Post by Josh on Dec 2, 2013 11:07:02 GMT -8
This question came up in the lesson yesterday, and I'm going to put this thread in the paradoxes section simply because I think the question has a yes/no answer.
Are we all (Christian or not) "children of God"?
I would say that Scripture answers "yes" in one sense and "no" in another.
First, we might point to Acts 17 to affirm that all humans are "God's offspring":
Acts 17:22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
The "we" here is clearly all humanity, as Paul is addressing a pagan audience in Athens. And in one sense "offspring" is synonymous with "children".
However, elsewhere in Scripture we find this statement:
John 1:12-13
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
And it is here, I think that we get the fuller view of what it means to be "children of God". True, we are all "offspring of God" in that we all derive from God's creation, God's "fatherhood" of Adam. But because of the Fall, we have become, as it were "illegitimate children". Furthermore, in becoming "illegitimate children" through sin, we have all become "children of the devil":
John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”
39 “Abraham is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the works of your own father.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
So, sin has transferred us from the spiritual family of God to the family of satan. What is it that makes us "children of God" once again? To believe and follow Jesus Christ.
In Romans 8, Galatians 4:5, and Ephesians 1:5 Paul tells us that part of being disciples of Christ is a process of "adoption". It is as if we sought emancipation from our biological father but in Christ he is adopting us back into his family.
So, to sum up, yes, we are all "God's offspring", children born of God's creative act, made in "God's image". But we have sold our birthright and only those we follow Christ can claim the adoption back into the fullness of what it means to be true "children of God" in every way.
Comments, questions, rejoinders?
Are we all (Christian or not) "children of God"?
I would say that Scripture answers "yes" in one sense and "no" in another.
First, we might point to Acts 17 to affirm that all humans are "God's offspring":
Acts 17:22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
The "we" here is clearly all humanity, as Paul is addressing a pagan audience in Athens. And in one sense "offspring" is synonymous with "children".
However, elsewhere in Scripture we find this statement:
John 1:12-13
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
And it is here, I think that we get the fuller view of what it means to be "children of God". True, we are all "offspring of God" in that we all derive from God's creation, God's "fatherhood" of Adam. But because of the Fall, we have become, as it were "illegitimate children". Furthermore, in becoming "illegitimate children" through sin, we have all become "children of the devil":
John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”
39 “Abraham is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the works of your own father.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
So, sin has transferred us from the spiritual family of God to the family of satan. What is it that makes us "children of God" once again? To believe and follow Jesus Christ.
In Romans 8, Galatians 4:5, and Ephesians 1:5 Paul tells us that part of being disciples of Christ is a process of "adoption". It is as if we sought emancipation from our biological father but in Christ he is adopting us back into his family.
So, to sum up, yes, we are all "God's offspring", children born of God's creative act, made in "God's image". But we have sold our birthright and only those we follow Christ can claim the adoption back into the fullness of what it means to be true "children of God" in every way.
Comments, questions, rejoinders?
