Reference: Children (Sons) Of God
Hastings
There are a few passages in the OT in which the term 'sons of God' is applied to angelic beings (Ge 6:1-4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; cf. Da 3:25 RV). Once the judges of Israel are referred to as 'gods,' perhaps as appointed by God and vested with His authority (but the passage is very obscure; may the words be ironical?), and, in parallel phrase, as 'sons of the Most High' (Ps 82:6, cf. Joh 10:34; also, Ps 29:1; 89:6 Revised Version margin).
With these exceptions, the term, with the correlative one of 'Father,' designates the relation of men to God and of God to men, with varying fulness of meaning. It is obvious that the use of such a figure has wide possibilities. To call God 'Father' may imply little more than that He is creator and ruler of men (cf. 'Zeus, father of gods and men'); or it may connote some phase of His providence towards a favoured individual or nation; or, again, it may assert that a father's love at its highest is the truest symbol we can frame of God's essential nature and God's disposition towards all men. Similarly, men may conceivably be styled 'children of God' from mere dependence, from special privilege, from moral likeness, or finally from a full and willing response to the Divine Fatherhood in filial love, trust, and obedience. It is, therefore, not surprising that the Scripture facts present a varying and progressive conception of God as Father and of men as His children.
I. In the OT.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Blessed are the pacific: for they shall be the children of God.
You have heard that it hath been said, "you shall love your neighbour, and hate your enemy:" but I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who traduce you, and persecute you: read more. that ye may be the children of your father who is in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
that ye may be the children of your father who is in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. but if you love only them who love you, what reward can ye have? do not the heathens themselves do as much? read more. and if ye salute your brethren only, what mighty matter is that? do not even the heathens do the same? be ye therefore perfect, even as your father who is in heaven is perfect.
Take care not to perform any religious act in order to be observed by men: otherwise you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven.
but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.
consider the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor lay up any stores; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much greater value than they?
At the same time Jesus, continuing his discourses, said, "I thank thee, O father, Lord of heaven and earth, for having revealed unto babes what thou hast hid from the wise and prudent.
At the same time Jesus, continuing his discourses, said, "I thank thee, O father, Lord of heaven and earth, for having revealed unto babes what thou hast hid from the wise and prudent.
then shall the just shine out like the sun, in the kingdom of their father. he that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Then advancing a little further, he fell prostrate in prayer, and said, "O my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not mine, but thy will be done."
only when you are dispos'd to prayer, if you have any cause of complaint against any one, forgive him, that your heavenly father may forgive you your offences.
but as for you, love your enemies, do good, and lend without expecting any advantage from it: so shall your reward be great, in acting like the children of the most high: for he is kind to the most ungrateful wretches. be ye therefore merciful, as your father is merciful.
the management of every thing is committed to me by my father: no one knows what character the son is invested with, except the father; nor who the father is, except the son, and he to whom the son shall please to reveal it.
he said therefore to them, when ye pray, say, "our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. thy kingdom come. thy will be done, on earth, as in heaven.
if ye then, wicked as ye are, know how to give what is proper to your children: how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him?
and Jesus cryed with a loud voice, saying, father, into thy hands I commend my spirit; and in pronouncing these words, he expired.
but to as many as received him, and believed on him, he granted the privilege of being the sons of God. a birth which they had not from circumcision, nor from the constitution of the body, nor the institution of man, but from God. read more. The Logos became incarnate, and had his tabernacle among us, being full of grace and truth; and we contemplated his glory, such glory as the Monogenes derived from the father.
no man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten son, who is intimate with the father, hath made him known.
Jesus answered him, I declare unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus replied, how can a man be born when he is old? can he enter into his mother, and be born a second time? read more. Jesus answered, I tell thee, except a man be renewed by the spiritual baptism, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. the cleansing of the body is only external, but the purification of the spirit is spiritual.
the cleansing of the body is only external, but the purification of the spirit is spiritual. be not surprized that I said to thee, you must be born again. read more. the wind bloweth where it listeth, and you hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it comes, or whither it goes: such is the change in every one that is renewed by the spirit.
no man can come to me, except the father who hath sent me, conduct him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
and he said, therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my father.
they answered him, Abraham is our father. if you were Abraham's children, said Jesus, you would act like Abraham. but now ye seek to kill me, the man who has told you the truth, such as I have learnt it of God: Abraham did not act thus. read more. your actions are like your father. at this they reply'd, we are no bastards; we have but one father, even God. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, ye would love me: for I was commissioned by God to come; I did not come of my self, but he sent me.
and not for that nation only, but likewise to reassemble the dispersed children of God into one body.
Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man can come to the father, but by me.
then shall you know, that I am in my father, and you in me, and I in you.
that is to say, master! Jesus said to her, touch me not: for I am not yet ascended to my father: but go to my brethren, and say to them, "I ascend unto my father and your father, even my God and your God."
but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Messias, the son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name.
are moved, and do exist: even as some of your own poets have said, WE ARE EVEN HIS OFFSPRING.
but as to his holy spirit miraculously declared to be the son of God, by his resurrection from the dead:
as many as are actuated by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. for the spirit you have received is not servile to keep you still in fear; but it is the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, that is, father. read more. the same spirit testifies to our spirit, that we are the children of God. and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; although we now suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him. for I consider, that the sufferings of this present life are infinitely over-ballanc'd by that glory which shall hereafter be discovered to us. mankind impatiently desire that the divine being would display himself to his creatures, who were not, by their own choice, expos'd to this uncertain state, but by virtue of him, who subjected them thereto: and therefore hope to be removed from this slavish condition of mortality to the free inheritance of divine glory. for we know that the whole creation groans, and labours with general pain even to this day. and not only they, but even those who have the first fruits of the spirit, even we our selves do inwardly groan for the fruit of our adoption, by the deliverance of our body from corruption.
and not only they, but even those who have the first fruits of the spirit, even we our selves do inwardly groan for the fruit of our adoption, by the deliverance of our body from corruption. for we are saved but by hope: but hope supposes things not yet present; for how can a man hope for what he has now in possession? read more. but if we hope for what is yet to come, our patience does necessarily intervene.
for whom he before approv'd, he predispos'd to follow the example of his son, who was to conduct them all as their elder brother;
for whom he before approv'd, he predispos'd to follow the example of his son, who was to conduct them all as their elder brother;
who are Israelites; who had the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the form of divine worship, and the promises;
that is, the children by natural descent are not thereby the children of God: but the children of the promise are alone considered as his posterity.
as he saith himself in Osee, "I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her, beloved, which was not beloved. and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people; there shall they be called, the children of the living God."
and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people; there shall they be called, the children of the living God."
In reality there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile: they have all the same Lord, who is bountiful to all that call upon him. "whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved."
but still I ask, did not Israel know this? first, Moses saith, "I will provoke you to jealousy, by those that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you."
but before faith came, we were shut up together as prisoners under the custody of the law, 'till faith was to be revealed.
for you are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, is in a state of servitude, tho' he is to be lord of all; being under tutors and guardians, 'till the time prefix'd by his father. read more. even so we, whilst we were children, were in a state of servitude to the elements of the world. but when the time appointed was accomplished, God sent forth his own son born of a woman, and subject to the law, to redeem those, who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. and because ye are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying Abba, that is, father; so that thou art no longer a bond servant, but a son: and if a son, then an heir of God thro' Christ.
so that thou art no longer a bond servant, but a son: and if a son, then an heir of God thro' Christ.
Now we, my brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise.
having predetermin'd to adopt us by Jesus Christ to be his children, according to the good pleasure of his own will, to display the glory of his grace, which has render'd us acceptable by his beloved son: read more. who has by his blood obtained for us the redemption, even the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of his grace, out of the over-flowing treasures of his comprehensive wisdom and contrivance. for he has discover'd to us the secret of his will, that out of his meer good pleasure, he had purposed in himself, when the full time of the dispensation was come, to reduce all things both in heaven and on earth, under one head in Christ. It is by him, that we have a share in the inheritance, which was before allotted to us, in consequence of his design, who executes the whole plan, as he himself had contriv'd it: that we should celebrate his glory, who were the first that plac'd our hopes in Christ. by whom you also have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: and having believed in him, ye were mark'd with the seal of the holy spirit, which was promised: and this is the pledge of our inheritance, being given for the deliverance of his peculiar people, to the display of his glory.
and this is the pledge of our inheritance, being given for the deliverance of his peculiar people, to the display of his glory. Wherefore having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and of your love to all christians, read more. I continually give thanks upon your account, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, whereby ye may know him: an enlightned understanding, that ye may see what great expectations he has called you to, and what abundant glory it is to the saints to be the lot of his inheritance.
that you may be without reproach, the inoffensive spotless children of God in the midst of a depraved and perverse generation (among whom you should shine as stars in the world,
for to which of the angels did he ever say, " thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee? and again, I will be his father, and he shall be my son?
but Jesus, who was for a while inferior to the angels by his sufferings and death, we see was crown'd with glory and honour; when by the divine goodness, he had pass'd thro' death for every man. For it was agreeable to his wisdom, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to consecrate the author of their salvation by his sufferings. read more. for both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all deriv'd from one: for which cause he is not asham'd to call them brethren, saying, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee." and again, "I will put my trust in him." and again, "behold, I, and the children which God hath given me. Since then the children were made subject to a state of mortality, so he himself likewise was subject to the same condition: that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who thro' fear of death were all their life-time in a state of slavery. for he is not the deliverer of angels; but the deliverer of Abraham's posterity. whence it was necessary he should be in all things like his brethren; that he might be a merciful high priest, and faithfully discharge the divine office of expiating the sins of the people. for having himself stood the test of sufferings, he is capable of being moved to relieve those who undergo such tryals.
You have not yet resisted unto death, striving against sin. have you forgot the exhortation which is address'd to you, as to children? "my son, despise not thou the chastning of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. read more. for whom the Lord loveth, he chastises, and scourgeth every son whom he receives." if you are to endure chastisement, God treats you as his children: for where's the son whom his father does not chastise? but if you were exempted from that discipline which others are subject to, then are you bastards, and not sons. when our natural parents corrected us, we gave them reverence: is it not much more reasonable to be in subjection to the father of spirits, in order to have life? their discipline was temporary, and the effect of humour; whereas God chastises us for our advantage, to make us partakers of his holiness. 'tis true, all correction at first is far from appearing agreeable, yet afterward it produces the agreeable fruits of virtue in those who are exercised thereby. Wherefore "strengthen your weak hands and your feeble knees. clear the way for your feet, lest that which is lame should be quite out of joint, instead of being redress'd."
every thing that is valuable, every gift that leads to perfection is deriv'd from heaven, it descends from that original light, which knows no change, no shadow, or decline: 'tis he that has voluntarily renew'd us by the oracles of truth, that we might be the first converts of the new creation.
pure and unadulterated religion, in the eye of God our father, consists in taking care of orphans and widows in their distress: and in keeping clear of the vices of the age.
By that we give praises to God the father: and that pronounces curses even against men, who are form'd after the divine resemblance.
Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has regenerated us, and given us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the expectation of immortal life,
and since you invoke him as your father, who without respect of persons judges every one according to his actions; while you are passing thro' this world, be fearful of offending him:
since your regeneration is not owing to any corruptible principles, but to the unchangeable word of the immortal God.
Renouncing therefore every kind of malice, and knavery, hypocrisy, envy, and detraction, as new-born infants desire that mystical milk, which is without any mixture, and will make you thrive. Since you have tasted how good the Lord is, read more. adhere to him as to a living stone, which however rejected it is by men, is the precious stone, which God has chosen: and you your selves are as so many living stones, you are the edifice, the spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, agreeable to God by Jesus Christ. wherefore it is said in the scripture, I lay in Sion the principal stone of the angle, a choice one of great value: he that trusts thereon shall not be confounded. it will prove an honour to you, who believe; but to the incredulous, the same stone, which is the chief of the angle, and which the architects rejected, will be an occasion to the incredulous of their stumbling, and bruising themselves thereby: and this they were destin'd to. but you are the chosen race, you are kings and priests, the holy nation, the peculiar people, that you might display his glory, who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: you, who formerly were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy,
of darkness into his marvellous light: you, who formerly were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy,
for what the world is so full of, sensuality, avarice, and pride, is not deriv'd from the creator, but is the offspring of a vicious world.
whosoever denieth the son, disowns the father:
since you know that God is the source of virtue, you know that every one who has virtue, derives it from him.
beloved, we are now the sons of God, tho' it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know, that when this change shall be, his immediate presence will give us a divine resemblance.
whosoever is born of God, does not commit sin; for the divine principle remaineth in him: he will not sin, because he is born of God.
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God.
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Messiah, is born of God: and every one that loves the father, will likewise be affected with love to his son.
for he that is a true christian, overcomes the world: by obtaining faith, we have gain'd a victory over the world.
he that overcomes, shall inherit these things: I will be his God, and he shall be my son. but the fearful, and incredulous, the abominable, the murderer, the licentious, the poisoner, the idolater, and every lyar shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: this is the second death."