Who Are God’s Children?
Today’s post is by David Adams, and is copied from his FaceBook page:
Paul told the unbelieving Athenians that we are all God’s offspring. Many people don’t believe that everyone is a child of God. They believe a decision has to be made in order for you to be born again, or more correctly born from above.
Paul and Peter agree that all of humanity born into Adam,( without their permission I might add) died when Jesus hung on the cross. They were all raised, or born from above by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
The book of Hebrews tells us that God chastens every son that He receives. It also tells us that those that don’t receive chastening are bastards. A lot of people never stopped to think this through. They think that those that don’t receive chastening aren’t God’s children. Then why would God be chastening them if they weren’t His children?
If someone is a bastard, it doesn’t mean they don’t have a father. In biblical days it simply meant that they didn’t know who their father was. Most of the world doesn’t know that God is their Father, and that He loves them with an everlasting love.
Before I forget, let me tell you what the word chastening means. It simply means to discipline in order to correct. It isn’t always pleasant when God corrects us, but God’s correction of us has more to do with our thinking than it does our behavior. It has to do with God pointing out the truth, even though sometimes the truth hurts. We have grown so used to believing lies about God and ourselves, that it leads to an inner struggle when we are confronted with the truth.
Some people think that once they make a decision for the Lord, it causes God to change His mind about them, and then no He longer holds their sin against them. The truth is, that God isn’t holding anyone’s sin against them, whether they believe or not. He never was. The reason Jesus died on the cross was to show us that God loves us, and love keeps no record of wrongs. The blood of Jesus is to cleanse our conscience from sin. God was in Christ on the cross not counting our sins against us.
Most of what the church teaches about sin is simply behavior modification, without a real change of mind. True repentance is when we agree with what God says about us. That causes us to think differently about God and the whole human race which is made in His image.
Most of the church teaches about a double-minded God, that is either not powerful enough to save everyone, or else they think God is unwilling to save everyone. When I talk like this, people think I’m talking about God forcing people to come to Him. What I’m actually talking about, is God’s unfailing love and its ability to persuade everyone, either in this life or later.
Threats of hell and punishment only lead to people fearing God and never quite sure if they can trust Him. They speak of God’s unconditional love out of one side of their mouth, and then talk about how people will be thrown into the Lake of Fire and suffer eternal torment forever. People like this never feel confident in the work of the cross.
They don’t understand that the Lake of Fire is God’s passionate undying love for us, that burns away everything that isn’t in the image of God, purifying us and revealing the image of God within us. The River of Life flows into the Lake of Fire. The whole world is salted in fire right now. It is the consuming fire of God’s love.
It saddens me that people see our Heavenly Father as some sort of double-minded God because they think He loves us only until we die. They think He loves believers more than unbelievers, and if you don’t trust Him now, you won’t have a chance later. No chance in hell.
God is a good, good Father, and one day everyone will see this truth. The thing that torments people, is the lies we believe about God. You can tell it’s a lie if it makes you afraid of God. Fear has torment, but God is love, and love casts out fear.
OUR GOOD DAD, it is encouraging to know that even though not everyone sees you the way you really are, one day everyone will remember and turn to you. They will joyfully acknowledge you, without fear of punishment.
Grace and peace. Amen.
- God is Hiding in Plain Sight - 10 December 2024
- Consumed by Fire - 13 August 2024
- Attitudes, Actions and Outcomes - 14 June 2024