GOD HAS NO GRANDCHILDREN

“To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”  (John 1:12)

Decades ago a pastoral colleague of mine shared in a sermon, “God has no grandchildren -- only children.” It wasn’t original to him, but it has stuck with me. Faith isn’t passed down like an heirloom; it’s born fresh in every heart by the Spirit.

That’s why watching my sixteen-year-old granddaughter declare her own faith this past Sunday and step into the waters of baptism filled me with such joy. She wasn’t leaning on her grandparents’ faith or her parents’ faith -- she was answering God’s call for herself. Paul wrote to the church in Rome, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-10 ESV)

Before she was baptized my granddaughter shared her faith journey and concluded, “My worth was no longer determined by how other people saw me, my worth came from who I am as a child of God and from knowing that I am deeply loved by Him… Today I am being baptized to show everyone that I have placed my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior because He died on the cross for me.”

One generation telling the next of God’s goodness and love, and each one making their own personal decision to accept the gift and become His child by grace. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV)

The gospel moves forward not by inheritance, but by personal faith. God has no grandchildren – but I do! 

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6443

CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, 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.”  (John 1:12-13 NKJV)

Why do we gather for worship? Why do we gather as a church? We gather as the people of God to hear our true names being called. When we are baptized, the heavens break open and we hear God saying to us, “Thou art my beloved son, thou art my beloved daughter,” because God knows our true names.

I think of my forefathers and foremothers in the time of slavery. They were called everything except children of God. But they did not derive their identity from the names that their slave masters called them. Instead, they stole away and sang: “Hush, hush, somebody’s calling my name. Hush, hush, somebody’s calling my name.” And then they sang another verse: “It sounds like Jesus, somebody’s calling me name. It sounds like Jesus, somebody’s calling my name. 

-- Zan W. Holmes, Jr. in “Encountering Jesus”

#5665

A NEW COMMUNITY

Jesus said, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”  (Matthew 16:18 NLT)

The church is the joyful company of all those who have been redeemed and brought into right relationship with God. Jesus declared that He was going to build a new community known as the church. Jesus did not use the more common expression of a “congregation” or a “synagogue” to describe His new community, but the word “church.” The word in the Greek is the word for being called to a public assembly. It simultaneously reminds us that we have been called out of a life of sin into a new community, and also that this community is a public assembly designed for men, women, and children alike who have been baptized and brought into this new redeemed life. It is not, like the earlier word, limited to Jews, but is now open to the whole human race, Jew and Gentile. It is a community of prayer, of teaching, of training, of discipline, and it is the place where we dwell in the presence of God and commune with Him at the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist. We are not merely saved as individuals but we are saved as a people.

-- Timothy C. Tennent

#3907

THE NATURE OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM

Infant baptism... has been a witness for the Son of Man and the universality of His Kingdom, like no other. It has taught parents that to bring children into the world is not a horrible crime. It has led them to see Christ and His redemption of humanity through all the mists of our teachings and our qualifications. It has explained the nature of His Kingdom to the hearts even of the poorest. Christ has preached at the fonts, when we have been darkening counsel in the pulpits.

-- F. D. Maurice (1805-1872) in The Kingdom of Heaven