Are “We are all children of God”? (1 John 3:1b) It is no secret that our use of language changes over time. Words and phrases once used daily are lost or barely known with a generation. Do you remember the phrase “mum’s the word?” If you do, you know it means “don’t say anything.” But, do you know where the word “mum” comes from? The word "mum" is a variation of the Middle English word "momme", which was used between 1350 and 1400 and meant "be silent; do not reveal". "Mum" may also come from the word "mummer", which refers to someone who acts without speaking. The English word "mime" is similar to "mum" and means "silent actor" or "imitator." So, if you know this phrase “mum’s the word,” you were using a paronym (mum) of “momme” or “mummer,” both of which were already lost to English usage. Most young people today do not know “mum’s the word”. It is well on the way to being lost.
How about the phrase “Blood is thicker than water?” This phrase is used to suggest that family relationships are more important than any other relationships. Would it surprise you to hear that our usage of this phrase is exactly OPPOSITE of the original meaning? The phrase “blood is thicker than water” is a derivative of the longer phrase stating, "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." How this, and many other phrases got turned around is unknown. It can be assumed though, that over the years misquoting took its toll until all that was left seemed to have a logical meaning. Simply put, no one remembered the original phrase. OK, one more. “Sweating like a pig!” It’s 98 degrees and you have been walking quickly (with the group) to make that tour bus. Now, waiting at the bus stop, the exclamation is heard, “I’m sweating like a pig!” In actuality, the person making that proclamation is actually saying, “I’m cooling off.” If you think about this phrase, “sweating like a pig,” doesn’t make sense, pigs don’t sweat. The only way for a pig to cool off is to roll around in water, or preferably in mud! So, could there be another kind of pig? In fact, yes--pig iron. In order to extract iron from ore, the ore is super heated, a process called smelting. The crude, unrefined iron produced by smelting is called pig iron because it is cast into nuggets roughly the shape of a pig. As the pig iron cools it begins to form droplets of condensation. The droplets are a sign that the cooling pig iron is cool enough to be handled and safe to move and package. So, if you’re “sweating like a pig,” you are actually cooling off. So, what is the point of all this, aside from the fact that learning it is just fun? We are now better aware that there are processes at work that have altered and corrupted much of our language over time, and biblical language is not immune to them. Are “We are all children of God”? (1 John 3:1b) The phrase “children of God” is always used (at least in my experience) to roughly mean, “we are all related (children) because we are created by God,” as in, “We should help them. After all, we’re all children of God.” But is this correct? Is everyone a child of God? In general, the biblical answer is simple: no. Specifically, St John illuminates in chapter 3 of his 1st letter See what love the Father has given 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. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-4 The phrase “children of God” is part of a large and rich group of New Testament phrases that describe people who have come to faith in Jesus Christ. As I point this out, I am aware that this may be difficult to hear, but please keep reading. Modern usage, as in the phrases above, has altered our perception enough that drilling down to the actual meaning of this phrase may have emotional repercussions. I suspect this may sound as if I am saying that someone who is not a child of God (as understood in the Bible) has no fundamental worth or relationship with God, this is not true. The issue isn’t who is not called a child of God, rather, it is why you are. What does it mean to be children of God? When St. John and St. Paul wrote that we are the “children of God,” they were describing our transition into a person of faith in Jesus Christ. John and Paul were not describing our value or worth as a created person beloved and sought after by the Father, they were describing our relationship to the Father through our faith in Jesus. As children of the same parents share both a nature, relationship, and certain rights that come from being born to specific parents, John and Paul want people to understand that becoming a child of God meant the willing embrace of the specific lineage through Jesus Christ, …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. We receive a nature, relationship, and an inheritance from God, eternal life, through the specific sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. At the time this phrase was originally used, it would have been familiar to those who heard it. Various religious traditions of that day understood faith in familial terms as well, for instance, people who grew up in Greco-Roman culture would have known Zeus as “father.” Those who came to Christianity from other religious traditions would have been ejected by their “family” of believers, isolated, even abandoned by their biological family. In fact, Jesus told his disciples that faith in Him would create divisions for them. He said that their faith would even divide their biological home, “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Luke 12:49-53 St. Paul tells those who have converted from Judaism, I mean that as long as the heir is not of age, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything, but he is under the supervision of guardians and administrators until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were not of age, were enslaved to the elemental powers of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption. As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. Galations 4:1-7 Imagine how this language would be received by a person who had lost their friends and family by accepting the truth of Jesus. Once alone without familiar connections, now through faith in Christ they are a child in a family of believers. For such people, finding their new sisters and brothers would be of great comfort. All human beings are created by God in God’s own image and loved so much that God became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:14) Jesus, Immanuel, lived and died for all that everyone might come within his loving embrace. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 101) This witness of extravagant love is accepted and revered by those who accept this as truth, the children of God. Both St. Paul and St. John declare that we have the ability to become the children of God only through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Those who are wounded and isolated, who have lost their friends and family need the Good News. We need to reclaim what was meant by what was said and share it. No matter where they are now, they can be fulfilled and made whole as … brothers and sisters in God’s family because of the blood of Jesus, and he welcomes us to come into the most holy sanctuary in the heavenly realm—boldly and without hesitation. (Hebrews 10:19) A child with the Children of God, Fr. Bill+
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AuthorFather Bill Burk† Archives
February 2025
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