Are we all God's children?

The phrase "we are all God's children" is surprisingly controversial. Culturally speaking, it is one of the most basic understandings of God, not just within the Christian faith, but among unbelievers as well. In fact, in Acts 17:28, Paul even describes an Athenian poet who said "For we are also His offspring."

But in the Christian faith, the right to be children of God is bestowed exclusively through Christ. As we read in John 1:12-13, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Because of this, many Christians object to the term "we are all God's children", suggesting it is, at best, an erroneous statement made by babes of the faith. At worst, it is outright heresy. But those who make such claims have a serious problem to contend with. In Acts 17, Paul doesn't just record the pagans claiming to be God's offspring. He grants it. In verses 29-31, he says:

"Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”"

Here, Paul's admonitions depend on the idea that when the Athenians claimed to be children of God - children of "THE UNKNOWN GOD" (v23) - they were right. They are children of God, therefore ought to distinguish His divine nature from their petty idols. And of course, from there, he lead to the Gospel.

So, what's the deal here? How can we all be children of God regardless of whether we are yet in Christ, yet Christ gives us the right to become children of God through faith in Him? The answer is fairly simple: sense.

There are multiple ways to be children of God, just as there are multiple ways to be children of men. The first sense is origins. It doesn't take vast amounts of effort to create a child. Sadly, our culture has no issue proving this. Parents can leave even before a child is born.

God, of course, is a lot less reckless than that. But as Paul states, "...He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being..." (Acts 17:25b-28a). This shows that God is intimately involved in the lives of all people regardless of whether or not they know Him. In fact, part of the reason for this is so we can come to know Him. So, we are all his children in the sense that without Him, there would be no us.

But there is a sense in which we are not His children. Children have certain entitlements, both while their parents live, and when it comes to inheritance after their parents die. In this sense, only those who are in Christ may legitimately claim to be God's children.

You see, then, how this need not be as controversial as it should be. This isn't an "either or", but a "both and". Yes, we are all God's children, but yes, Christ gives us the right to become God's children. It all comes down to the double meaning of the word "children".

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