Who Exactly are the Children of God?
John 1:12 Jesus came to the world that was his own. And his own people did not accept him. But some people did accept him. They believed in him, and he gave them the right to become children of God.
So, I’m sitting in a Bible study the other day with a bunch of people that I don’t know all that well, yet. And one woman declared, “We are all children of God. Every person has been created by Him.” Is she correct, or not? Who are the children of God?
It’s absolutely true that every person who’s ever lived was created in the image of God. We’re told that very thing in the first chapter of the Bible (Genesis 1:27 in case you’re interested). But does that mean that all eight or so billion of us (plus all those who’ve gone before) are children of God?
That’s certainly what the world would have us think. After all, God is a loving God, Jesus loved and accepted all people. Of course we’re all children of God! It doesn’t matter how you get to Him – and there are many different ways, many different religions, many different understandings – He’ll accept you just the way you are, no matter how you believe. That’s the world’s take on a loving God. But what’s His take?
John 1:11,12 Jesus came to the world that was his own. And his own people did not accept him. But some people did accept him. They believed in him, and he gave them the right to become children of God.
It’s a sharp contrast, isn’t it, between those who rejected Jesus and those who believed in Him? I imagine that Jesus back there in the first century, the radical, subversive Jesus who upset the religious hierarchy, wasn’t all that easy to believe in.
So far as I can see, that’s still the case. He calls us to go against the flow in this world. But to those who believe in Him, He gives the right to become children of God.
So the question for each one of us is this: am I a child of God?
That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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