Israel and the church are the chief objects of God's fatherly love. People become God's children through faith and are then encouraged by Scripture to imitate their heavenly Father in their daily living.
Human beings as God's children
Genesis 1:27, Genesis 6:2, Genesis 6:4; Psalm 82:6; Malachi 2:10; Luke 3:38; Ephesians 3:14
Israel as God's children
Hosea 11:1 See also Exodus 4:22–23; Psalm 73:15, Psalm 80:15; Isaiah 43:6, Isaiah 63:16; Jeremiah 31:20; Romans 9:4
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.
Israel as God's rebellious children
Isaiah 1:2 See also Deuteronomy 32:5, Deuteronomy 32:20; Isaiah 30:1, Isaiah 30:9; Jeremiah 3:4–5, Jeremiah 4:22; Ezekiel 20:21
Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
God's son
Promises of God's son
2 Samuel 7:12–14 parallel 1 Chronicles 17:11–13 These words referred originally to David's son, Solomon, but in the NT they are applied to Jesus Christ. See also 1 Chronicles 22:10, 1 Chronicles 28:6; Psalm 2:7, Psalm 89:26–27
And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
Jesus Christ as God's son
Hebrews 1:5 See also Matthew 3:17 parallels Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22; Luke 1:32; Acts 13:33; Romans 1:4
For to which of the angels did God ever say: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father”? Or again: “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”?
Jesus Christ's followers as God's children
Matthew 9:2 parallel Mark 2:5; Matthew 9:22 parallels Mark 5:34, Luke 8:48
Becoming God's children through faith in Jesus Christ
Becoming God's children by new birth
John 1:12–13 See also John 12:36; Romans 9:8; Galatians 3:26; 1 John 5:1
But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God — children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.
Becoming God's children by adoption
Ephesians 1:5 See also Romans 8:23 This adoption will be fully realised in the future; Galatians 4:4–5
He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,
Becoming God's children by the Spirit
Romans 8:15 See also Galatians 4:6
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption to sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
God's dealings with his children
God loves his children
1 John 3:1 See also Deuteronomy 1:31; Psalm 103:13; Ephesians 5:1
Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
God disciplines his children
Deuteronomy 8:5 See also Proverbs 3:11–12; Hebrews 12:5–10
So know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.
God does not abandon his children
Hosea 1:10 God had previously (Hosea 1:9) announced his judgment that Israel would be his people no longer. See also Deuteronomy 31:6, Deuteronomy 31:8; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5; Jeremiah 31:9; Malachi 3:17; Luke 15:24; Romans 9:26
Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
Behaviour expected of God's children
God's children imitate their heavenly Father
Ephesians 5:1 See also Matthew 5:48; Luke 6:36
Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,
God's children live by the Father's standards
Philippians 2:15 See also Leviticus 11:44–45; Deuteronomy 14:1–2; Matthew 5:9, Matthew 5:44–45 parallel Luke 6:35–36; Romans 8:14; 2 Corinthians 6:17–18; 1 Peter 1:14–16; 1 John 3:10
so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
The privileges and blessings of being God's children
God's children are eternally secure
John 8:35 See also Romans 8:16, Romans 8:21; 1 John 5:19
A slave does not remain in the house forever, but a son remains forever.
The needs of God's children are always supplied
Matthew 7:9–11 parallel Luke 11:11–13 See also Matthew 6:25–32 parallel Luke 12:22–30 needs for the present life; Luke 20:36; Romans 8:23 promises for the life to come
Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
God's children have a sure inheritance
Revelation 21:7 See also Jeremiah 3:19; Romans 8:17–19; Galatians 4:7; 1 John 3:2
The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.