The reality of our identitySample

We are children of God

Are you a Christian? The word Christian was used for the first time in Antioch to identify believers in Christ. It was intended as a derogatory nickname. It was not a title of nobility nor a denomination. It was not a name that believers chose for themselves, but a name that other people assigned to them to despise them.

King Agrippa is mentioned as saying to Paul, “... you almost convinced me to become a Christian.” Another passage where the word Christian appears is an epistle of the apostle Peter, in which he tells the believers that no one should leave the faith and that no one should stop in their walk. He also assures them that if they suffer as Christians, they should not be ashamed but glorify God. The church was persecuted. Its members were called Christians. Peter tells them that even if people thought they were strange, they should not worry. The public had strange and incorrect ideas about what it meant to be a believer in Christ.

In the Scriptures, the proper name given to believers is “children of God.” This name should be safely used by us. It is the title God gives to His children, even though as such, it is much abused and not properly understood. In fact, some say that all people are sons of God, by virtue of being human. Scripture says that we are children of God by faith. 

God wants everyone to be His children; this possibility is within reach of every person. Christ died for all. He paid for the sin of all. This includes old and young, women and men, Asians, blacks, Latinos, whites, mixed races, the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated. God wants everyone to be His children; to do this, we need to believe in Him. We are God’s children only through faith in Christ. We all have the privilege of being children of God, but not everyone believes.