Children of God - are we really?

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joecaro said:
Children of God
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I take the meaning as the Catholic Catechism gives it, spiritual adoption, not children because we are creatures. Humans have eternal souls (image and likeness) which is not said of non-human animals or of vegetable and mineral.
1692 The Symbol of the faith confesses the greatness of God’s gifts to man in his work of creation, and even more in redemption and sanctification. What faith confesses, the sacraments communicate: by the sacraments of rebirth, Christians have become "children of God,"2 "partakers of the divine nature."3 Coming to see in the faith their new dignity, Christians are called to lead henceforth a life "worthy of the gospel of Christ."4 They are made capable of doing so by the grace of Christ and the gifts of his Spirit, which they receive through the sacraments and through prayer.
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2 Jn 1:12; 1 Jn 3:1.

John 1:
12 But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in
his name.
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1 John 3:
Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth not us, because it knew not him.
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By this you are equating the ‘spark of life’ with the Beatific Vision.
 
whyeyeman said:
Seriously, why are you so desperate to deny this Catholic doctrine? We BECOME sons of God when we are baptised. It’s really quite simple
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People deny this doctrine because they’re steeped in a culture which believes in the heresy of universalism: we’re all children of God, religious affiliation doesn’t matter, everybody goes to Heaven.
 
I was baptized, but it definitely didn’t make me a son of God 😉
 
Personally I don’t have a problem with being a son of God, even though I’m female 🙂 ‘For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’
 
Uh, no. We’ll still retain our gender, as we’ll be reunited with our bodies eventually.
 
Well, you may be right, I wouldn’t know. The real point is that man in Scripture usually refers to mankind, rather than male. It’s usual to refer to groups of mixed gender more in the masculine rather than the feminine.
 
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I’m aware. One of my theology professors (a Catholic sister) pointed out that using masculine terminology in reference to humans as a collective still has harmful implications.
 
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I’m not discounting gender in everything. I know that gender matters where the priesthood is concerned.
 
Eh, you’re both right. Scripture and the Church have traditionally used both expressions, both in the supernatural and natural sense.

We become His children in the sense of His heirs through Baptism. But as St. Paul said in Acts, the pagans got it right when they said: “For we are indeed his offspring.”

In his encyclical on the unity of the human family, Summi Pontificatus, Pius XII elaborated on this point. One example:
  1. In fact, the first page of the Scripture, with magnificent simplicity, tells us how God, as a culmination to His creative work, made man to His Own image and likeness (cf. Genesis i. 26, 27); and the same Scripture tells us that He enriched man with supernatural gifts and privileges, and destined him to an eternal and ineffable happiness. It shows us besides how other men took their origin from the first couple, and then goes on, in unsurpassed vividness of language, to recount their division into different groups and their dispersion to various parts of the world. Even when they abandoned their Creator, God did not cease to regard them as His children, who, according to His merciful plan, should one day be reunited once more in His friendship (cf. Genesis xii. 3).
  2. The Apostle of the Gentiles later on makes himself the herald of this truth which associates men as brothers in one great family, when he proclaims to the Greek world that God “hath made of one, all mankind, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, determining appointed times, and the limits of their habitation, that they should seek God” (Acts xvii. 26, 27).
  3. A marvelous vision, which makes us see the human race in the unity of one common origin in God "one God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in us all" (Ephesians iv. 6)…
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The Bible says in John 1:22 that,

To those who received HIM, HE gave them the right to be called the children of God.

So one becomes a child of God after them coming to the point to acknowledgement that they are sinners and that they need a saviour. So when they believe in their hearts and confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord, they shall be saved and confession comes with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The scriptures say that the Spirit of God convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgement so the Spirit of God helps someone to after receiving Christ as your Lord and saviour, He gives you HIS Spirit and you become born Again not of the flesh but of the Spirit and that is when you become a child of GOD. BEFORE THAT YOU ARE NOT.
 
Humanity after the fall in the very beginning lost the right to be children of God but Jesus came and paid the ultmate price for our redemption.
 
joecaro said:
The Bible often refers to humankind as “Children of God.” We generally think that this is a spiritual reference as we were born from a human mother and father, right? WRONG!
In Genesis it specifically states that God breathed life into us all - (not just Adam and Eve). Further proof that we are really God’s children was recently discovered by Northwestern University scientists that found, at conception, a unknown bright spark occurred at the exact second of conception! Not at any other time when sperm and female eggs entwined - but at life-giving conception itself! There was no explanation as to why or what caused this “spark of life” at conception (and at no other time).
What does this fact say to you? Maybe what Genesis stated has been correct for all of us all along!
If we are truly Children of God by design, we are also then, brothers and sisters as well. God our father is in all of us (our spiritual soul) as well as our bodies.
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First, I’m sorry to hear that you had to experience abortion in such a personal way. In answer to your question, there are two ways in which we are children of God.
  1. Everyone who has ever lived is the literal offspring of God the Father. Paul speaking to the unconverted Athenians states in Acts 17:29 “Since therefore we are the offspring of God…” The word “Offspring” comes from the greek word “genos” meaning “race, stock, or kin”. (See http://biblehub.com/interlinear/acts/17-29.htm)
  2. Those who accept Christ become spiritual offspring of God as @Tess mentioned earlier.
I hope this helps…
 
The Catechism teaches , “God is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father by his relationship to his only Son .”

Thus God is Father in being Creator .

So in the realm of creation God is Father of the people He creates , who are thus his children .

As Pope Pius XII taught in the writing which Genesis315 quotes , "Even when they abandoned their Creator, God did not cease to regard them as His children…this truth which associates men as brothers in one great family…A marvelous vision, which makes us see the human race in the unity of one common origin in God "one God and Father of all " .
 
I think it’s dangerous to not view everyone as children of God. This line of thinking leads to a temptation of pride and thinking we are better than others. This also isn’t to justify universalism, but to be able to see Christ in our brothers and sisters who are non-Christian, unbelievers etc. God knew us before we were born. He formed us all in our mother’s wombs. I take this to mean everyone. One doesn’t have to believe that God knows them for it to be the objective reality. If people don’t believe God formed them, does it make it false? Of course not. We are children of God… some just haven’t accepted the truth of it! 😄
 
We’re all children of God. He alone provides life. Even those who rebel against God are his children and he loves them regardless.
 
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