THE FATHER AND HIS FAMILY – THE PLANS OF GOD

prayer “to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” (Ephesians 3:14,15).

God’s Fatherhood reveals that He is the author and initiator of life, that He is warm, loving, generous, good and strong. God’s intention was that we be in His image, just as Jesus Christ was and is (Gen. 1:27; Col. 1:15). We have seen other aspects of God’s Father heart in lesson 2. Love is the motivation of God’s heart (1 John 4:8).

The Father’s family begins with the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. God the Father loved Jesus before the foundation of the world (John 17:24). Jesus often called God His Father (John 10:29), and yet He says in the next verse, “I and my Father are One.” (John 10:30). Jesus Christ could say this because He Himself is Uncreated. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:1,14). All things were made through Jesus and for Jesus, including the material universe as well as spiritual beings and authorities (John 1:3; Col. 1:15). The word “first-born” in Col. 1:15 means “pre-eminent”, “heir”, and “first in authority”. It does not mean that Jesus was born at a point in the distant past. We have seen in lesson 2 and even from the verses above that this cannot be – a fundamental doctrine of the Bible is that Jesus is fully God.

John the Baptist testified of Jesus that “this is the Son of God.” (John 1:34). Jesus was declared by God Himself to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead. (Rom. 1:4).

God’s intention has always been to have a large family, both in heaven and on earth. The angels are called “sons of God” (Gen. 6:24; Job 1:6). The creation of the first man, Adam, was part of God’s purpose to have sons. Luke 3:38 calls Adam, “the Son of God”. As we will see, Adam lost his sonship relationship to God the Father through wilful rebellion, when he chose to ignore God’s Word in relation to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But God’s plan to have true sons on the earth was not totally frustrated at this point. In fact, through the victory of Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection, we can all become sons of God once again through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:26). For this purpose to unfold even creation eagerly waits (Rom. 8:19).

“But as many as received him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even 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.” (John 1:12-13).

We see that becoming a child of God involves a new birth, a definite trust and receiving of Jesus and the power of His name. The greek word for “name” – ‘onema’ also means ‘authority’ and ‘cause’. We must believe in Jesus’ Lordship, His authority and His cause – the salvation of mankind – in order to become children of God. Thus not all men and women are children of God. By nature and natural birth we are “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). Jesus said to the religious Jews of His day, “You are of your father the devil” (John 8:44).

The apostle John in his first letter writes, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” (1 John 3:1). There is a difference between the children of God and the people of the world at large.

All people and all things were created for God’s pleasure (Rev. 4:11 KJV). God knew before creation took place who would have an inclination to turn back to Him in love and trust, and so through predestination he made sure that they would be adopted into His family as sons. “For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29). Ephesians 1:5 tells us that true Christians are adopted into the family of God.

This family is a family of love, marked by love for the Father and for one another. (John 17:23,24,26; John 13:34,35; 1 John 3:10,11). God loves us and wants us to enjoy eternal life with Him (John 3:16).

Mankind, Created in God’s Image

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27)

Both men and women were created in God’s image. To be created in God’s image means to be created “like God” (Gen. 1:26). Women are meant to be part of God’s family also, and to reflect God’s glory just as the men. In the new creation order in Christ, there is neither male nor female; we are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28). This doesn’t mean there are no functional differences between men and women in the Christian life or in family life, but it does mean that a woman in Christ is just as much a child of God as is a man in Christ.

Adam and Eve were full of God’s glory. This is God’s desire for His children. They were to be like God in character, and to a lesser extent, in capacity. The fact that we are made in God’s image, even if now that image is distorted through sin, makes us magnificent and valuable. Even fallen men reveal something of the creativity, brilliance and artistic nature of God. Man should never be treated like an animal or like an object. We should love and respect all people because they are made in God’s image, with potential to be children of God in nature by adoption.