by Timothy W. Burnett
Last week we looked at some basic scripture which clearly reveals the relationship between Jesus Christ and God. We also brought out some proposed relationship options that are not mentioned as being true from God.
The relationship between them is that of son and Father. The gospel records are packed with information that confirms this truth. Jesus prayed to his Father and asked if there was any other way, and finished by saying not my will be done, but your will be done (see Luke 22:42-45). This clearly involved an interaction between two distinctly different parties. Jesus, who is God�s son, was praying to God who is his Father.
With this in mind, we can now approach the question of Christians� relationship with God during the age of the grace of God that we currently live in.
Before we enter the Epistles, lets look at a place in the Old Testament where God gave His word about this through the prophet Hosea, ��and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, �you are not My People,� there it shall be said unto them, �You are the sons of the living God�� (Hosea 1:10). This was big for that time. All the people understood was that they were the children of Israel. Yet here God was saying that one day those who were not counted as His People would be called His children.
The above verse in Hosea was later quoted by Paul in Romans 9:25-26, �I will call them My people, which were not My people, and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, �You are not My people,� there shall they be called the children of the living God.� Paul was saying that the Hosea scripture came to pass during this age of the grace of God. Any time people get born-again, they fulfill the scripture in Hosea. Isn�t that just fantastic!
Let�s go to God�s word for more light on this subject.
Ephesians 1:5, �Having predestinated us unto the adoption [sonship] of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.� Following the word predestinated through the rest of chapter 1 we find that it is tied with having an inheritance from God, �which is the earnest of our inheritance�� (verse14). Later in verse three of Ephesians we find that the inheritance is tied with the mystery, �That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel� (Ephesians 3:6).
The references to an inheritance significantly open up the meaning of our relationship with God. During that time the children of a father were the heirs of the father�s riches.
Look at Romans 8:15-17, �For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption [sonship], whereby we cry, �Abba, Father.� The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs. Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.� The reference to �the Spirit itself� is to God Himself, and the reference to our spirit is to the holy spirit that came from God and is sealed in God�s children.
To be a joint-heir with Christ Jesus means that God�s born-again children share in the same inheritance that Jesus Christ has. They are joint-heirs with Christ Jesus. According to Romans 8:29, Jesus Christ is considered by God to be the first-born among many brethren. This verse by itself also drives in the distinction between Jesus Christ and God as being independent of each other.
Next week we will look at more scripture related to the children of God.
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