We are ALL Children of God. True OR False?

Are we ALL Children of God?  This question might elicit some strong responses, but it is one that caught my attention this week, and I felt would be a good question for us to consider.  I came across a recent article that was using this statement as justification for living a lifestyle that does not align with the Word of God.  The person that wrote it was trying to make the biblical case that we are all okay, no matter how we live, because we are all children of God!  In fact, the article went on to say that it didn’t matter what you believed, we are all one because we are all God’s Children!  I wonder if we’ve considered if that statement is True or False where the Word of God is concerned?  There were many who loved that article and used it as proof that we can be and believe anything we want and still all be one in God’s family.  I want us today to take a look at what scripture has to say about that.

First of all, there is an EXTREMELY important distinction to make here, and it is one I want to make at the very beginning.  There IS a difference between being God’s Creation, and being God’s Children.  We are, ALL of US, God’s Creation!  Absolutely!  Genesis 1-2 describes to us how God made mankind.  He said, “Let us make Mankind in our Image, in our likeness…So God Created Mankind in His own image.”  All of humanity is created by God and in that sense God is the Father of all Humanity.  However, George Washington was one of our founding fathers, and yet we are not all his actual offspring.  Henry Ford was the father of Ford Motor Company, and yet not every Ford belonged to him.  On a much more grand scale the same is true of us and God.  When sin entered this world we were ALL separated from our relational tie with our creator and Father, God.  That original bond was severed and sin now divides us from relationship with Him.  In fact, according to scripture, there are now two options of fatherhood for us.  According to passages from Acts 13:10, Matt. 13:38, John 8:44, 1 John 3:10, we can be children of the devil or according to passages from John 1:12, Gal. 3:26, Romans 8:16, 1 John 2:28-3:10 we can BECOME children of God!!  I want us to focus on that word, BECOME!  We are not all automatically children of God.  There is a birth that must take place.  Maybe you remember Jesus having this conversation with a certain Pharisee named Nicodemus in John 3.  Jesus tells Nicodemus that in order to be a part of the Kingdom of God, you must be born again.  He goes on to say that “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the spirit gives birth to spirit.”  Jesus was already making the distinction that not everyone is going to be a part of the Kingdom of God, but only those who are born again.  Listen to John 1:12-13, “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!”  We love sometimes to read just one part of a verse and use it to try and prove our point, but the danger of that is evident, you are not hearing the whole story, and it can lead many away from salvation in Christ.  In regards to the article I mentioned before, the start of a verse was quoted.  It came from Galatians 3:26, and was quoted like this, “…You are ALL children of God…”  I want to share with you today how important those dot, dot, dots are to this passage.  Here is what the passage in Galatians says in its entirety:  “So IN Christ Jesus you are ALL children of God THROUGH FAITH, for all of you who were baptized INTO Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are ALL one IN CHRIST JESUS!  IF you BELONG to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.”  Did you catch the importance of the rest of that passage?  “If you are IN Christ,”  “If you Belong to Him,” Those are all very important statements.  Look at the ways we are able to tell if we are children of God.  Romans 8:14-19 tells us that those who are led by the Spirit of God, are sons of God because the Spirit we received when we accepted Christ as our Savior was the Spirit of Adoption by which we can now cry out, “Abba, Father!”  How incredible!  We are now able to cry out to God, “Daddy, Father!”  This passage goes on to say that as children of God, we are heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ!  Do you know what heirs do?  They inherit ALL that is their Father’s!!  We will share with Christ EVERYTHING that is God’s, and do you know what God owns…EVERYTHING!!  It is amazing and humbling and heart pounding to know that you are a Child of the Living God!!  His desire is that we would ALL COME to know Him, and have eternal life through His son.  Devastatingly, there are those who are not His children, by their choice.  Scripture tells that we can know who is a child of the devil or who is a child of God.  1 John 3:10 gives us that understanding.  The privileges of our heavenly Father are not extended to everyone, but are freely given to ALL who will turn from a life of sin and separation from God to a life surrendered to Jesus Christ!  Those incredible blessings, that amazing grace, the peace that passes understanding, Love Indescribable, Power Unstoppable, those are all available to us as God’s Children!  I want to be clear, God Loves us ALL, He died that we ALL might live, and He and He alone created us ALL, but there is a distinct difference from being God’s Creation, and being God’s Children!  And the difference is ETERNAL!  This week I want to encourage you to Pray for those you know who are God’s Creation, but are not yet God’s Children.  I also want to encourage you to meditate on what it means that YOU ARE A CHILD of GOD!!  What are the Blessings that come with that relationship?  How does being a Child of God change your daily actions and decisions?  Please consider reading many of the passages mentioned throughout this message.  Thank you Jesus for Making a Way and Being The Way for us to Become Children of God!!  We Love you!!

Another passage to contemplate this week is:  1 John 2:28-3:10