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It is always interesting to meet someone having the same family name. One immediately wonders if they are related and, if so, how? Some years ago, I met such a family in San Diego. We were able to trace back in our respective genealogies to the same three brothers who came over from England in 1632 and settled in Hampton, New Hampshire. We are the tenth generation in this country and, while not inclined to make hasty decisions, it looks as though we might stay.
You may be so well acquainted with your family genealogy that you could tell me exactly how you are related to some famous person, past or present, but do you know how you are related to God? All men are related to him, but not in the same way. How are you related?
No doubt someone would reply, "I am a child of God. Indeed, all men are God's children, regardless of their race, color or creed." This reply, while expressing a view that is commonly accepted, is incorrect, without scriptural warrant. This is evident from John 1:12 which reads as follows: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." According to this statement, regardless of race or color, only those who have received the Lord Jesus Christ have the authority to call themselves the sons of God.
It is true that in the beginning, man was by nature a child of God. Indeed, he was related to God in two ways: he was God's creation or creature and God's child (Genesis 2:7; 1:27). However, something happened to Adam and Eve that affected man's relationship to God. As we are told in Genesis 2: 16-17, our first parents were given an obedience test. In the taking of this test, they acted as representatives for the whole human race. If they passed this test, eternal life would be the reward; if they failed, death, both physical and spiritual, would come upon all men. They failed the test and the effect of their disobedience upon man's nature, relationship to God and the world in which we live, is commonly called the fall. One of the consequences of their disobedience was a loss of son- ship, both for themselves and their descendants. Man was no longer by nature a child of God.
Was it just of God to make all men suffer because of the disobedience of our first parents? We live under a representative form of government. We benefit or suffer because of the actions of our representatives. Adam was our God-appointed representative. God is just, therefore all his actions must be compatible with his justice, even though we do not fully understand them.
The fall did not completely destroy man's relationship to God. He is still our Creator and we continue to be his creatures. As the Apostle Paul said to the Athenian Philosophers on Mars Hill, "For we are also his offspring." Because of this relationship, all men are under obligation to God. We owe to him all that a creature owes to his Creator. He has a right to expect of us that obedience and service which men in their state of rebellion against God refuse to render.
Because of this Creator-creature relationship, God is good to all his creatures. Fallen man has forfeited any right to these benefits but God has graciously made provision for the temporal needs of all his creatures. The Psalmist David speaks of this goodness in these words, "The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing" (Psalm 145:9, 15, 16).
Now it is evident from Romans 2:4 that God's goodness is designed to lead men to repentance. This verse reads as follows, "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" If you are one who has never responded to God's goodness, I urge you to contrast your treatment of God with his treatment of you. On the one hand, you have ignored him, broken his command- ments and rejected his claims upon you. On the other hand, in the providence of God, you have enjoyed a span of life, a measure of health and some wealth. God has been patient, longsuffering with you, withholding the full measure of his wrath and offering you pardon and peace through his son (Isaiah 55:6-7).
Through his goodness, God calls you to repentance. What is it to repent? Three things are involved in this call. First, this is a call to recognize yourself as a sinner. According to community standards you may be a very respectable person, but accord- ing to God's standards all are sinners (Romans 3:23). The word sin means to miss the mark. The mark, or standard of conduct, is the law of God as summarized by the Ten Commandments. You have missed this mark repeatedly in your relationships both to God and man. The divine penalty which your sins have merited is death, in other words, eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23).
Second, this is a call to confess your sins to God and to express to him your sorrow for them. When Nathan the prophet brought David face to face with his sins, the king cried out, "I have sinned against the Lord" (2 Samuel 12: 13). When the prodigal son returned from the far country he said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight..." (Luke. 15:21).
Third, repentance calls for an acceptance of the divine remedy for sin, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who fully paid the penalty for the sins of his people, and who invites all men to receive him as their Savior. To those who are truly sorry for their sins he says, "Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Those who reject this call to repentance will find God's goodness an added ground of condemnation to them in the Day of Judgment (Romans 2:5).
While all men have a part in this Creator-creature relationship, some have entered into a special relation- ship with God. The Psalmist David likens this relationship to that which exists between a shepherd and a particular member of his flock. As we are told in Psalm 23:1, he said, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." The Apostle John describes it as a Father-son relationship, saying, "But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God" (John 1:12).
Who are those that have entered into this special relationship? In Galatians 4:4, 5, they are described as the redeemed. This passage reads as follows, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Another question arises at this point, "Who are the redeemed?" They are a people who have been ransomed. Let me illustrate. When parents pay kidnappers the price which they demand for the release of their child, by the payment of this ransom, they have re- deemed him. N o w the redeemed are people who have been delivered from their captivity to Satan, in other words, from the penalty which the law of God requires, by the payment of the ransom which a God of justice demands.
As a result of the fall, the whole human race became Satan's bondslaves, captive subjects, citizens of his kingdom. This was the penalty which the law of God required for Adam's sin as well as their own. The wages of sin is death which not only meant separation from God but also commitment to Satan and his kingdom.
No man could deliver himself from this state of bondage because the ransom demanded by the God of justice was the payment for the penalty of sin. However, in his infinite grace, God sent his Son to redeem a people for himself, to ransom them from the bondage of Satan by paying the penalty which the law required. In order to accomplish their redemption, the Son took unto himself a human nature so that he might act as their substitute and satisfy the demands of divine justice by paying the penalty for sin on their behalf. This the Savior did, not only to deliver them from the captivity of Satan but also that they might become the children of God.
Those who have entered into this special relationship with God have not only experienced the goodness of God which flows from the Creator-creature relationship but also that special goodness which a shepherd manifests in the care of his own flock and a father displays in his relationship with his own children. How does the Heavenly Father manifest this goodness? As the Apostle Paul said, "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 14:17). While God guarantees his children all the physical necessities of life, most at the blessings which God in his special goodness bestows upon his own are not material but spiritual.
It is the Christian's privilege to experience not only peace with God but also peace within, freedom from fear, strength for the conflict with sin which must be fought in every area of life, also a joy which the world cannot give neither can it take away (Romans 5:1, John 14:27; Isaiah 41:10; 40;29-31; Psalm 4:7; John 15:11). It should be noted in passing that the children of God do not always enjoy these special blessings, because we do not claim the promise's and meet the conditions attached to them.
The special goodness of God to- wards those who have a Father-son relationship with him is not limited to this life (1 Corinthians 15:19). While all others will experience only God's wrath and righteous judgment in the life to come, the Christian will experience further manifestations of God's goodness. At death, the souls of believers, being made perfect, will go immediately to heaven, there to be with the Lord, and, as the Psalmist tells us, "In his presence there is fulness of joy and at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Matthew 25:41, 46; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Psalm 16:11).
On the Day of Resurrection, the bodies of believers will be raised in a state of perfection and reunited to their souls which were made perfect at death and the children of God will stand before their Heavenly Father, perfect in soul and body, their salvation completed (1 Corinthians 15: 51- 58). In that Day we shall attain the Christ-likeness for which we are now striving and enter into our final abode. For, when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, this sin-cursed universe will be destroyed by fire and replaced with a new heaven and a new earth. In this perfect abode, a redeemed society will spend eternity with their Lord in a state of perfect blessedness (2 Corinthians 3:18; I John 3:2; Romans 8:19- 22; 2 Peter 3:7-10; Revelation 21:1- 22:5).
What is your relationship to God? Is it only that of a creature to his Creator? While this relationship accounts for God's unmerited goodness in bestowing upon you many material blessings, it will not save your soul at death nor deliver you from the wrath of God in the Day of Judgment. In John 3:36 we read: "He that believeth On the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." In the Day of Judgment the Great Judge will say to many who have experienced the Creator's goodness to his creatures, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).
Is God's goodness to you based upon the fact that he is your Father and that you are his son? This relationship assures you of his special and continuous goodness to you both in time and throughout all eternity. The Psalmist David said, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want ... Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever" (Psalm 23:1, 6).
It is our hope and prayer that some who are only God's creatures will be moved to seek this better relationship. Would you like to become a child of God? In John 1:12, 13 we are told how this change takes place, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." According to this statement, two things are involved in this change, one must be born into God's family, and one must receive the Lord Jesus Christ as his own personal Savior.
In the first place, one must be born of God in order to enter his family; what is generally true in the physical realm is also true in the spiritual. Children enter the family by birth. As a result of the fall, men come into this world spiritually dead. They are no longer the children of God by nature but rather strangers to him. Before they can become the children of God, who is a spiritual being, they must become spiritually alive and thus acquire spiritual natures. This calls for a spiritual birth.
This is what the Lord Jesus meant when he said to Nicodemas, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (or "from above"). This new birth is a miracle which God performs in the hearts of certain people, an act whereby a spiritual nature is implanted which qualifies them to become the children of God. It is also true that only those who have been born of God have the desire and the power, or ability, to fulfill the second of these requirements, namely, to receive the Lord Jesus as their Savior.
The Apostle John dwells on this second requirement in verse 12. As we examine this verse, several questions arise. What is it to receive Christ? To receive him, is to believe on his name. His name reveals who he is: God the Son, the only begotten Son, God manifest in the flesh, the Savior (Matthew 16:16; John 1:1, 14; Galatians 4:4,5; Matthew 1:21; Luke 2:10,11; 1 Timothy 2:5). What does it mean to believe on him? One must not only accept the facts concerning his person and work set forth in Holy Scripture, but also place his trust in Christ alone for salvation. He must commit himself to the Lord Jesus even as the floating swimmer commits himself to the water to sustain him. In other words, the power does not come from within but from without.
You must place your trust, not in something which you have done but rather in that which the Lord Jesus Christ has done. You must trust him-to settle your sin account with God, to give you strength for the conflict with sin to which the Christian is committed, and to bring to completion all the changes which must take place in you. Christ is the Redeemer of those who believe on his name. This means, among other things, that he has righted their relationship with God the Father and that they have become the children of God (Galatians 5:4, 5).
I would urge those who truly desire to become the children of God, to repent of your sins and to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. He said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture" (John 10:9). Christ alone is the door through which men must pass who would become the sons of God and partake of the blessings which belong to the children of God.
If you long for this relationship, even as a thirsty man longs for a cup of cold water, this desire can be satisfied only by coming to Christ who said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink" (John 7:37). Those who receive Christ as their Savior will by this action be assured that they have been born of God and that he has accepted them as his children. As we are told in 1 John 5:1,"Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God."
Repent, believe on his name and you will experience the blessings of being a child of God in ever increasing measure, not only in this life but throughout all eternity. Behold, now is the Day of Salvation!
The late Mr. George Marston was a member of the Presbytery of Wisconsin of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and a former representative for Westminster Theological Seminary.
Reprinted from the Presbyterian Guardian, Volume 35, No 10, December 1966. The OPC Committee for the Historian has made the archives of the Presbyterian Guardian available online!
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