What is the most amazing thing you can say about yourself? When you look at who you are, what you have become, what fills your heart with joy more than anything else? We read in 1 John 3:1, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

And so we are. Incredible. Is this something you marvel at: “I am a child of God”? “Me, the chief of sinners, one who deserves to be God’s enemy forever, one who should be condemned forever, I am not destined to inherit wrath, but I am destined to inherit salva­tion as a child of God!” How can such a thought leave anyone cold? Perhaps we don’t appreciate this thought as much as we should be­cause we don’t adequately under­stand what it means. We all know what it means to be sons and daughters of human parents. It’s something that we’ve lived with all our lives. We don’t think about it much. So what makes being chil­dren of our heavenly Father so much more special?

The Eternal Son⤒🔗

To understand what it means for us to be children of God, we have to first appreciate how Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He is son of God forever, in a way no one else could never be.

This means that Christ has always been and will continue to be the ultimate Son of God. He did not become Son of God. That’s simply who He is.

For us, it’s a different matter. Ga­latians 4:7 talks about how each of us is no longer a slave, but a son. The implication is that we were not always sons of God. At one point, we were His enemies, slaves to sin. But Jesus never had that status. He was always the Son. He was the Son of God before, during, and after His life on earth. John 1:14 — “And the Word be­came flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” And Hebrews 4:14 — “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heav­ens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” And He will go on, always being the eternal Son. There never was, and never will be a time when He will not be Son of God.

The Natural Son←⤒🔗

He is also the natural Son of God. He is one in being with the Father, sharing the same essence as the Father. He shares divinity with the Father.

He was, and is, and always will be fully God. Hebrews 1:2-3 empha­sizes this when it says, “...in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he ap­pointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” Christ bears the stamp of God’s nature. Christ shares God’s nature. Christ is God.

Colossians 1:19 says of Jesus Christ, “For in him all the full­ness of God was pleased to dwell.” Christ was and is fully di­vine. Christ was and is the natural, divine Son of God.

Again, it’s obvious that being Son in this way, Christ is totally different to who we are. We are made in the image of God, but we don’t share in the being of God. We have God living in us, but we are not gods.

Jesus being the natural son of God means that He has a deeper union with the Father than we could ever have. There is a unity between the two to the extent that the two are one.

This oneness goes so far that we can’t really know one without the other. As Jesus said in John 8:19, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

And we can’t love one without the other. As Jesus said in verse 23 of John 15, “Whoever hates me hates my Father also.”

Some say you can have faith in God without being a Christian. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. The connection between the Fa­ther and the Son is too close. You reject God the Son, you are rejecting God the Father.

Adopted Children of God←⤒🔗

If Christ is the eternal, natural Son of God, what does that make us? We are adopted children of God.

If a husband and wife are to have a child who is not their biological offspring, they will have had to have adopted him. So too, we who are not the eternal, natural sons of God need to be adopted by Him if we are to be his chil­dren.

To become adopted children of God, we have to be born again. This is crucial. You can’t be a child of earthly physical parents unless you are born. And we cannot become the children of God without being born again. Jesus explains what this is all about in verses 6-7 of John 3: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” Here is the key to being children of God: we must be born of the Spirit. As Romans 8:14 says, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” Galatians 4 talks about how God sends the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. It is by the power of the Spirit that we can call God our Father. It is by the power of the Spirit that we become sons of God. When we are regenerated by the Spirit of God, made new, then we show we are the children of God.

God has given us a new relation­ship with himself. God has de­clared, “You are my children!” He has adopted us into the awesome status of belonging to him as his sons and daughters. And when we live as people who demonstrate the presence of the Spirit, then we are demonstrating that that is ex­actly who we are.

Repentant Children of God←⤒🔗

 When the Spirit of God enters our hearts, making it clear that we are children of God, things are going to happen. For one thing, we will confess our guilt and experience a deep and profound sorrow for sins. We will hate it when we find our­selves sinning.

This sorrow for sin is vital. If you do not know what it means to ex­perience sorrow for sins, you need to question whether you are in fact born again.

This doesn’t mean you will always be moping about, miserable, with a perpetual frown on your face. But it does mean that when confronted with the holiness and purity of your Heavenly Father, you will experi­ence a profound sense of being unholy and impure. Sin will not sit well with you. You can’t laugh it off. You know how serious a mat­ter it really is.

It’s not just that you are sorry about the negative outcome of sin. It’s that sin itself troubles you deeply. You know how much your heav­enly Father hates sin, and you know that Jesus had to die be­cause of your sin.

Mind you, sorrow for sin is not all there is to the repentance that comes with being born again. Repentance also involves positively pursuing the Spirit-filled life. It in­volves loving God with our whole being, offering ourselves as a living sacrifice to Him, seeking to live for His glory, and shining His light in all that we do.

Philippians 2:14,15 say, “Do all things without grumbling or dis­puting, that you may be blame­less and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” When we are His children, we naturally want to show that He is our Father. As John Calvin puts it in his Institutes:

let us remember that the sons of God are desig­nated by the duty which they ought perpetually to observe, that his reason for adopting us is, that we may reverence him as a father. Hence, if we would not deprive ourselves of the privilege of adop­tion, we must always strive in the direction of our calling.

If you are a child of God, you will strive in the direction of your calling, and you will not live as if you were the child of the devil.

The Benefits of Being Children of God←⤒🔗

Galatians 4 talks about how we might receive adoption as sons, and how we are heirs. As children of God, we receive an inheritance. We inherit the promise given to Abraham, the promise of salvation by grace through faith. We inherit the joy that comes from knowing of this salvation. We inherit freedom from the law: not freedom to do whatever we like, but freedom from the curse of the law.

Okay, this inheritance might not seem all that valuable in the eyes of the world, like inheriting a million dollars from a rich uncle. But the inheritance you receive as a child of God is more valuable than any­thing else you could ever own. It should be your most valued pos­session. There should be nothing more important to you than the fact that you have inherited the eternal love of your heavenly Father.

Children of God by Grace←⤒🔗

Of course, we must remember that we can’t earn this inheritance. We cannot make ourselves children of God. Galatians 4 makes it clear that it was God who sent His Son that we might become sons. God sends the Spirit enabling us to be born again. As John 1:12, 13 says,

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

We are not children of God be­cause of our physical ancestry. We are not children of God be­cause of our will or because of anyone else’s will. We are chil­dren of God because of the will of God. It is he who works in us a saving faith, causing us to be­come his children. As we read in Ephesians 1:5 — “In love he pre­destined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”

Bought to Be Children←⤒🔗

One final thought: we are chil­dren of God because of what Christ did, dying on the cross and paying the price for our sins. Ga­latians 4 speaks of how God sent His Son to redeem those under law. Redeem, pay for. We are bought children.

Normally, when you think of buy­ing people, you think of slavery. Christ purchased us, but not to enslave us. He paid for us in or­der to make us fellow sons. He bought us, to set us free from slavery to sin. He bought us in order that He might give us the inheritance of sons of God. He is our Lord, who has made himself our brother.

Truly, we can say with the apos­tle John, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

Do you count it a privilege to be numbered among the children of God? Is being a child of God more important to you than being anything else? Is this your basis for hope and meaning in this life? May God work in your heart with His Spirit, enabling you to be born again, that you may truly know what it means to be a child of God.