The question is often asked,
“Are we not all the children of God?” The easy answer is “no”,
but we are the creation of God. To be a “child of God” we must
have a relationship and fellowship with God. These are obtained by
having faith in Jesus Christ, and His substitutionary death upon the
cross and His subsequent resurrection from the dead. As Paul has
shown in previous verses, we do not obtain this relationship by works
of the law, but rather by faith in Jesus. In chapter three and verse
twenty-six Paul provides a specific manner for how we become the
“children of God” where he wrote:
For you are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
First
we notice the word, “For”. With the word “For” Paul begins a
new paragraph where in a conclusive way Paul tells why he has given
the previous discourse. He told us, “the law was our
schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by
faith. But after that
faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster”,
and now because we have faith in Jesus Christ, “you are
all the children of God.” The
only part that is left is whether a person will receive this gift of
grace from God by believing in His Son Jesus.
What
Paul does not say in this verse is “you are all the
children of God” by any way
you choose. It is “by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Though it may seem narrow, and it is, there are no other options
given. Therein lie the exclusivity of Christianity in that a person
must come through Jesus Christ to have access to being a “child of
God.” Any other way is works oriented and relies upon the
individual to somehow measure up, be good enough, and be righteous
enough to gain access to God. According to the Bible, this is
impossible. There is only one person who ever fulfilled the law
perfectly, Jesus Christ, and He has made the way for anyone who will
trust in, rely upon and cling to Him to be a child of God.
As
we consider these things, let us remember that Christ Jesus was God's
effort to reach, redeem, and have a Father God relationship with
mankind. All other attempts are man's effort to reach God, and they
all fall short. This is the marking point of the Christian walk, and
only “by faith in Christ Jesus”
we may all be “the children of God.”
Next time we will
discover the benefit of being children of God , so read ahead, and
let us join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation
to Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it
locally
at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
No comments:
Post a Comment