Lord God in heaven,
Here I am in a place I did not choose. I feel alone, rejected, and hopeless. This world uses and abuses me. It talks about love, but its all about them. It accepts the rich and famous, the athletic and good looking, but turns away when trouble surrounds them. It promises happiness, security, and plenty, but criticizes those who don’t measure up. This world has lots of troubles. It is not a loving family.
Please choose me for adoption. I want to be part of your family like your Son. I want to share in the riches of your kingdom alongside your Son. I want to experience your love, the love you revealed through your Son.
It is because of sin that I am not a part of your family. You accepted the death of your Son as satisfying payment for sin in hope that all people would want to be adopted into your family. So, here I am, Lord. I want to be a part of your family.
I hope you choose me,
Orphan Child
Dear Orphan,
Everything is in order for your adoption. The fee has been paid. Your records have been updated. All that is needed is your commitment.
I would like to tell you a little about the family. My Son is responsible for making your adoption possible. He came to your home and lived there a while. When he saw your condition, he burst with love for you. I told him that it would cost his life to make your adoption possible. He was willing to pay the price. It was hard for him near the last. He pleaded with me hoping it might be possible to find another way. There was no other way. So he continued as we had planned.
He paid the price and I rewarded him with life and a special position with me in heaven. He is now your mediator. Whenever you want to talk with me or ask me something, he comes to me representing you. He wants only the best for you. There will be times when what you think is best for you is not the best. You must trust him to know. He loves you too much to give you less than the best. However, you will be tested to see if how much you really trust him.
Remember, as part of my family you will be treated like my Son. You will be wise to follow his example. Remember also that he is the one who made your adoption possible.
Love,
Your Father in heaven
Father in heaven,
In the orphanage our superiors expect us to behave according to the rules. They seem to have a rule for everything. I don’t like being forced to follow all of their rules. I want to do what I want and not what they demand. It would be nice to be free, to be me. Will it be different in your family?
I really want to be part of your family. But, you say that I must make a commitment before the adoption can take place. What is this commitment?
You said that I would be wise to follow the example of your Son. But, how will I know what he has done in a given situation?
I hope my questions don’t discourage you from adopting me.
Hopefully,
Orphan Child
Dear Orphan Child,
Let me assure you that your questions will not discourage me from adopting you. Keep asking them. It is one way that I know how much you depend upon me. As your Father, I want to take care of you in every way and that includes helping you find the answers to your questions. I enjoy hearing your voice every time you talk to me.
The way of the orphanage is your old world. You learned to live and survive in it. You also discovered its pleasures. It is your old world and you must leave it behind. There will be times when you wish you could just go back to it. But, I will want you to push forward.
In my family you will have a new attitude about life. I expect your conduct and your words to be motivated by the love which my Son has shown for you. Rules will not be seen as demands upon you. When motivated by love, rules become guidelines for pleasing my Son. When you please and honor him, you also make me proud of your adoption. Your purpose as my child is to bring glory, praise, and honor to my Son.
One way to honor my Son is by following his example. You can learn what he has done in a given situation by considering the testimony of those who knew him while in the orphanage. Their testimonies are known as the Four Gospels in the Bible. Read and meditate on them. At times you may respond according to my Son’s attitude displayed in more than one situation. There are also members of my family today who can help you understand what my Son would have done in a your situation. But, don’t forget to ask me!
Your commitment must be to my Son as your brother and to me as your Father. You must commit yourself to leaving behind the ways of the orphanage, to becoming a new person by the changing of your attitudes adopting those of my Son, and to learning and putting into practice the ways of my Son as others who know him have done.
Love,
Your Father in heaven
Father in heaven,
I am overwhelmed. You expect to see many changes in me. Becoming a part of your family looks nigh impossible to me. I don’t know where to begin or what I will become. I must learn a new way of thinking and behaving and forget my old ways. Who will help me?
I am glad that you have adopted me into your family. But, I feel like a newborn who must learn to sit up, to crawl, to stand, to walk, and to talk again. All this gives me hope that my life will be different and better than it was before. I know that I will need lots of help to really become one of your children.
Hopefully,
Orphan Child
Dear Orphan Child,
You are right. This will be a long, sometimes difficult, but rewarding process. You will notice many changes happening to you as you grow more mature. Don’t worry! I chose to adopt you and make you one of my own. I began the process and will continue it to the end.
In the end, you will be so much like my Son that people may comment that you are just like Jesus. Then the adoption process will be complete. In the meantime, I am sending my Spirit to live in you. He will teach you, guide you, and comfort you. You trust me and he will do his life-changing work in you. Old things will pass away and all things will become new. He will eventually mold you into the image of my Son.
There is one more thing you should know. I have a gift that I give to all my adopted children. It is like an inheritance, except you can have right away. I give eternal life to all my adopted children. If you should die some night while in your sleep, your body will be left in bed but the real you will come to be with me forever. Death no more has power over you. It is a passing into my presence. You will understand this better as you get older.
Love,
Your Father in heaven
My Father in heaven,
You are the greatest! There is nobody like you. Here, take my hand. Let’s go. I’m ready to be called a child of God.
Thank you,
Your Adopted Child
Friday, January 15, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
INTRODUCING "SLOPPY TALK"
There comes a time when we need to ask ourselves what are we really saying and what are we hearing. We talk like we know what we are saying and find that what we are saying has a different meaning to those who are listening. Two closely related phrases used in and outside of the church have given rise to what I call: “Sloppy Church Talk.” The church is confused in their usage of these phrases. Sometimes they are used one way and sometimes the other way and both ways in the same context. Church people should understand these phrases and use them appropriately. However, they seldom show concern for the appropriate usage of “children of God.” and “the image of God”
SLOPPY CHURCH TALK:“CHILDREN OF GOD”
We are all children of God This is a common idea today. However, it is erroneous to say that a person is born into the family of God by natural birth. The family of God is not man’s, any man’s, natural family. By the same token, human beings are not naturally children of God nor sons of God. This is sloppy talk. People are adopted into the family of God.
Adoption describes the legal action whereby a person, usually a child, is taken into a family, not his own, with the purpose of treating him as, and giving him all the privileges of, a child born into that family--an outsider becomes and insider by due course; one who once was not becomes one who is; one not born into the family becomes one who enjoys all the rights and privileges of those born into the family.
Before proceeding farther, there is another possible usage of the phrase. It could be used as “children of god,” meaning children of one of a number of gods? With that perspective, “children of whatever god” could refer to all people. However, in the church the question is asked in the context of “the God,” one and only God. Are all people children of God?
The phrase, “children of God,” is found in the Bible. Sons of God is often used instead of children of God depending upon which translation is being read. What does it mean where it is used?
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9). Evidently, not all people are peacemakers for they are designated as sons of God. They are a distinct group, the opposite of war-mongers and those who cause divisions. They are reconcilers.
What are the opposing factions in need of reconciliation or peace? In the eyes of the world the list would seem endless from the lack of harmony in families, schools, churches, the workplace, communities, politics and international organizations to warring gangs, terrorists, tribes and nations. Great is the need for peacemakers including a peacemaker between man and God.
What is Jesus talking about when he distinguishes some people as peacemakers? Is there a clue in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount?
“You are the light of the world. . . .Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew :14-16). Peacemakers are lights shining in this world. Men see their good deeds and praise God, who is in heaven, not the peacemakers. Peacemakers bring praise to the Father in heaven, not themselves. This is not natural for human beings. Peacemakers bridge the gap between fellow man and man and God.
Peacemakers live according to the law, Law. Those who do not live in harmony with the law become enemies of the lawgiver whether that be the government or God in heaven. Furthermore, a peacemaker will observe every nuance of the law lest he become an enemy of the lawgiver. Jesus was, is, the ultimate peacemaker. He did not live to abolish the law, but to fulfill every jot and tittle down to the smallest letter and the least stroke of the pen. Peacemakers abide by the law.
“Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. . . .unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19-20)
The law will be obeyed by peacemakers. This makes it difficult for a human being to call himself a peacemaker.
Furthermore, a peacemaker will not be angry with his brother but rather he will settle matters quickly before the matter goes to court (Matthew 2:23-26). They will not break their promise, their covenants or contracts, their marriage vows, etc. Their “Yes” will be “Yes,” and their “No” will be “No.” They will be people of integrity, wholehearted and honest above reproach (Matthew 5:27-37).
If that is not enough, peacemakers will not resist an evil person; will give more than requested; will love their enemies; give to the needy; pray and fast in private; store up treasure in heaven; not worry about food, drink, or clothes; resist judging others knowing that by the same standard they will be judged; seek the blessings from their Father in heaven; treat others like they want to be treated; and, live so that they are rewarded by their Father in heaven. To sum it all up, a peacemaker will hear the words of Jesus and put them into practice.
The Apostle Paul summed it up this way: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ [the Peacemaker] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [peacemaking]; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting mens’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5:18-19).
Those who have been given the ministry of reconciliation are distinct group. They are a new creation with a new mission. “For Christ loves compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly view. Though once we regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” (II Corinthians 5:14-16)
When Jesus spoke of peacemakers in the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5, he was not describing the world’s view. He was describing his own role as peacemaker which would be given to those who received him as such.
John, the Beloved, wrote: Yet to all received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12).
Those who become children of God are the ones adopted into the family of God. They are given the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as the only begotten Son of God. They become peacemakers whom Jesus called blessed sons of God.
In the first letter (epistle) of John, he says more about sons of God and children of God. “How great is the love of the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But, we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2) [The King James translation uses “sons” instead of “children” of God.]
John continues: “This is how we know who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother” (I John 3:10). “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and every one who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands” (I John 5:1-2).
It should be obvious that according to John’s writings the children/sons of God is a distinct group of people in contrast to sons of the devil, and those who do not believe Jesus is the Christ born of God. The children/sons of God is exclusive and does not include all men, women and children.
In Genesis 6:2 and 6:4 there is a reference to the sons of God. Here the sons of God are contrasted with the daughters of men, revealing that all human beings are not “sons of God.” There is a debate about the exact identity of those called “sons of God” in these verses.
The phrase, “sons of God,” is used twice in the book of Job. “One day the angels [Hebrew–sons of God] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them” (Job 1:6). These are all beings created by God and accountable to him. It is a unique designation of sons of God. Here the reference is to heavenly creatures, not human beings. A similar reference is in Job 38:7. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations? . . . On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone–when all the angels [Hebrew–sons of God] shouted for joy?” The angels [sons of God] were present before God created the earth, when He laid its foundations and before man was created.
The prophet Hosea wrote: “After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, ‘Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God. Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them ‘You are not my people’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God’” (Hosea 1:8-10).
In a future day the Israelites [not all men] will be blessed and called “sons of the living God.” See Hosea 4, especially verses 4-7. This restoration of Israel is portrayed by Hosea’s love for Gomer while she sought another man and became an adulteress (Hosea 3).
Children of God are children of the resurrection, according to John 20:36-38. “Jesus replied, ‘The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worth of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.”
The Apostle Paul emphasized the difference between those who are the children/sons of God and those who are not.
“For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not received a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of Sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory’ (Romans 8:14-17, see also Galatians 4:5).
Are all men children/sons of God? They are not according to the Apostle Paul: “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected . . . creation itself will be liberated from the bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:9-21). If creation is waiting for the sons of God to be revealed, then certainly not all men are sons of God.
Abraham had two sons: Ishmael, born by Hagar, the handmaiden of Sarah, his wife, and at the will of Sarah; and, Isaac born by Sarah after she was well past childbearing age but according to the promise of God gave to Abraham and Sarah.
The Apostle Paul wrote: “It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel, nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. For this was how the promise was stated: ‘At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son” (Romans 9:6-9)! In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.
He continued the description adding another distinctive characteristic in Galatians 3:26-29. “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
The last nail in the coffin is found in Philippians. Again the Apostle Paul wrote: “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:14-15).
Children of God, sons of God, as it pertains to man on earth is only possible through adoption. No man, woman, nor child born of earthly parents is a child of God by right of birth. Each person must be adopted into the family of God.
In Romans 8:15, which was quoted above, the word “sonship” can also be adoption. “But you received a spirit of adoption [sonship]” and became a child of God.
Adoption is a process, not an immediately completed transaction. A child is selected for adoption. A fee is paid to the guardian of the child. The child submits to the new family. Over time, the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of the new family are realized by the adopted child. These become the lifestyle of the child. The adoption process is finally fully realized when the child’s identity is that of the family and the inheritance granted to the adopted child is the same as that of the natural child.
Consequently, the Apostle Paul wrote: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have been the first fruits of the Spirit, [have experienced the beginning of the adoption process] groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22-23).
Adoption is not for all people. People who are selected sometimes rebel. Such was the case for Israel. “For I [Paul] could wish myself were cursed and cut off for the sake of my brothers, those of my race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen’ (Romans 9:3-5).
Israel was adopted collectively as a people, a nation, not because they deserved it. It was the promise to Abraham from the Lord. “I will make unto you a great nation, and I will bless you” (Genesis 12:2). “He took him outside and said, ‘Look at the heavens and count the stars–if indeed you can count them!’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15 :5-6). Not all who are descendants are considered children of Abraham and not all Israel [another name for Jacob, Abraham’s grandson] are Israel. Israel is God’s adopted nation but not all Israel acknowledges that adoption.
“Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come” (Romans 11:25). Israel had been dispersed throughout the world because of this hardening. Nevertheless, “God gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). He is merciful and Israel will still come to full adoption. This is seen as previously quoted in Hosea, which is quoted by Paul in Romans 11:26-27.
The Apostle Paul repeats the concept of Romans 8:15-17 in Galatians 4:5-7. In Galatians it is linked to birth of Jesus Christ. “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons [adoption]. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you an heir.”
God’s son, Jesus Christ, paid the price for our adoption. It cost him a cruel death on the cross in order that people could be adopted into the family of God. Death could not hold him in the grave. He was resurrected unto life and after forty days ascended into the heaven into the presence of his Father. Likewise, the adopted children/sons of God will die. Some will die a cruel death. But death will not hold them. They will be resurrected unto life everlasting in the presence of their Father in heaven. They will be co-heirs with Jesus Christ.
To the Christian church in Ephesus Paul writes:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will–to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given s in the One he loves” (Ephesians 1:3-6).
In the Garden of Eden, God created man in his own image and likeness. God did not give birth to man and make all mankind his descendants, sons of God. He created him. Adam, the first man, and Eve, the first woman, gave birth and all mankind are their descendants. However, before giving birth they disobeyed God contaminating their descendants with a sin nature and losing the image of God. The only way to restore the image of God is by adoption into the family of God made possible by the price paid by Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten son.
Adoption describes the legal action whereby a person, usually a child, is taken into a family, not his own, with the purpose of treating him as, and giving him all the privileges of, a child born into that family--an outsider becomes and insider by due course; one who once was not becomes one who is; one not born into the family becomes one who enjoys all the rights and privileges of those born into the family.
Before proceeding farther, there is another possible usage of the phrase. It could be used as “children of god,” meaning children of one of a number of gods? With that perspective, “children of whatever god” could refer to all people. However, in the church the question is asked in the context of “the God,” one and only God. Are all people children of God?
The phrase, “children of God,” is found in the Bible. Sons of God is often used instead of children of God depending upon which translation is being read. What does it mean where it is used?
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9). Evidently, not all people are peacemakers for they are designated as sons of God. They are a distinct group, the opposite of war-mongers and those who cause divisions. They are reconcilers.
What are the opposing factions in need of reconciliation or peace? In the eyes of the world the list would seem endless from the lack of harmony in families, schools, churches, the workplace, communities, politics and international organizations to warring gangs, terrorists, tribes and nations. Great is the need for peacemakers including a peacemaker between man and God.
What is Jesus talking about when he distinguishes some people as peacemakers? Is there a clue in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount?
“You are the light of the world. . . .Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew :14-16). Peacemakers are lights shining in this world. Men see their good deeds and praise God, who is in heaven, not the peacemakers. Peacemakers bring praise to the Father in heaven, not themselves. This is not natural for human beings. Peacemakers bridge the gap between fellow man and man and God.
Peacemakers live according to the law, Law. Those who do not live in harmony with the law become enemies of the lawgiver whether that be the government or God in heaven. Furthermore, a peacemaker will observe every nuance of the law lest he become an enemy of the lawgiver. Jesus was, is, the ultimate peacemaker. He did not live to abolish the law, but to fulfill every jot and tittle down to the smallest letter and the least stroke of the pen. Peacemakers abide by the law.
“Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. . . .unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19-20)
The law will be obeyed by peacemakers. This makes it difficult for a human being to call himself a peacemaker.
Furthermore, a peacemaker will not be angry with his brother but rather he will settle matters quickly before the matter goes to court (Matthew 2:23-26). They will not break their promise, their covenants or contracts, their marriage vows, etc. Their “Yes” will be “Yes,” and their “No” will be “No.” They will be people of integrity, wholehearted and honest above reproach (Matthew 5:27-37).
If that is not enough, peacemakers will not resist an evil person; will give more than requested; will love their enemies; give to the needy; pray and fast in private; store up treasure in heaven; not worry about food, drink, or clothes; resist judging others knowing that by the same standard they will be judged; seek the blessings from their Father in heaven; treat others like they want to be treated; and, live so that they are rewarded by their Father in heaven. To sum it all up, a peacemaker will hear the words of Jesus and put them into practice.
The Apostle Paul summed it up this way: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ [the Peacemaker] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [peacemaking]; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting mens’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5:18-19).
Those who have been given the ministry of reconciliation are distinct group. They are a new creation with a new mission. “For Christ loves compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly view. Though once we regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” (II Corinthians 5:14-16)
When Jesus spoke of peacemakers in the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5, he was not describing the world’s view. He was describing his own role as peacemaker which would be given to those who received him as such.
John, the Beloved, wrote: Yet to all received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12).
Those who become children of God are the ones adopted into the family of God. They are given the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as the only begotten Son of God. They become peacemakers whom Jesus called blessed sons of God.
In the first letter (epistle) of John, he says more about sons of God and children of God. “How great is the love of the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But, we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2) [The King James translation uses “sons” instead of “children” of God.]
John continues: “This is how we know who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother” (I John 3:10). “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and every one who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands” (I John 5:1-2).
It should be obvious that according to John’s writings the children/sons of God is a distinct group of people in contrast to sons of the devil, and those who do not believe Jesus is the Christ born of God. The children/sons of God is exclusive and does not include all men, women and children.
In Genesis 6:2 and 6:4 there is a reference to the sons of God. Here the sons of God are contrasted with the daughters of men, revealing that all human beings are not “sons of God.” There is a debate about the exact identity of those called “sons of God” in these verses.
The phrase, “sons of God,” is used twice in the book of Job. “One day the angels [Hebrew–sons of God] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them” (Job 1:6). These are all beings created by God and accountable to him. It is a unique designation of sons of God. Here the reference is to heavenly creatures, not human beings. A similar reference is in Job 38:7. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations? . . . On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone–when all the angels [Hebrew–sons of God] shouted for joy?” The angels [sons of God] were present before God created the earth, when He laid its foundations and before man was created.
The prophet Hosea wrote: “After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, ‘Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God. Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them ‘You are not my people’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God’” (Hosea 1:8-10).
In a future day the Israelites [not all men] will be blessed and called “sons of the living God.” See Hosea 4, especially verses 4-7. This restoration of Israel is portrayed by Hosea’s love for Gomer while she sought another man and became an adulteress (Hosea 3).
Children of God are children of the resurrection, according to John 20:36-38. “Jesus replied, ‘The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worth of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.”
The Apostle Paul emphasized the difference between those who are the children/sons of God and those who are not.
“For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not received a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of Sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory’ (Romans 8:14-17, see also Galatians 4:5).
Are all men children/sons of God? They are not according to the Apostle Paul: “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected . . . creation itself will be liberated from the bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:9-21). If creation is waiting for the sons of God to be revealed, then certainly not all men are sons of God.
Abraham had two sons: Ishmael, born by Hagar, the handmaiden of Sarah, his wife, and at the will of Sarah; and, Isaac born by Sarah after she was well past childbearing age but according to the promise of God gave to Abraham and Sarah.
The Apostle Paul wrote: “It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel, nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. For this was how the promise was stated: ‘At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son” (Romans 9:6-9)! In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.
He continued the description adding another distinctive characteristic in Galatians 3:26-29. “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
The last nail in the coffin is found in Philippians. Again the Apostle Paul wrote: “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:14-15).
Children of God, sons of God, as it pertains to man on earth is only possible through adoption. No man, woman, nor child born of earthly parents is a child of God by right of birth. Each person must be adopted into the family of God.
In Romans 8:15, which was quoted above, the word “sonship” can also be adoption. “But you received a spirit of adoption [sonship]” and became a child of God.
Adoption is a process, not an immediately completed transaction. A child is selected for adoption. A fee is paid to the guardian of the child. The child submits to the new family. Over time, the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of the new family are realized by the adopted child. These become the lifestyle of the child. The adoption process is finally fully realized when the child’s identity is that of the family and the inheritance granted to the adopted child is the same as that of the natural child.
Consequently, the Apostle Paul wrote: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have been the first fruits of the Spirit, [have experienced the beginning of the adoption process] groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22-23).
Adoption is not for all people. People who are selected sometimes rebel. Such was the case for Israel. “For I [Paul] could wish myself were cursed and cut off for the sake of my brothers, those of my race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen’ (Romans 9:3-5).
Israel was adopted collectively as a people, a nation, not because they deserved it. It was the promise to Abraham from the Lord. “I will make unto you a great nation, and I will bless you” (Genesis 12:2). “He took him outside and said, ‘Look at the heavens and count the stars–if indeed you can count them!’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15 :5-6). Not all who are descendants are considered children of Abraham and not all Israel [another name for Jacob, Abraham’s grandson] are Israel. Israel is God’s adopted nation but not all Israel acknowledges that adoption.
“Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come” (Romans 11:25). Israel had been dispersed throughout the world because of this hardening. Nevertheless, “God gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). He is merciful and Israel will still come to full adoption. This is seen as previously quoted in Hosea, which is quoted by Paul in Romans 11:26-27.
The Apostle Paul repeats the concept of Romans 8:15-17 in Galatians 4:5-7. In Galatians it is linked to birth of Jesus Christ. “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons [adoption]. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you an heir.”
God’s son, Jesus Christ, paid the price for our adoption. It cost him a cruel death on the cross in order that people could be adopted into the family of God. Death could not hold him in the grave. He was resurrected unto life and after forty days ascended into the heaven into the presence of his Father. Likewise, the adopted children/sons of God will die. Some will die a cruel death. But death will not hold them. They will be resurrected unto life everlasting in the presence of their Father in heaven. They will be co-heirs with Jesus Christ.
To the Christian church in Ephesus Paul writes:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will–to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given s in the One he loves” (Ephesians 1:3-6).
In the Garden of Eden, God created man in his own image and likeness. God did not give birth to man and make all mankind his descendants, sons of God. He created him. Adam, the first man, and Eve, the first woman, gave birth and all mankind are their descendants. However, before giving birth they disobeyed God contaminating their descendants with a sin nature and losing the image of God. The only way to restore the image of God is by adoption into the family of God made possible by the price paid by Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten son.
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