THEOLOGIX

Over the years I have heard many people proclaim that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, or use phrases like “we are all God’s children” to try and promote unity and peace during times of trouble or discourse. Though born of honorable intentions it is not biblical. It is a simple misunderstanding of scripture at best and a spiritually dangerous misrepresentation at worst. Some might even say that it hints of an inclusive theology which is directly contrary to the Bible. In any case, to discover the truth, it is important to examine what the Bible actually says regarding who are and who are not the Children of God.

One person I spoke with regarding this subject tried to use Genesis 26-27 to justify the idea that everyone is a child of God. The passage says “²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over allthe earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” He maintained that since God created everyone in his image that we are all from God and hence all equally his children; even if some followed him and others did not. He reasoned that, like human children who may become estranged from their parents, yet remain their children, people can be estranged from God yet remain his children.

However, close examination of the passage shows that the relationship between God and man is that of being his creation, not children. Twice the word “created” is used, which is actually the Hebrew word “yibra” or its variant “bara” meaning to “make, shape, cut, or carve out.” This combined with the word “selem” meaning “likeness” and translated here as “image” shows the relationship as being that of creator and creation, not father and child.

In comparison, we can look at passages that refer to Jesus as the Son of God we see the use of the word “begotten” as in John 3:16. This word is masculine and found in both the Hebrew and Greek languages to mean “being conceived of” or “related to” a father. In other words, Jesus was born of, not created by, God. The relationship seen between God and Jesus is that of father and son; a relationship that is extended to Christians in Romans 8:16-18 which says “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”

Clearly there is a difference between a creation, such as a statue or painting, and a child. A creation cannot inherit anything, whereas a child or relative can be an heir. But wait, can’t anyone be an heir if designated in a will? Sure, but in Romans it is clear that the heirs of God, are the children of God and Jesus’ siblings. This brings us back to the original question of who exactly are God’s children?

John 1:10-13 states that “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own,and His owndid not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Romans 9:8 points out that “those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God.” And in Philippians 2:14-15 we read “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” Finally, in 1 John 3:1-3 we read “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Over and over again, the Bible makes it clear that those who are of the world, those who do not know God are not the children of God. But those who have been born again (John 3:3, 7), believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and call on his name (Acts 16:31; Romans 10:13) these he has saved and these he has called his children. Of course, John 3:16 makes it equally clear that God loves everyone (as his creations) and so provides a way, through the death of his son Jesus Christ, who died on a cross as a final sacrifice for our sins, and then rose again from the dead three days later, to save everyone who believes in him. Finally, Romans 10:9 states that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” hence becoming a child of God.