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.
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And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all whom they chose. read more. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them: the same became mighty men, who were of old, men of renown.
And thou shalt say to Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my first-born.
And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how the LORD thy God bore thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
Thou shalt also consider in thy heart, that as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou art a holy people to the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people to himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?
He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; read more. So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; Butter of cows, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou hast waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. read more. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end will be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;
And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God. And Joshua said, By this ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
At that time the LORD said to Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said to me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
A Psalm of David. Give to the LORD, O ye mighty, give to the LORD glory and strength.
A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.
I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High.
For who in the heaven can be compared to the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the LORD?
He shall cry to me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth.
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not very wroth, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. read more. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and grievously afflict us?
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born.
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God. Surely after I was turned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, and even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth. read more. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt: and the form of the fourth is like the son of God.
The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go take to thee a wife addicted to lewdness and children of lewdness; for the land hath committed great lewdness, departing from the LORD. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; who conceived, and bore him a son.
Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said to them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said to them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master: if then I am a father, where is my honor? and if I am a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, In what have we despised thy name?
Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Blessed are the peace-makers: for they shall be called children of God.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy: But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you; read more. That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh 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 maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them who love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? read more. And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen by them: otherwise ye 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.
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes.
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes.
Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
All things are delivered to me by my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
And he said to them, When ye pray, say, Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he expired.
But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons 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. read more. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Jesus answered and said to him, Verily, verily, I say to thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith to him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? read more. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say to thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit.
That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit. Marvel not that I said to thee, Ye must be born again. read more. The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the sound of it, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
No man can come to me, except the Father who hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
And he said, Therefore I said to you, that no man can come to me, except it were given to him by my Father.
They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith to them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard from God: this did not Abraham. read more. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
And not for that nation only, but that also he should assemble in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
Jesus saith to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me.
At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Jesus saith to her, Touch me not: for I have not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.
But these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye may have life through his name.
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring.
And declared to be the Son of God, with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, by which we cry, Abba, Father. read more. The Spirit itself testifieth with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if we suffer with him, that we may be glorified together. For I reckon, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope: Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth, and travaileth in pain together until now: And not only they, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
And not only they, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: But hope that is seen, is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? read more. But if we hope for what we see not, then with patience we wait for it.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
Who are Israelites; to whom pertain the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
That is, They who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
As he saith also in Hosea, I will call them My people, who were not my people; and her Beloved, who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said to 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 to them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called, The children of the living God.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all, is rich to all that call upon him, For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
But I say, Did not Israel know? First, Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up to the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
For ye are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he is lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father. read more. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Having predestinated us to the adoption of children to himself by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he hath made us accepted in the beloved: read more. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; In which he hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might collect in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory.
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory. Wherefore I also, having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love to all the saints, read more. Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
For to which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. read more. For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name to my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise to 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 are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them, who, through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like his brethren; that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.
Ye have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh to you as to children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked by him: read more. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons: for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye are without chastisement, of which all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who are exercised by it. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will he hath begotten us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
With this we bless God, even the Father; and with this we curse men, who are made after the similitude of God.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil-speakings, As new-born babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: read more. If indeed ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming as to a living stone, disallowed indeed by men, but chosen by God, and precious, Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. To you therefore who believe he is precious: but to them who are disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them who stumble at the word, being disobedient: to which also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: Who in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Who in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Whoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
If ye know that he is righteous ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Whoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is from God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
Whoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten by him.
For whatever is born of God, overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and lewd men, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.