Children of the Living God.

"But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God."  John 1:12 (NRSV)

What does it mean to become children of God?

Jesus used the expression in the Beatitudes: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."  Matthew 5:9 (NRSV)  

Jesus used the word children when he was saying that a person was like something.

So children of God means that we are like God.

And how do we become like God?

If we follow Jesus' commandments to love God and love our neighbor , to love even our enemies, to love one another as he loved us, then we will become like God.

In God there is no violence, no judgement, no punishment, no hell.

God redeems even those we call evil.

God shows mercy and forgiveness to the most heinous criminals.

God writes off our debts.

And gives us another chance.

So to be Children of the Living God is to be totally benevolent.

A blessing to all humankind.  

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.] 

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