Father God and His Children

When we think of our earthly nuclear family, that is, parents and children, we realize that it bears a striking likeness to the heavenly family. The resemblance is evident throughout the Biblical record and comes into even sharper focus in Jesus Christ. The Bible story begins with the natural sons of Adam; continues with the chosen sons of Abraham; and concludes with the spiritual children of redemption. All are God’s children in one way or another.

All human beings on planet earth are children of God by creation. In the process of creation God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created us in His own image, blessed us and instructed us to, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:26-28.

Thus, God endowed us with two qualities resembling His: To bear children and populate the earth, thereby reproducing His likeness, and to rule. Just as natural children resemble their parents, all men and women resemble God, for He made us in His likeness. Like God, we are rational, emotional, spiritual and volitional (able to make conscious decisions) creatures. And as Luke traced Jesus’ human lineage through long generations by way of “Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38), all humanity’s genealogy may be traced back to God.

Jesus was God in human form and therefore, man resembles both Him and His Father. Likewise, every person on earth can legitimately claim that he or she is a child of God by virtue of creation because all humanity is by nature children of God.

Nevertheless, as Ezekiel so poignantly points out, as free moral agents, we may be obedient children of God or defiant ones. In the days of Noah, disobedience was so prevalent that God punished man with the Flood. Yet even postdiluvian man continued to sin and lose his way again, so God responded by choosing some of His children to help reclaim the others.

God called Abraham to be the progenitor of the Jewish race chosen to bring salvation to the world. So the select race was variously called “children of promise,” “Sons of the living God,” “children of Israel” and others. Yet, Jeremiah informs us that even these “children” rebelled against God and He called them to “Return, faithless people” (3:14), and declares, “My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.” (4:22). But, the Father’s love reformed a few, who again sang, “Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God,” (Joel 2:23).

In spite of their blatant rebellion, Jesus fulfilled God’s purpose in His chosen children, while confirming God’s plan in the race. He told the Syrophoenician woman that the children of Israel must be fed first, for it was inappropriate to take bread belonging to the Hebrews and give it to dogs. In this strong metaphor, in which Jews were God’s children and Gentiles were as dogs, Jesus was apparently emphasizing the fact that in personal human service He was sent by the Father only to the Israelites, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. We also recall that Jesus told Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:9-10).

The lost eventually included the Gentiles, for the Father’s love is all inclusive, not wishing that any should perish and His inclusive love is revealed in Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep.

As the Christian era dawned, a new concept of the children of God was preached. John the Baptist thundered the explosive truth to the Jews: “And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). From this point on, children of God would be reckoned on a new basis.

While the New Testament doctrine of the new birth would seem to provide the basis for the sonship of believers, more explicit teaching is in the realm of adoption where it is the Spirit who makes us sons, and it is also through Him that we recognize our sonship. The Christian life is a life of responsibility before our Father but also a life of blessing and praise to the Father who has given us all things.

Jesus Christ was the Son of God in a unique way. He was God’s Son whom God appointed heir of all things and through whom He created the world. He appeared at baptism with glory as the only Son from the Father and referred to Himself as “God’s only Son” and the “Son of God.” We further recall in our Biblical reading that God Himself referred to Jesus as “His beloved Son.”

On numerous occasions Jesus called God “My Father,” My heavenly Father,” and similar terms. In addition, He subordinated His ancestry to David to His divine lineage. While the followers of Christ are also sons of the same Father, it is noteworthy that the expression “our” Father is NEVER used by Christ, but rather the deliberate “My Father and your Father.” Thus, it is clear that the “our Father” of the Lord’s Prayer is not prayed by Christ Himself, but is instruction to the disciples as to how they are to pray. Notice in your Biblical reading Christ’s continual reference to “your” Father.

We understand then, that through Jesus Christ all the children of Adam as well as those of Abraham are eligible to be eternal children of God. The Apostle Paul in writing to the Galatians affirms we are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. If we belong to Christ, we are the true children of Abraham. We are His heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to us as well. Paul tells the church at Rome that Abraham’s physical descendants were not automatically children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. The criterion for becoming spiritual children of God is faith, not flesh. He strongly insists that humans can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life and all who are led by the Spirit of God are the true children of God.

In fact, Jesus told some Jews they were not Abraham’s children and God was not their Father. He accused them of being the children of their father the devil and enjoyed doing evil as he does. It is through Christ that adoption into the divine family is offered to all who believe in His name, and to whom He gives power to become children of God.

God’s spiritual children resemble Him in lives of obedience. If we love and do well to our enemies, lend to them without expecting to be repaid, then, we read in Luke 6:35, our reward from heaven will be great, and we will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for He is kind even to those who are ungrateful and evil. Christians are to walk as children of light for we are “all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5).

Jesus cherished and taught the Fatherhood of God and the sonship of man. He said, “Do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.” Here Jesus is not prohibiting us from addressing our real human father as father. We know this because Biblical record requires all proper honor and respect be given to our parents. But in the context in which Jesus meant it, it is God’s right to command and claim supreme authoritative power over His creature’s in all matters of faith and obedience. This particular honor belongs eminently to God alone. In other words, Christ taught that the source of all life and truth was God, and possessed of all paternal authority He is worthy to be honored and obeyed by all His creatures. It is from God alone that all wisdom and knowledge is derived and who is responsible for the care for His children and the government of all creation. He is the only One who can claim the title of Father.