Is Everyone a Child of God?
- Jack Selcher
- Nov 10
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 17
All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. As we shall see, all believers are part of the human family, but not all those in the human family are part of God’s family.
Surprisingly, the term “sons of God” doesn’t only apply to human beings. Spirit beings are also referred to as the sons of God (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Psalm 29:1; 82:6; 89:6; Gen 1:26; 3:22; 6:1-4; 11:7).
They are like God in that they are spiritual beings, but they are dependent on Him and not God. We don’t have enough information about them to say much more. Although that is an interesting use of the term “sons of God,” our focus is on human beings. Is everyone a child of God?
In one sense, everyone in the human family is God’s child, created by Him and made in His image. The Apostle Paul wrote, “For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone” (Acts 17:28-29 NLT).
Nevertheless, the Bible never applies the terms son of God or children of God to all humanity just because He created them. Unbelievers are part of one family (the human family), whereas believers in Jesus are part of two (the human family and God’s family).
The Bible informs us that because of sin, we were children of wrath. “All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else” (Ephesians 2:3 NLT).
Our unconscious inclination was to follow and serve the devil (John 8:44), ironically, while we viewed ourselves as good people. Despite the impressive list of “good deeds” we believed we had accumulated, we were more comfortable living independently of God than worshipping, serving, and glorifying Him.
We resisted Jesus’ command to repent and believe the good news (Mark 1:15). We possessed God’s image but had no desire to be like Him. We distanced ourselves from embracing all that His nature includes.
Although the universe is God-centered, from birth, we preferred to live as we chose, with no sense of the enormity of the crime of mutiny against the Captain of the ship. To become God’s children, we had to repent of that foolishness. Most people never do.
Not everyone is God’s child. 1 John 3:1 distinguishes between God’s children and those who belong to this world and don’t know the Father. We become God’s adopted children by grace through faith, both gifts of God (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5-6, 2:8-9).
Because God adopts us, we are not orphans or slaves, but God’s sons and daughters (Galatians 4:4-7). We long to live righteously, and we love other believers (1 John 3:9-10), and we all demonstrate the family resemblance. God’s family members are all becoming like Jesus, and progressively more and more relating to one another with the same love the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit demonstrate among themselves.
After we receive God’s gracious gift of faith, we also receive a righteous and holy new nature that is God-like (Ephesians 4:24). We become new people (2 Corinthians 5:17), who long to be more like Jesus and the Father (John 14:8-9). It isn’t an accident. God chose us to become like His Son (Romans 8:29).
We are born into the human family and born again into God’s family (John 1:12-13; 3:3; Galatians 3:26; 1 John 5:1). The Holy Spirit leads us (Romans 8:14), and Jesus Christ is our Advocate, pleading our case before the Father (1 John 2:1). Those who belong to the world have no such Advocate.
As members of God’s family, we know that we are co-heirs with Jesus (Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:14-17), but we have limited information about all that is involved except that we will be like Him (1 John 3:2-3). Our understanding will expand significantly in the world to come (1 Corinthians 13:12; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
Born only once, we will die physically and never possess the eternal life Jesus provides through His death, burial, and resurrection. Born twice, we might die physically, but we will remain spiritually alive and prospering forever. See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians. #freediscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources
Resources
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