Myth: God’s Children

~ “Well done” or “Depart from Me” ~        

It is popular today in many circles to say things like “we are all God’s children.” In one sense this is a true statement—however the way it is said often implies that we all have an equal standing before God or that all are headed to an eternal heaven. This is not what the Bible teaches. The Word of God clearly paints a very different picture.

The Kernel of Truth  ~  We are all God’s children in the sense that we are all His creation and that we have all received a natural birth—which itself is a gift of grace. 

The Bushel of Error  ~  We are not all God’s children with regard to spiritual birth—which comes from being “born again” from above—through the process of eternal salvation which is only possible only through putting trust in God’s Son Jesus Christ. 

The Word of God  ~  “For now we are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:26 TLB). We can only become God’s spiritual child by accepting the payment of our sin at the Cross of Calvary. In other words, there is only one way, one method, or one approach to eternal salvation.  “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6). 

The Divine Process  ~  Since we are not divine beings by natural birth the only way into God’s family is through adoption.  The Apostle Paul summarized our adoption in the Book of Galatians. “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out,  ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:1-7).  

“But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ's life, the fulfillment of God's original promise” (Galatians 3:25-27 The Message).

The Bottom Line  ~  There are two destinations for human beings—heaven and hell. Only those who have put their trust exclusively in the hands of Jesus Christ will be in heaven. 

The Choice  ~  Those who know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior will one day hear Jesus Himself say, “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25,21, 23).

On the other hand Jesus warned, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven… I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me’” (Matthew 7:21,23).

How about you? Are you positively sure of your eternal destination?

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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