jesus when he taught them that the Gentiles could be included in that number of the sons and daughters of God.

 

 

Children of Abraham  (Rom. 4:12.)

 

   “Is he the God of the Jew only?  Is he not also of the Gentile?  Yes, of the Gentile also.”  (Rom. 3:29.)  Paul wrote that it included those “who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.”  (Rom. 4:12.)

 

   “For ye are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if ye are Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.”  (Gal. 3:26-29.)

 

   We are children of Abraham, not by physical lineage, but by the likeness of our faith with his.  If we belong to Jesus Christ, then we are Abraham’s seed and heirs.  In the likeness of the mistake of the Jews who promoted physical circumcision, we can also place an undue emphasis upon physical immersion in water and forget that a spiritual birth is taking place.  We are not born of water only, but of water and the Spirit of God.  Unless we are born of God, we cannot be children of God.  Jesus made it clear to Nicodemus that it is our spirit that is born again. He said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  (John 3:6.)

 

By Loving God and One Another  (1 John)

 

   The apostle John said many good things about love.  He wrote that God is love and we love Him because he first loved us.  Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  We cannot claim to love God whom we have not seen, if we do not love our brother whom we have seen.

 

   John said that we should love the children of God.  But who are they?  They are those who love God and keep his commandments.  We keep his commandments out of love.  For this reason, they are not grievous.  (1 John 5:1-3.)

 

   John tells us how we may know that we are the children of God.  It involves believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that he came in the flesh.  It includes loving God and one another.  The children of God are not those who are free from every sin.  John said that if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  (1 John 1:8.)

 

   It is an interesting and even challenging question, What does it mean to be the children of God?  Since we bear the image of the earthly, physically and spiritually, sometimes we may wonder if we are the children of God.  The Bible makes it clear that we shall not be completely returned to the image of God until the resurrection of the dead.  Then we will have a glorious body and a perfected spirit.  (Phil. 3:21, Heb. 12:23.)

 

Conclusions

 

   We can make the following conclusions about being children of God.

 

1)     We are all the offspring of God, or children of God, in a general sense because we have been created by God after his likeness.  (Acts 17:29.)  This likeness is an inward or spiritual likeness, not of the physical appearance.

 

2)     After death and the resurrection, we will bear a more complete image of the heavenly by being given a new body.  (1 Cor. 15.)  We have borne the mage of Adam, but we will bear the image of the heavenly.

 

3)     We are like Isaac, not Ishmael.  We are children of God by promise and by the Spirit of God.  (Gal. 4:21-31.)  We are born of the Spirit, not of the will of man.  (John 1:13.)

 

4)     We are children of Abraham if we walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham.  (Rom. 4:12.)  We are children of Abraham, if we believe in Jesus Christ, the seed promised to Abraham.  It is this sense in which we are children by promise.  God promised an innumerable seed to Abraham and Sarah.  If we belong to Jesus Christ, we are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

 

5)     We are the children of God if we love God and one another.  Love is our badge of discipleship.  (John 13:35.)