WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHILD OF GOD?

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth…And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Gen.1:1,26.

     The astounding revelation that the human family are the very children of the Creator, Who passed on His gift of life to us is the supreme knowledge to establish our self-esteem. For those who live in shame, just know in Whose Image you were made, and the perfect destiny to which you were ordained: eternal life in love’s perfection.

“God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people…And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” II Cor.6:16,18

     Exalted above every teaching given in Scripture GOD desires His children to understand His Infinite Love, (as time and space is infinite), and the loftiness of our value in His sight. To read the gospels and see our place in His design for the destiny of man in the universe draws admiration, worship and gratefulness that such a promise is given. For in the Bible alone is told the story of GOD’S supreme gesture to prove His Love for those who sorrow and suffer on earth. In obedience to His Own Ten Commandment Law GOD determined to rescue man and beast from all that is selfish, fearful, and painful in life. GOD did not step away from His Law to save us. That very Law that the rulers among men have turned their backs on, despising its authority, commanded GOD to save us.

     In the grandest way one’s self-worth swells to a lofty summit for it is measured in the promise of the Creator to save His children from their afflictions and fulfill every hope of the human heart—that GOD placed there, “In the beginning.”

     GOD acknowledges the aspirations of human conscience and has given us a promise that He will fulfill our most profound desires. It is simply through our freewill choice of believing and serving Him: “The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The LORD preserveth all them that love him.” Ps.145:18-20.

     But there was only one way GOD’S deliverance could be achieved: He could only redeem what man is by becoming what man is in order to bring man to Him where He is. This was the purpose of Jesus Christ. In the legal battle between sin and righteousness we learn that only the Father of Adam could redeem the children of Adam by becoming as one of his children, live the sinless life that we could not and conquer the domain of death that its jurisdiction over the family of Adam would be forever ended for those who believe His good news of deliverance from the condemnation from sin’s inheritance, the power of our inherently sinful nature, and the very presence of devils who tempt men every day to live and remain in sin, and thus deny Christ’s salvation and "perish."

     When Satan, after being cast out of heaven and infected the Earth with sin in its plethora of afflictions we see everyday: from tornados and wars to thorns and cancer, the survival for every creature became our LORD’S great concern. He determined to deliver us from every threat, great and small; and every creature great and small. This is based on the Bible fact that GOD did not create life to die! When GOD finished creating the Earth in its perfection of tranquility it is written: “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Gen.1:31. This is His reason for the seventh day Sabbath in Genesis, chapter 2: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Gen.2:1-3. It is this rest that the saints will share with GOD and Christ in the new earth: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.” Isa.66:22,23.

     Life was created in perfection. Sin introduced imperfection. Life was created in tranquility and joy. Sin introduced violence and sorrow. This is how important it is to be raised in the wisdom of this knowledge, that the boundaries of our personal safety be understood and to teach our children that the foundation of GOD’S established laws be obeyed for our success, not only for our temporal but our eternal success. It is through GOD'S salvation "in Christ" that families will one day be reunited “in the first resurrection,” never to part company ever again, "and none shall make them afraid." Amen.

     When we examine the lesson book of nature we see the necessity for the sacrifice of life in order to perpetuate life. And when we see how the balance of nature is sustained through life's sacrifice this gives evidence for GOD'S salvation through the sacrifice of Christ. He laid down His life that we might live. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Jn.12:24. It is through GOD'S nutrition, temporal and spiritual, that sustains each of our lives for both here and eternity. Jesus said: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Jn.6;51.

     The GOD Who lives to serve calls all men to let Him serve their every need that they may live and not die, as He said to Peter on the night of the last supper: “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.” Jn.13:3-10.

     The Apostles describe the saving grace of GOD in His willingness to suffer humiliation, hatred and shame, even to bear the guilt of every sin of every man that they might be saved: “In the beginning was the Word [a old Jewish term for the Creator who spoke all into existence], and the Word was with GOD, and the Word was GOD. He was in the beginning with GOD. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” “For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.” “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jn.1:1-3; Col.1:16,17; Jn.1:14a.

     In summation: The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Ultimate ‘Emancipation Proclamation.’ Our Creator adopted the dying human race into His rescuing care. Through the simple act of our faith in GOD'S Word telling of His deliverance, and His promise to send “the Comforter” to guide our lives in "the fruits of the Spirit," we give permission for “the Spirit of God” to come and live out the wonders of His Sacred Law in our hearts, for only Christ can live out the dignity of His Law in us. And everything we love about Jesus is due to His obedience to that Law. We are utterly incapable, in and of our strength to attain this standard of righteousness. And this explains every injustice we see and the extensive crime that rules the planet. All crime is the result of men rejecting the “still small voice” of GOD and choosing to live in sin.—And men have no intentions of giving it up, both in and out of the church.

     Nevertheless, GOD’S plan to rescue His family from sin and death is perfectly ethical and logical, and appeals to every heart—especially the little children whose sense of justice, mercy, and love yearns to experience this perfection of life.

     GOD never demands that His children step away from their ability to reason. In the book of Isaiah, the LORD says, “Come now, and let us reason together saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isa.1:18. The great Apostle Paul affirmed those words when he said, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” Rom.14:5. And the Apostle John calls us to cherish our faith in GOD’S deliverance through our everyday life: “But if we walk in the light, as he [GOD the Father] is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” I Jn.1:7.

     In conclusion: It is through the simple principle of family inheritance that we learn that only the Father of Adam could redeem the children of Adam. When we come to understand the genuine loftiness of our value to GOD in sending “his only begotten Son” as “the last Adam” it is seen that the inheritance of sin we were all born into (without our consent) our “Everlasting Father” has given us a new inheritance, that when we give our consent to become “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust,” others may see and desire the same Spirit of justice, mercy and love that Christ lives out through His saints (II Pet.1:4). “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” I Cor.15;45.

     Our being the physical and spiritual offspring of GOD draws us to the grand sense of being part of a family in whose community eternal life will be shared forever. And the only requirement GOD calls for is faith in Christ to lead our lives to remain united under GOD’S banner of jurisdiction vs. that of the wayward and unrepentant among men. In this, Paul admonished: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb.12:1,2.

     When our LORD Jesus declared: “I am the root and the offspring of David” (Rev.22:16) we are drawn to ask the question, How can this be? The Bible gives the answer. Jesus Christ, as “the root and offspring of David” is found in Christ's genealogy written in the book of Luke: “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph… which was the son of David… Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham… which was the son of Noe… which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.” Lu.3:23,31,34,36,38.

Again, only the Father of man could redeem the children of man.