What It Means to Be a Child of God
The answer to this question has shaped entire theologies, birthed creeds, and sadly, built walls. But when we turn to the heart of the early Church—and even more, to the heart of the Gospel—we don’t find exclusion. We find belovedness.
He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.— Ephesians 1:5-6 (BSB)
✧ Let’s begin with Christ
Jesus Christ is the Son of God—eternally begotten of the Father, Light from Light, True God from True God, as the Nicene Creed declares. In Him, through Him, and by Him, all things were made and all things are held together (John 1:3, Col. 1:16–17). He is not just the Son for us; He is the Son with us—Emmanuel. And in His incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, He revealed not only the Father to us, but us to ourselves.
As Gregory of Nazianzus proclaimed:
“What is not assumed is not healed; but that which is united to God is saved.”
(Epistle 101)
So who, then, is a child of God?
✧ All humanity bears the image.
From the beginning, humankind was fashioned in the imago Dei—not created as strangers, but as sons and daughters, breathing in the very breath of God (Gen. 2:7). This image was never erased by the fall, only marred by the lie of separation.
St. Gregory of Nyssa boldly states:
“The true object of our existence is to be united with God.”
(On the Making of Man)
Even in our blindness, the Father did not see or treat us as enemies. In Christ, He came—not to make us something new, but to restore us to what we already are: children.
✧ Especially for those who believe…
The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 3:26:
“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
This also echoes what Paul wrote to Timothy when he wrote:
“To this end we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe.” — 1 Timothy 4:10 (BSB)
This is not exclusion, but invitation. The word “children” here is huios—a term that speaks of mature sonship, not biological offspring. Faith is the awakening to what has always been true. Belief is the doorway into the experience of union. In Jesus Christ, we come to know ourselves as God’s children—not because we earned it, but because we finally saw it.
St. Irenaeus, echoing this divine embrace of humanity, said:
“The glory of God is man fully alive; and the life of man is the vision of God.”
(Against Heresies, IV.20.7)
Those who believe are not more loved—but they are more aware. More awake to knowing Jesus and experiencing their inheritance. And through that awareness, they live as co-heirs in the kingdom, participating fully in the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4).
What Does It Mean to Be a Child of God?
The phrase child of God isn’t just a churchy title—it’s a revelation of our origin, a relational identity, and walking out a participation in divine life. To say someone is a child of God is to speak of their truest self—someone who was formed in Love, from Love, for Love.
But let’s go deeper than surface language.
✧ To be a child of God is to share in the Sonship of Christ.
When Paul speaks of us as sons and children of God, he isn’t implying a hierarchy of value between Christ and us, but a shared participation in the eternal Son’s relationship with the Father. In the early Church, this was the proclamation and heartbeat of salvation—not merely going to heaven, but being grafted into the life of God.
As Athanasius proclaimed:
“The Son of God became man so that we might become God.”
(On the Incarnation, §54)
This wasn’t heresy—it was theosis. To be a child of God is to be drawn into divine union, not by our striving, but by Christ’s eternal Yes. It’s not adoption like being handed a legal document—it’s being made one in the Beloved.
✧ It means we are not orphans.
A child of God is not a tolerated sinner trying to behave better. A child of God is not under probation. Jesus said:
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18)
To be a child of God is to live from a place of beloved belonging—knowing that you are no longer alienated in mind (Col. 1:21), but reconciled in the body of Christ.
It means you are:
- Held in the Trinity’s divine affection.
- Included in the Trinity’s divine communion.
- Empowered by the Trinity’s divine inheritance.
✧ The Early Church knew this.
Maximus the Confessor wrote:
“He became man by nature Who willed to make us gods by grace.”
(Ambigua to John, 7.22)
This is the essence of being a child of God:
To live in God.
To see with Christ’s eyes.
To walk as those whose identity has belonging to Him.
“For you have died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God.”— Colossians 3:3 (BLB)
So my friends, being a child of God is not about some transactional lever we pull. It is not about the religion of behavior modification, to bridge the gap with God. It is all about what He did and about awakening to who you have always been in Christ and beholding.
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” — 2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)
You Are a Child of God
You are a child of God—and it was not by effort, not by your merit, and not by your religious striving.
You are a child of God because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has made it so.
It was the Father’s eternal desire that you would share in the life of the Son by the power of the Spirit.
As Irenaeus wrote:
“Our Lord Jesus Christ… through His transcendent love, became what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.”
(Against Heresies, Book 5. Preface)
You are not waiting until you “pull the trigger” to become a child of God.
You are not earning your way by your works into divine acceptance.
In Christ, you have been included, embraced, and sealed in the fellowship of the Trinity.
Through the Finished Work of the Cross, Jesus has:
- Healed the fracture of sin and shame.
- Restored our sight to see the Father rightly.
- Lifted us into the eternal dance of divine union.
“Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father.’”
— Galatians 4:6
And we are not children by adoption paperwork—but we are children by all the Jesus did on our behalf and we get to enjoy it through participation in Christ’s own sonship.
As Gregory of Nyssa echoed:
“Having been made children of God, we have become gods through the grace of Him who adopted us.”
So hear this, beloved:
You are a child of God.
Not someday.
Not when you get it right.
Not if you pray the magic prayer.
Right Now.
You are fully known.
Fully loved.
Fully home.
Awake, O sleeper. Behold the Lamb.
He is your origin, He is your life, now believe and receive and enjoy your inheritance!
Gan TV Recommended Messages:
- Grace For All with Jamie Englehart, Are All God’s Children? [Part 1- 4] Watch ⇒ HERE
- Don Keathley Ministries, Mature Sons, Identity Watch HERE
- Across all Worlds with C Baxter Kruger and Jason Clark, In Christ — Click below to watch.
✧ Source References:
- Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book 5, Preface:
“Our Lord Jesus Christ… through His transcendent love, became what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.”
Source: NewAdvent.org – Irenaeus, Against Heresies - Gregory of Nyssa, Oratio Catechetica Magna (The Great Catechism):
“Having been made children of God, we have become gods through the grace of Him who adopted us.”
Source: Gregory of Nyssa, Catechetical Oration - Maximus the Confessor, Ambigua:
“The Word of God, incarnate, showed through His own example that theosis is the destiny of humanity.”
Source: Ambigua, PG 91.1088C - Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation:
“God became man so that man might become god.”
Source: Athanasius, On the Incarnation - The Holy Scriptures:
- 2 Corinthians 5:19 (NASB)
- Galatians 4:6 (ESV)
- Romans 8:16–17 (NIV)
- John 1:12 (NRSV)
