RELATIONSHIP WITH
GOD.
V. CHILDREN OF GOD.
IN the foregoing papers we have gathered up something of
the revelation, as set forth by the Son, of His Father, who is called in other
parts of the New Testament, as being their author, the Father of lights (James
i. 17), the Father of spirits (Heb. xii. 9), the Father of mercies (2 Cor. i.
3), and the Father of glory (Ephes. i. 17); all instructing and comforting
statements for those who are His children. For it will not satisfy His heart to
be merely Creator the author of lights, mercies, or glory. He desires to have
saints, subjects of divine election, and gathered out in time from mankind at
large, who shall know His parental love, and enjoy for ever the privileges and
the portion He designs for His children. But who are these?
Of divine
election angels are subjects (i Tim. v. 21) ; as being holy, too, are they
characterised (Mark viii. 38 ; Rev. xiv. 10). But relationship to God as
children is peculiar to the elect of the human race. They only of God's
creatures are connected with Him by the tie of birth, though angels, as
deriving their existence from God, are called in the Old Testament His sons
(Gen. vi. 2 ; Job i. 6 ; ii. i ; xxxviii. 7). But in the New Testament, none
but those who share in redemption by the blood of Christ are called the
children of God. Now it is God who makes this known. He might, of course, had
it pleased Him, have rested contented with knowing the relationship of Father
to His children as a joy for His own heart, and a secret to be kept in His own
bosom; but He desired that the children should know of the birth-tie which
exists between Him and them, and of the privileged position before all other
creatures which He has deigned to bestow on them. For not only are they His
children, they are also His sons, and will enjoy the privilege of adoption for
ever.
A word here on the meaning of these terms. Child tells of the
birth-tie between the parent and itself, than which nothing can be nearer. Son
speaks of the position enjoyed before others: "Not a servant, but a son" (Gal.
iv. 7). One might adopt a person to be one's son, but only one's own offspring
could be one's child. In human arrangements, children have not always the place
and privilege of sons. An illustration may help the reader. Abraham had several
children by his wife Keturah, as well as Isaac by Sarah. All of them could call
him father; all were his children ; but Isaac alone had the privilege and
position of his son. He gave all that he had to Isaac (Gen. xxv. 5), who was
known by all as his son. The inheritance was his, and his alone (Gen. xxiv.
36). To be Abraham's offspring was one thing, to be his son was quite
another.
With us who are God's children it is different. We are His
children, and we are His sons. All the privileges which belong to His sons are
ours in the greatness of His grace. Both nearness to Him as His children, and
position before Him as His sons, He has designed for us to enjoy for ever and
ever. Moreover, with the birth-tie, as well as with the privilege of being
sons, is linked the inheritance. Rom. viii. 17 speaks of it in connection with
the former: "If children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint heirs with
Christ." Gal. iv. 7 speaks of it in connection with the latter: "If a son, then
an heir through God." It is evidently the desire of our Father that we should
be acquainted with His purposes about us. Purposes, we say, because the
entrance upon our inheritance is still future. What it is, Ephes. i. 9-14 would
teach us; meanwhile, we there too learn that we have the Holy Ghost now given
to us as the earnest of it, until the redemption of the purchased possession ;
for as yet the Lord Jesus Christ, with whom we are joint heirs, has not
received it.
A passage in Old Testament history we may well here recall.
There was a memorable day in the life of the patriarch Abraham, when God told
him to survey the land which he should possess. He had just yielded to Lot. As
the meek one, he did not strive for his place or rights. He allowed his nephew
to choose his place of sojourn, which like a selfish man he did, though
outwardly in appearance giving way to Abraham. Lot journeyed east, choosing for
himself the well-watered plain of Jordan. Lot chose : Abraham left his
interests in God's hands. Who was best off? History will tell us. Lot lifted up
his eyes, and coveted the best pastoral district for himself. Abraham
subsequently, but at God's command, lifted up his eyes to behold the land which
was his. "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him,
Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and
southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to
thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever" (Gen. xiii. 14, 15). Wherever,
then, he looked around his eye lighted on part of the land of his inheritance,
which God had promised to give to him. But all his security for the possession
of that land was in God's promise ; no other token as to it was vouchsafed
him.
Like Abraham, we have the promise of an inheritance ; and, like
him, wherever we look around our eye lights on part of it. Northward,
southward, eastward, westward, Abraham looked, but only looked on the land
which would some day be his. Northward, southward, eastward, westward we can
look, and still only look on part of our inheritance. But upward, also, we can
turn our eye, and there, too, it rests on part of our inheritance. Nowhere on
thisglobe can we take our stand to look around, or to look up, where the eye
will not rest on some part of that portion which is ours as heirs of God, and
joint heirs with Christ. On some part, we must say, for as yet we have not
surveyed it all. Abraham could walk through the length and breadth of the land
of his inheritance. We as yet are unable to survey the extent of ours. Of its
limits we have heard, but have never seen them. Like Abraham, we must leave
earth ere we can enjoy the inheritance promised us ; but, differing from him,
we have not only the word of our God about it, but the Holy Ghost has been
given to us as the earnest of it (Ephes. i. 13, 14). Most extensive is it,
since it embraces heaven and earth. And what the proper portion of God's child
is, a little word of the Lord Jesus Christ's, when on earth, recorded in the
fifteenth chapter of Luke, shall tell us, in the words of the father to the
elder brother: "Child" (as it really is), "thou art ever with me, and all that
I have is thine" (31). Such is the place, and such is the portion of God's
children - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. And though revealed
comparatively late in the world's history, we can see it was no afterthought
with our God; for the inheritance destined for Israel, and on which they
entered, though never in any sense in its completeness till the days of David
and Solomon, comprised the territory which they conquered east of Jordan (Numb,
xxi. 24, 35 ; Deut. ii. 24, 31 ; iii. 12), as well as that on the wes - a
figure of earth and heaven, which we shall inherit with the Lord Jesus
Christ.
God's children. This speaks of a class, a company of His
creatures, chosen out of the children of men - born not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God (l Peter i. 23).
The characteristics of the Word, here described, as the instrument by which the
children are begotten, tell us of the character of the life of those who are
the subjects of the new birth. It is incorruptible and everlasting. Born again
; born, or begotten, of God. In such terms are they spoken of. Born again shows
it is an operation of God quite distinct from natural generation. Born of God
reminds us of the grace He thus manifests to them. If we ask, What moved God
thus to act? The answer can only be furnished by Himself, whose mind no
creature can fathom, and of which none, as we have said, could know anything
save as He was pleased to reveal it. "Having willed it" (or, "of His own will")
"begat He us by the word of truth," is the answer furnished us by the Word
(James i. 18). Sovereign will, which none can bend, and which none can
successfully oppose, moved Him to have creatures of the human race in the
relationship of children to Himself. Nor is this privilege confined to one
nation upon earth; for the evangelist John declares, "As many as received Him,
to them gave He the right to become children of God, even to them that believe
on His name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God" (John i. 12, 13). Children, not sons, is the term,
for John never writes of sons till he has carried his readers on to the eternal
state. Then, and then only, does he so describe God's saints. "He that
overcometh shall inherit these things ; and I will be his God, and he shall be
My son" (Rev. xxi. 7)- Paul, on the other hand, writes of both as now true of
the saints.
We have spoken of the inheritance as our proper portion, if
God's children. Connected with that is the condition in which we shall enjoy
it, viz., the being in glory. In this, creation has a deep and personal
interest, for its condition, made subject to vanity, must remain unchanged till
we are in glory. Then it "shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the liberty of the glory of the children of God " (Rom. viii. 21). Hence
we understand its joy depicted in the Word at the prospect, as well as at the
establishment of the kingdom in power. The joy at the prospect, when the Lamb
takes the book to open the seals, John has put on record in Rev. v. 13, 14.
"Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth,* and
in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing and honour, and
glory, and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb
for ever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen, and the elders
fell down and worshipped."
* This is different language from that of
Phil. ii. 10. There, by those "under the earth" the lost are referred to. Here,
creatures neither human nor angelic are intended.
Unanimity will pervade
non-intelligent creation at that time. Every creature in heaven, on earth,
under the earth, and in the sea will be in accord in the earnest desire for the
redemption of the purchased possession. Now, the whole creation groans and
travails in pain together. When the Lord comes back in power, its key-note will
be changed, and created things will accord Him a glad welcome. "Let the heavens
rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of
the wood rejoice before the Lord; for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the
earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His
truth" (Ps. xcvi. 11-13). What a contrast it will be, creation rejoicing
instead of groaning. But another contrast, truly awful to think of, will then
be displayed ; creation rejoicing with one accord, whilst many of the human
race will be angry at the return of the crucified One to reign, and will
combine to keep Him out, if possible, of His earthly kingdom (Rev. xi. 18 ;
xvii. 14; xix. 19).
We have spoken of the way by which we become God's
children. How wholly dependent on His grace are all those between whom and
Himself the birth-tie has been formed. By the word He begets them. Then He had
to speak, and to speak to His sinful creatures, ere such a relationship could
be formed.
Had He not willed thus to speak, no creature could have
shared in such a privilege. Had He not spoken, and that to each subject of
divine grace individually, none of Adam's race could ever have become His
children.
The thought, the desire, the carrying out of it were all of
Himself. Creatures formed to enjoy divine parental love should for ever
surround Him. Joy indeed would be theirs ; but joy too would be His, a joy
which never ends, as the Lord has indicated in the feast consequent on the
return of the prodigal. "They began to be merry." Over whom did the father
rejoice? Over one who deserved no favour, but the opposite, at his hand. No
wonder the evangelist John wrote, " Behold what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world
knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we children of God,
and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know if He (or it) shall
be manifested, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (i John
iii. I, 2). Joint heirs with Christ; in glory with Him ; and like Him : these
favours will characterise us who are God's children.
How God delights to
tell us about the present and about the future! Now are we children of God. By
and by we shall be like His Son, bearing the image of the heavenly One (i Cor.
xv. 49); or, as elsewhere expressed, our body of humiliation changed into
conformity to His body of glory (Phil. iii. 21). And since that will then be
true, moral conformity to Him should characterise each one of us now. For as
born of God we are partakers of the divine nature, and as such should be
imitators of God, as dear children (Ephes. v. i), doing "all things," we read,
"without murmurings and disputings ; that ye may be blameless and harmless,
children* of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world ; holding forth the word of
life ; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain,
neither laboured in vain " (Phil. ii. 14-16).
*Children " is the word
here.
On this line of teaching John dwells in his first epistle, in
which, telling us of the characteristics of the divine nature, in that God is
light, and God is love (i John i. 5 ; iv. 8), he reminds us of the manner in
which they were displayed in the Lord Jesus on earth, viz., in obedience and
love, and sets Him before us as the One from whom we are to learn, and to shew
in our walk what it is to be partakers of that nature. It was nothing new in
the world's history for God to have children from amongst men. Every saint as
born of.Him is, and was, His child. But the revelation of this relationship to
the individuals awaited the coming of His Son, though, as we have seen,
something of the character of God as a Father was at an earlier time made
known. The Son, however, having come, what is suited for those who are God's
children becomes a subject of divine revelation.
On this, as we have
said, John particularly dwells. In the gospel he had written (i. 18), "No one
hath seen God at any time ; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, He hath declared Him." In his epistle he writes (i John iv. 1-2), "No
one hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and
His love is perfected in us." What God is, whom no one hath seen, was declared
by the Son. What He is, whom no one hath seen, saints know about, who love one
another, for He then dwells in them. Born of God, righteousness should
characterise him (John ii. 29). Born of Him, brotherly love should be in action
(i John iv. 7), loving those who are born of Him (i John v. i). All this is
instruction for God's children in common, flowing out of the character of the
nature of which they are all partakers. And on this the apostle dwells pretty
fully, recognising at the same time different stages of Christian life, some
being babes, some young men, and some fathers, and for each class he has also a
suited word, as may be seen in i John ii. 13-27.
For each and all of His
children has God a Father's heart. Here we can say nationality cannot come in
to separate. One family it is, one company. The Lord died, the evangelist John
tells us, not for the nation of Israel only, but that He should gather together
in one the children of God who were scattered abroad (John xi. 52). Hence the
privileges of some as children are the privileges of all who are born of God.
So Paul, writing to the Galatians, who as Gentiles had never been enrolled as
burgesses of the earthly Jerusalem, could tell them that as Christians they
were children of the free woman, as Isaac was, and belonged to the heavenly
Jerusalem which is free, he writes, and "our mother" (Gal. iv. 26). For they,
like us, lived after the cross of Christ. What a difference that made, as the
Syro-phoenician woman can attest - a privilege of the children she knew well,
but only to own that it was not hers. The children have their place at the
table, the dogs are underneath it, so can only eat of the crumbs which fall
from it (Mark vii. 28). Whilst the middle wall of partition was to be
maintained she could only be as a dog, and could not occupy a child's place.
Thank God, it is not so now. All believers on the Lord Jesus are born of God,
and thus are members, through divine grace, of His family, and are to look
forward to the Father's house as their abiding, everlasting home.
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