We often hear people saying that everyone is a child of God, usually meaning that God has to protect and bless everyone no matter what. However, according to the Bible, this statement is not true. Everyone is God’s creation, but not everyone is a child of God.

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The first and only child of God was Jesus, as I explained in this earlier post. It was Jesus who created the possibility for other people to become children of God, those who believe in him and receive him, through faith (check John 1:12,13 and Galatians 3:26).

The people who make this decision become children of God by adoption, and through this adoption we become God’s heirs, as Paul explains it:

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:14-17)

Back in Jesus’ days, no one used the expression “children of God” about anyone else (the jewish people were known collectively as “the people of God”). That’s why they were so offended when Jesus claimed to be the son of God.

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They understood exactly what he meant. If he was saying he was the son of God, he meant that he was born of God, that he was the same as God.

Take a look at these verses (emphasis added by me):

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (Matthew 1:20-23)

“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)

“Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?” (John 10:36)

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:61,62)

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

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Picture this: a prison with lots of prisoners locked inside. People who killed, robbed, raped, lied, cheated, and did all sorts of wrongdoings. They were all deprived of a free life. They were paying the price for their crimes and their mistakes.

One day, they heard this news: someone else had been arrested for the crimes they all were condemned for, every single one of them.

They knew that it couldn’t be right, because they knew they had committed those crimes. Whoever it was, he was innocent.

They heard that this guy was sentenced to life, and he was going to be executed soon.

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
“Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
Jesus wept. (John 11:33-35)

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A few days ago my family went through a very tough time. We had to say goodbye to a beloved member, my uncle. He passed away due to complications after a heart surgery.

At his wake, the sadness was almost tangible. He was a loving person and everyone there was going to miss him very much.

Although most people there believed that one day we would meet him again in a much better place, we knew that we would all miss him until then, mainly his children. Although they are all married with kids, he was part of their everyday life. A part that will always be missed.

In the midst of the sadness, I remembered when Jesus Himself faced a similar situation (check John chapter 11 for the full narrative).

It was foretold long before it happened. Prophecies announced with details what was going to take place centuries later. They announced the coming of the Messiah (which means one single person that would be God’s anointed prophet, priest and king – the Anointed One).

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If you read the Gospel written by Matthew you will see lots of references to those prophecies.

While they waited, the people of Israel formed in their minds an image of what the Messiah would be like: a powerful conqueror that would deliver them from the ruling of the roman empire.

They didn’t expect a carpenter born in a manger. They didn’t expect someone that would tell them to love their enemies instead of conquering them. Most of all, they didn’t expect a king that would die such a humiliating death on the cross.

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Jesus’s ultimate goal in His life, the reason He come to earth was this: to save us. In order to accomplish that, He had to give away his life:

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

Due to our own limitation, it’s impossible to grasp what that meant for Him. We don’t know what will happen in a few seconds, so we cannot understand what it is like to live your whole life knowing everything that will happen, knowing that you will suffer and be killed in a cruel way, although you have the power to stop it at anytime.

Jesus’ love for all mankind and his desire to follow God’s will was so strong that giving up was never a possibility for Him.

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They were gathered at Matthew’s house, dining with tax collectors and people that were known as “sinners”. The Pharisees couldn’t understand that, how could Jesus and his disciples hang out with “those people”? They had to question Him…

Jesus answered them:

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12-13)

The Pharisees were the most religious people at that time. They knew all about the Law and they thought they were righteous because of the things they did (the sacrifices, the loud prayers, the “rules” they followed to the letter). They thought they deserved favors from God. They didn’t need a savior because they could save themselves.

But they got it all wrong.

When I thought about the word “winter” for this post, the first thing that came to my mind was what Mr. Tumnus told Lucy in the book “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, by C. S. Lewis (one of my favorite authors): he said that in Narnia it was always winter and never Christmas.

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It is interesting that Lewis depicted the sad situation of the narnians by saying that they didn’t have Christmas there. They would be OK with the permanent winter as long as they had Christmas.

Then I thought of myself living in a place like that. I’ve never seen snow up close before, only on TV, movies, photos, etc. In case you’re wondering, I live in Brazil. So I cannot have an accurate perception of what such a place would be like. Certainly it would be colder than any place I’ve ever been. Yes, it would be awful for me.

I live in a pleasant place, with nice weather, but even living in a nice place reminds me that this earth needs to be restored, like Narnia. It was obvious for the narnians, but sometimes it isn’t so obvious for the humans.