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We've been talking about descriptive phrases
used of Christians in the Bible,
children of promise, sons
of the resurrection, sons
of Light, and sons
of the kingdom.
In this article we want to talk about one last
phrase we don't hear very often, sons of the
living God.
Christians are Sons of God
We became sons of God when we were baptized into
Christ.
- "For you are all sons of God through faith
in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were
baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ" (Gal. 3:26-27).
Therefore we are heirs according to the promise,
because we are sons of God.
- "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 man, there is neither male nor
female; for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then
you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according
to promise" (Gal. 3:26-29).
And since we are sons of God, we have the Spirit
of Christ in our hearts as an heir through God.
- "Because you are sons, God has sent
forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts,
crying, 'Abba! Father!' Therefore you are
no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son,
then an heir through God" (Gal. 4:6-7).
Born Again and Adopted
As sons of God, we have been born again and adopted
by God.
We were born again when we were baptized into
Christ -- born of water and Spirit.
- "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" (Jn. 1:12-13).
- "Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit'" (Jn.
3:5-6).
- "Peter said to them, 'Repent, and each of
you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'" (Acts
2:38).
Not only were we born again when we're baptized,
we were also adopted by God as sons.
- "For you are all sons of God through faith
in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized
into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ"
(Gal. 3:6-27).
- "But when the fullness of the time came,
God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born
under the Law, so that He might redeem those
who were under the Law, that we might receive
the adoption as sons" (Gal. 4:4-5).
Significance of the Phrase "Living God"
Many times the Scriptures use the adjective "living"
in conjunction with God.
Jehovah is a living God because He is not an
idol, which is comparatively dead (i.e., not alive).
Therefore, Jehovah is the one true God.
- "For they themselves report about us what
kind of a reception we had with you, and how
you turned to God from idols to serve a living
and true God" (1 Th. 1:9).
Jehovah is also a living God because He gives
life.
- "'But regarding the resurrection of the
dead, have you not read what was spoken
to you by God: "I am the God of Abraham, and
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"?
He is not the God of the dead but of the living'"
(Matt. 22:31-32).
Today, living under the law of Christ, we receive
life from God when we're baptized into Christ,
at the same time we're born again and adopted
by God.
- ". . . buried with Him in baptism,
in which you were also raised up with Him
through faith in the working of God, who
raised Him from the dead. When you were dead
in your transgressions and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, He made you alive together
with Him, having forgiven us all our
transgressions (Col. 2:12-13).
Sons of the Living God are Members of the
Church
Someone may ask, "Who are the sons of God?"
An appropriate answer would be, "They are members
of God's church, the church of Christ."
- "But in case I am delayed, I write so that
you will know how one ought to conduct himself
in the household of God, which is the
church of the living God, the pillar
and support of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15).
Hosea prophesied of Christ, and the people who
would be made sons of the living God.
- "Yet the number of the sons of Israel will
be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be
measured or numbered; and in the place where
it is said to them, 'You are not My people,'
it will be said to them, 'You are the sons
of the living God'" (Hos. 1:10).
Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, quotes from
Hosea and tells us that Christians are sons of
the living God (cf. Acts 2:38. 40-41, 47).
- "As He says also in Hosea, 'I will call
those who were not My people, "my people,"
and her who was not beloved, "beloved." And
it shall be that in the place where it was said
to them, "you are not my people," there they
shall be called sons of the living God'"
(Rom. 9:25-26).
Thus the church is called the city and temple
of the living God. Its members are living, and
the second death has no effect on them (Rev. 20:6).
- "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to myriads of angels, to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn who are
enrolled in heaven . . ." (Heb. 12:22-24).
- "Or what agreement has the temple of God
with idols? For we are the temple of the
living God; just as God said, 'I will
dwell in them and walk among them; and I
will be their God, and they shall be
my people'" (2 Cor. 6:16).
Conclusion
We are sons of the living God, because He gave
us life when we were baptized into Christ.
Therefore, we live in the "city of the living
God," which is the "church of the firstborn,"
composed of the people who are "enrolled in heaven,"
the "righteous made perfect" with the "sprinkled
blood" of Jesus (Heb. 12:22-24).
All praise, glory, and honor be to the living
God, who made us alive in Christ, and showers
us with innumerable blessings in the heavenly
places!
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