A CHRISTIAN IS GOD'S CHILD
The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans
16:16)
Loved Ones, the
Bible says, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus" (Gal. 3:26). There is no passage in the New Testament that
should appeal more
strongly to a TRUE Christian than the one quoted above. To be God's
child
is the greatest honor that can be claimed by the sons and daughters of
Adam's
sinful race. Man in sin is a child of the devil (cf. 1 John 5:19).
Jesus
said to the apostate Jews, "You come from your father the devil. You
want
to do the sinful things that your father wants" (John 8:44). Liars,
thieves,
drunkards, adulterers, murderers and all other alien sinners are the
offspring
of Satan, following his moral nature, and destined to share his
terrible
fate (Matt. 25:41). Of such an ancestry there is nothing to boast, and
few
there are who willingly acknowledge the relationship.
But to be a child
of
an infinitely loving and merciful Father, whose grace and compassion
have
brought to the world its only moral and spiritual blessing, is an honor
that
outshines all earthly glories. Such an honor, when properly understood
and
appreciated, gives a person an exalted perspective of the meaning and
value
of life and stimulates him to the noblest of activities in his
relations
with his fellowmen.
All mankind are the
children of God by creation. We all are the "offspring of God" (Acts
17:29) [by creation]. Man was created in God's image and God is the
Father of his spirit (Heb.
12:9), for He "formed the spirit of man within him" (Zech. 12:1). Man
came
(and still comes) from the hand of God as pure as His Creator, but when
sin
entered his heart, it corrupted his MORAL nature (sometimes called the
“flesh”
or the “human” nature), and thus a separation was effected between man
and
God. "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your
sins
have hid his face that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:1-2).
But God would not
cast off man without hope. A life dead in sin can be made alive (Eph.
2:1). Man can be turned from darkness to light and from the power of
Satan unto God (Col. 1:13-14). Our dead sinful moral nature can be
circumcised and brought back to life in Christ (Col. 2:13). A child of
the devil can again become
a purified and consecrated child of God. Christ came to His own and His
own received Him not; “But he gave the right to become the sons of God
to
those who did accept him, to those who believe on his name" (John
1:11-12).
Those who thus BELIEVE (including obedience to Christ’s Gospel) become
sons
of God. They are born, "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of
the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13).
One Becomes a Child of God by a Spiritual Birth
Jesus declared to Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again." "Except a man be
born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John
3:5, 7). You can't pray your way into God's family; you must be born
into that family. Peter speaks of those who were "born, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth
and abideth forever" (1 Peter 1:23). Christians are born of a seed that
never dies – the word of God.
God has no pleasure
in an unregenerated heart. The love of the world and of self must be
cast out of that heart and Christ must enter it before God will accept
it. We, as
the church, have ever stressed repentance and baptism as a "birth of
water"
for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). But we have not stressed as we
should the companion part of that ONE birth, the Spirit. We are born of
water and the Spirit (John 3:5). The burial in the watery grave will
avail nothing
unless we rise there from to "walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-5)," to
“walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16).
The old man of sin
must be crucified before the "new man" in Christ can exist. We must put
away
our old way of living and develop a new way of thinking. Then we can
put
on the new man, which is created like God “in righteousness and true
holiness” (Eph. 4:22‑24). With growth we will learn to love the things
we once despised and despise the things we once loved.
The seed of the
kingdom, the word of God (Luke 8:11), must be planted in the heart and
be permitted to produce the fruits of righteousness. It is only a
crucified heart that is a purified heart. The washing in the water of
baptism must be accompanied with a washing of the heart in the blood of
Christ (Rev. 1:5). Baptism will not bring us into the death of Christ
unless we have died to the practice of sin. Only those who are dead to
sin are freed from sin (Rom. 6:2-7).
Repentance is more
than mere sorrow for sin. It is a complete turning away from sin and a
turning to God. The Holy Spirit said, "A new heart will I give you and
a new spirit
will I put within you" (Ez. 11:19; 18:31; 36:26). The lust of the
flesh,
the lust of the eye, and the pride of life must be superseded by a love
for God and a hunger for righteousness (Matt 5:6). The heart's
affections
must be centered on "things above, not on things on the earth" (Col.
3:1-2).
In a word, to become God's child, we must be "transformed by the
renewing
of our minds that we may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect
will of God” (Rom. 12:1-2). When this is done, then we as God's
children
will bear the family resemblance.
Most parents take
pleasure in the fact that their children look like them. To have a son
who is the "split image of his father" will cause a man to praise God
with thankfulness. The old saying "like father like son" holds true in
the spiritual world. If
we have truly been "born of God" we will bear our Father's likeness.
We
have from Him this command, "Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter
1:15-16). Christian, can you truthfully say that you look like God?
Look into the Gospel mirror (James 1:24) and take note if your moral
and spiritual features resemble those of your elder brother, Christ.
Peter said that
Christ suffered for us "leaving us an example that we should follow his
steps"
(1 Peter 2:21). This means we are to live as He lived. Our conduct, our
habits, and our attitude toward God and man should be the same as His.
Jesus came to show God's children how to live. His Father's will was
His
will (John 6:38), and He taught only as the Father revealed the truth
to
Him (John 12:48-49). His submission to the Father was full and
complete.
Well may we sing: "He the great example is and pattern for me." His
likeness
and image are revealed in the New Testament, and we must look therein
to
know how we are to live and look.
Our sincere prayer should ever be:
O to be like thee, blessed Redeemer
This is my constant longing and prayer:
Gladly I'll forfeit all of earth's treasures,
Jesus thy perfect likeness to wear.
When we look into
the Lord's mirror (James 1:22-25), we see the image of Christ and can
be "changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the
Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18). When Peter and John were arrested by
the enemies of the church it was said, "they took knowledge of them
that they had been with Jesus”
(Acts 4:13). This means they were reminders of Christ. They
personified
Christ who was revealed through them.
Once some Greeks
came to Phillip saying, "Sir, we would see Jesus," and Christ was
presented to them in person. We cannot do that, but we can show to the
world a Christ
who lives in our hearts by faith (Eph. 3:17). If Christ lives in us He
will
not enjoy our cigarettes, slangy language, lurid comics, shady
stories,
or our general indifference to the spiritual realities of life. Our
daily
walk should ever be with the consciousness that He is ever by our side,
and
that we are to be "living epistles… known and read of all men" (2 Cor.
3:2).
Our lives oftentimes made repulsive by sin, can be renewed by the
spirit
of the Lord and, be made to bear His image. This is your work and mine,
for
the Lord cannot change a sinful life except by the willing help of the
individual.
Every Child of God should learn to Love the Whole Family
Jesus laid down an infallible test of true discipleship. "By this shall
all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another"
(John 13:35). The attainment of a perfectly happy home life depends on
this principle. A family rent with bitter quarrels and sordid fights
experiences neither
peace nor happiness. It was love in the beginning that formed the
family
and it is only love that will hold it together. The family of God has
no
greater lesson to learn than to "love one another with a pure heart
fervently"
(1 Pet. 1:22).
In view of the fact
that the love that saved us was a pure and unselfish love, a love that
gave the highest and most precious gift known to man (John 3:16), we
should be unselfish in our attachment to the entire family of God's
children. "If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another" (1
John 4:11). "We know we have
passed from death unto life when we love the brethren" for "he that
loveth
not his brother abideth in death" (1 John 3:14).
In the early days
of Christianity,
when thousands sealed their faith with their life's blood, the church
was
bound together by a tie so strong that even the most hardened of the
Roman
soldiers would exclaim in astonishment, "Behold how the Christians love
each
other." But in this modern age of fast changing spiritual values, most
members
of the church regard each other as mere acquaintances, and they would
feel
insulted if asked to bear the burden of another's trouble. That
selfless
devotion that bound the early Christians together is, in many
congregations,
as rare as a blooming rose in a desert. Paul declared that the Body
(the
church) is ONE, but has many members. If one member suffered, all
members
suffered with it; or if one member was honored, all members rejoiced
together
(1 Cor 12:12, 26). Such a care and devotion can be produced only by a
scriptural
knowledge of our relationship to God and to each other. It was said of
the
early church, "And the multitude of them that believed were of one
heart
and one soul" (Acts 4:32). All hearts blended into one.
We then can truthfully sing:
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love,
The fellowship of kindred minds,
Is like to that above.
All Children of God Should be Interested in their Father's Cause
If an earthly father was doing a work that brought great blessings to
his fellowmen, he would be grieved if his children took no interest in
his
work. Our Father has a great work to do. He sent His Son to seek and
save
that which was lost. His main interest in man is in blessing and
uplifting
him. A true child of God can have no better interest. Jesus plainly
said,
"No man can serve two masters: For either he will hate the one and love
the other; or else he will cling to the one and despise the other. Ye
cannot
serve God and mammon" (Matt. 6:24).
Too many
professed Christians are entirely engrossed in material things and have
no time for the spiritual things that concern the Father. You simply
cannot partake
of the Father's likeness without at the same time, partaking of His
interest in spiritual things. We are not to be interested in
treasures that are subject to rust and decay, but should be entirely
interested in the
kind of treasures that are deposited in the bank of heaven. Our Lord
spoke
of how the "cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke
out
the word so that it becomes unfruitful” (Matt. 13:22). He who has no
real
interest in the saving of souls and in building up the church,
has
no claim upon his Father's inheritance. There are thousands in the
church
today that have never lifted their little finger to save a soul
and
we shudder at the thought of their doom!
David complained,
"No man cared for my soul” (Psalms 142:4), and if you have no interest
in another’s salvation, you really have no interest in your own. God is
not willing that any should perish, but that all might come to
repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).
Long ago God said, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked: but
that
the wicked should turn from their evil ways and live" (Ezek. 33:11).
“God
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world
through him might be saved” (John 3:17).
It is little less
than hypocrisy for worldly minded members to sing in stentorian tones;
"Rescue the perishing, care for the dying; Snatch them in pity from sin
and the grave. Weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen, tell them
of Jesus the mighty
to save," and then when they meet their friends and neighbors, never
have
a single word to say to them of their souls' redemption! Are we not
parasites
if we live off of our Father's bounty and never seek to share His grace
with
those who are doomed?
A Child of God Should often Commune with the Father
Oftentimes Jesus would, withdraw Himself from the teeming, noisy crowds
and spend quiet and restful hours alone with His Father. Between that
Father and His Son was the closest bond of affection, interest, and
fellowship.
We have often wondered why many people call God their Father when they
never have one word to say to Him from one day to another. We've known
people
who when asked to pray, would say in a panic, "Oh I can't pray!" How
absurd! Can't talk to the kindest Father the world has ever known!
What
could make it impossible for a child to converse with a most loving and
affectionate father? Our Father is one of infinite love, mercy, and
compassion.
His interest in us and love for us is beyond expression. We claim to
have
been saved and redeemed by His infinite grace, and yet we can't talk
to
Him! How absurd!
If a friend whom
you
loved, gave you a gift of much value, would it be beyond your mental
or
physical power to say "Thank You, my friend"? Would we not feel ashamed
to accept this gift without tendering grateful and heart‑felt thanks?
Yet each
day, we receive from the Father "every good gift and every perfect
gift"
(James 1:17), spiritual gifts and material gifts, and never utter a
single
word of gratitude or appreciation! Thanking the Father for His precious
gifts
and asking Him for strength and grace to meet all our daily trials
should be the most natural thing in the world.
The church as God's
family never will be what the Father intended it to be until every
sincere Christian recognizes his kinship to God and treats Him with the
same loving adoration that a properly trained child shows toward his
father. Praying to the Father should be as natural and as easy as to
converse with anyone we love and admire. Christians miss the greatest
experience in life if they never learn to pray. When Christians pray,
we should speak to God as to a good friend. He is
not a remote power; He is with us and all about us (Matt. 28:20; Eph.
4:6).
In our moments of extremity we should turn to Him as our great friend,
baring
our soul, striving only to be heard and understood. It should be as if
we
were contacting someone with whom we need never pretend, who will look
into
our hearts and know what is there. Then we will have the true
experience of religion, as we speak directly to the Lord.
There can be no
real religious
life whatever without a personal contact with our Father, who is ever
interested
in all which pertains to our welfare. Peter urges: "Cast all your cares
upon
him for he careth for you" (1 Pet. 5:7). Paul insists that we should go
"boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help
in the time of need" (Heb. 4:16). The Philippians were admonished to be
"careful
for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving
let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6).
What is the sense
of
singing "Sweet hour of prayer, Sweet hour of prayer, That calls me from
a
world of care. And bids me at my Father's throne, make all my wants and
wishes known," while at the same time we never avail ourselves to the
personal
blessings of that hour? If a father is the right kind of a parent, his
children
will get into his lap with the utmost confidence and assurance that
they
will be loved and comforted in their childish troubles and sorrows.
They
know his strong arms will close around them in loving protection and
comfort. The Christian life will be well nigh meaningless to anyone
unless he can look
upon the heavenly Father with the same degree of security, intimacy,
and
trust as a child goes to its earthly father. Your Father is ever as
near to
you as the door of your heart. At any moment, when that door is opened
in
welcome, the all‑loving Father will be in your presence to "comfort,
strengthen,
and keep you."
Children of God Should Trust their Father to Provide all their Needs
Jesus once asked: "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask
bread, will he give them a stone? Or if he ask a fish will he give him
a serpent? If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven, give good
things to those that, ask him?" (Matt. 7:9-11). One of the rarest
things in the church today is to find a professed Christian who has
implicit trust in the Lord to supply all his needs.
We sometimes sing,
"I'm the child of a King," and in that song we speak of how his
"coffers are full,
he has treasures untold," yet we slave and work and work and worry for
fear
we shall not have the wherewithal to be fed and clothed. O Ye of
little
faith! Jesus once pointed out the fact that the lilies of the
field were
more gorgeously appareled than Solomon in all his glory, even though
they
could neither toil nor spin; and the birds of the air neither sow, reap
nor
gather into barns, yet they are fed through a father's care (Matt.
6:26-30). "Are ye not much better than they?"
Worry is when you
hold a mental picture of things you DON’T want to happen. We seriously
doubt
if there is any one thing that distresses our Father more than to have
whining, complaining, and worried children. An affectionate and
considerate Father is ever ready and willing to provide our every need.
"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth those that
fear him" (Ps. 103:13). Why
can't we or won't we trust him? Jesus says, "Your heavenly Father
knoweth
that ye have need of all these things" (Matt. 6:32). This being true,
which
no real child of God will deny, why should we be so fearful of the
future?
Why the strained look, the wrinkled brow, and the heavy heart? Why is
it
such a risk to lose a dollar by going to the Father's house to worship
Him
and commune with Him?
There was a member
of the church who had to work on Sunday to hold his job. A man of faith
told him if he gave up such a job in order to be free to worship the
Lord, that the Lord through His grace would enable him to find a better
job. Quick
as a wink the member heatedly said, "I don't believe that!" Yet Jesus
said,
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these
things
shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). We would hesitate to call Christ
a
liar, yet that, in effect, is what we do when we doubt His word. Faith
is
taking God at His word. As a rule, you will find that those who are
faithful
in attendance at the hour of worship each Lord's day, are just as
prosperous and many times far more happy than those who refuse to trust
the Father
for their daily bread. We do not believe we have to disregard the
commands
of God in order to earn our daily bread.
We often wonder why
people will sing: "Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus" when they never
trust His promise for one hour or a day. Listen to Paul: "Charge them
that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded nor trust in
uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all
things to enjoy" (1 Tim. 6:17). We certainly believe that the name of
"God" should be something more than a mere word to those who profess
to be His children. "In him we live, and move, and have our being"
(Acts 17:28). He is One who is "able to do abundantly above all that we
ask or think" (Eph. 3:20). And we have the assurance that "no good
thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Ps. 84:11).
A Child of God, if Faithful to Him, can look forward to a Great Family Reunion
When the holiday season approaches it generally is a season of family
reunions. The married children with their companions and children
return to
the old homestead to spend the day with Mom and Dad. What a happy
occasion it is! Brothers and sisters reunited under the old family
roof, drinking deeply from the well of affection, and reliving the
sweet memories of the childhood days that are past. The cares and
responsibilities of life are for the moment forgotten, and they all
revel in the presence of those they love. But there can be only a few
hours at the most of this sweet companionship and then all must part.
We cannot expect a
permanent reunion of an earthly family. But the day is coming when the
great family of God, gathered from every tribe and nation, will meet
around the eternal throne of the Father, in that land where no storm
clouds gather and where we'll never say "Good Bye." John wrote, "And
after this I beheld, and lo
a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and
kindreds
and people and tribes and tongues, stood before the throne, and before
the
Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands" (Rev. 7:9).
Every saint and
redeemed one from all the generations of the past, will be there. The
great and the mighty of all of God's servants together with even the
smallest in the kingdom ‑ all home at last! No parting, no tears, no
sad farewells. "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he
that set upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new" (Rev.
21:4-5).
Conclusion
Loved ones,
Christians are children of God. "And if children, then heirs; heirs of
God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together" (Rom. 8:17).
At the sounding of the trumpet,
when the saints are gathered home,
We shall meet each other by the crystal sea.
There to meet and join
to sing the songs of Moses and the Lamb,
What a gathering of the faithful that will be!