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SCRIPTURE - ST. JOHN 1 : 12 - 13                              SEPTEMBER, 1998

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.

SUBJECT - ALL GOD'S CHILDREN????

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Practically everyone, in our society, has heard, or believes, that no matter who they are, or what they are doing, or have done, they are 'ALL GOD'S CHILDREN.' This belief, tends to encourage people to, 'DO THEIR OWN THING', right or wrong, and they will still be in right standing with God, and go to Heaven, when they die. Why??? Because, a loving God, would not send His child to hell.

Well my friends, all of what you have heard or believe, is a deception of the devil. There is no way that I am going to let that deception stand. Of course, you don't have to believe me. Let's look at some things the bible says.

Look at verse 12 above. It says, that as many as received Him (Jesus), He gave them the power (the right), to become the sons (children) of God. That statement, evidently is telling us, that in order to become a 'CHILD OF GOD', you have to do something. It is not an automatic thing. Verse 13, tells us what we really are if we haven't accepted Christ. We are born of the will of the flesh. Look at what Jesus said to Nicodemus in (Jo 3:6)        That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. There is a clear difference between being born of the flesh, and born of the Spirit.

Look at it like this. We are humans, right??? We reproduce, by bringing forth offspring, which are also humans. No human that I know of, has ever given birth to anything but other humans. That is the natural order of things. Birds give birth to other birds. Cats give birth to other cats. The same thing holds true for everything else. They reproduce the same thing that they are. Can I get an 'amen"???

Well, the same thing holds true with God. If God, was going to reproduce Himself, He would reproduce Himself, in the same type of entity that He is, another Spirit. The bible says, (Jo 4:24) GOD IS A SPIRIT: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. There it is. God is a Spirit, and He only reproduces, if you will, by creating other spirits. He follows the same order that He created in all things. (Ge 1:11) And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the FRUIT TREE YIELDING FRUIT AFTER HIS KIND, whose SEED IS IN ITSELF, upon the earth: and it was so. (Ge 1:12) And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed AFTER HIS KIND, and the tree yielding fruit, WHOSE SEED WAS IN ITSELF, AFTER HIS KIND: and God saw that it was good. (Ge 1:21) And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, AFTER THEIR KIND, and every winged fowl AFTER HIS KIND: and God saw that it was good. (Ge 1:24) And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature AFTER HIS KIND, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth AFTER HIS KIND: and it was so. (Ge 1:25) And God made the beast of the earth AFTER HIS KIND, and cattle AFTER THEIR KIND, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth AFTER HIS KIND: and God saw that it was good. Everything, including God, reproduces after its own kind.

Man, is a spirit, like God is, but our spirit, is not in kinship with God. It is just a means of giving us life. Without a spirit, man could not exist. The spirit, is the life source, if you will of man's existence. Man, is a three part being. (1Th 5:23) And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole SPIRIT and SOUL and BODY be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are a spirit, that possesses a soul, that lives in a body. Every time you look in the mirror, you are seeing the house, if you will, that you (the spirit) lives in.

Now, how many of you know what the word, adoption, means??? It literally means, to legally make a person that is not a member of your family, a member, that is recognized by everyone, including the authorities. They have all the rights, as any natural born member of the family has. By the same token then, man, has to be accepted in to God's family by some legal means, that He has prescribed. That process, is to be 'born again.' Look again at the subject scripture, verse 12. 'TO THEM GAVE HE POWER TO BECOME THE SONS OF GOD, EVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE IN HIS NAME.' That is the process. To be adopted in to the family of God, you must believe in Jesus Christ.

But, you might ask, is there any other scripture that shows us that we have to be adopted??? Glad you asked. How about these: (Ro 8:15) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the SPIRIT OF ADOPTION, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Ro 8:23) And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the ADOPTION, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Ga 4:5) To redeem them that were under the law, that WE MIGHT RECEIVE THE ADOPTION OF SONS. (Eph 1:5) HAVING PREDESTINATED US UNTO THE ADOPTION of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ... There you have it. All of these scriptures talking about adoption. If we were already His children, then why do we need to be adopted???

The bible tells us in (St. Jo. 3:16) that God loved us so much, that He gave His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON. Notice that word, 'only.' What does 'only', mean??? It means that there are no more. The only person, that is a child of God, that didn't have to be adopted, is Jesus Christ. That's it.

Another thing we need to look at is, the characteristics of the offspring of the various animals and plants that God created. Another term for them is traits.

The offspring, have the same traits as their parents. All dogs bark. Cats meow, except for jungle cats. All apes act the same. All roses look alike. In other words, the offspring, act like the parents. Well, If God is our Father, then something is wrong. Because we sure don't act like Him. (Ga 5:22 - 23) But the fruit (traits) of the Spirit(God) is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. God is also Holy. Righteous, and Mecriful. Those are His traits. If we look at Jesus' life, here on earth, we will find he exhibited all of these traits and more, that are not mentioned here. A perfect, carbon copy of 'His Father.' But, what are ours???

(Ga 5:19 - 21)        Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings(partying) , and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, THAT THEY WHICH DO SUCH THINGS SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Notice. Everything mentioned here, is called the 'works of the flesh.' That means that they are the traits of who?? Mankind. Remember Jesus said, (Jo 3:6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; The traits we exhibit, are those of our parents, not God's. Every one of these traits, goes totally against God's traits. So how in the world, do you think you are His child, when you have none of His traits??? As they say in the field of technology, it doesn't compute. You are fooling yourself. Another thing you need to understand, is this. Jesus doesn't make mistakes, and He doesn't lie. If anybody knew who you are related to, He would. And, what did He say about those that exhibit these traits??? (Jo 8:44) YE ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. Cutting to the chase, He is saying those that are of the flesh, are the children, not of God, but, of the devil.

Look at yourself. What do you see??? A nice looking, kindhearted, individual, in most instances, right??? You are not so bad. Sure, you cuss every now and then. You tell little white lies, now and then. You go to the discos, and cabarets once in a while. You smoke, drink and commit adultery, or fornication, every now and then. But, you are a nice person. You go to church. You participate in youth guidance programs. You give to the poor. Everybody likes you. Right??? 'NEWS FLASH!!!!' Friend, you are living a lie... The devil, is trying to make you think that you are O.K., so he can destroy you. And you are falling for it, hook, line and sinker.

The next thing 'THEY WHICH DO SUCH THINGS SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.' Now, we all know what the term 'inherit' means. So, if you are doing the things that are labeled 'the works of the flesh', you will not, and I repeat, YOU WILL NOT, enter in to Heaven. There are no ifs, and's or buts about it. So, you see, in order for you to be a child of God, you have to be adopted in to the family, and then have your 'traits' changed. You have to go from walking after the flesh, to walking after the Spirit(God). (Ro 8:13) For if ye live(walk) after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify(kill) the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Now, just how do you do that??? It's right there. You do it through the Spirit(God).

In order for you to get God's help, you must be willing to make a change in your life. God is not going to force anyone to do what is necessary for them to become His child, and inherit all that He has for those that believe in Him. The process of being 'born again', starts with you admitting that you are a sinner. That means that you realize that you are not what God wants you to be. He wants you to be like Him, but it is all up to you.

After admitting that, you then need to repent. Repentance is admitting that you are sorry for your sinful life. No matter how good you think you are, you are still a sinner, if you are not 'born again.' To try to say you are not, makes God out to be a liar. And if you are trying to do that, then you see what kind of mess you are in. You are contradicting Him. And the only one that does that, is the devil. It also carries with it, the desire to turn away from your sinful lifestyle(traits). That calls for transformation. You are going to change from one lifestyle, to another, which is what God wants. (Ro 12:1- 2) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but BE YE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, ...

With a renewed mind, you will be capable of living the same life that Jesus Christ did. And then you will truly be a child of God. It is a spiritual thing. As Jesus said, 'that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit.' You get a new spirit, which is as a little child. And as a little child, it is open to the Spirit of God, which will guide and teach you in to all truth. (Ro 8:16 - 17) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

You want to be a child of God??? Here is your opportunity. Just ask. Say 'Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and have been an enemy to God. I ask you to forgive me right now. Come in to my heart and change me. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, and rose again for my justification. I accept you as Lord of my life, and will live for you from this day forward, with your help. This I ask in Jesus name. Amen'

If you prayed that prayer sincerely, you are now, truly a child of God. Congratulations, my brother/sister.

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