What you are probably not aware of is that every person born is a child of God. But there is a distinction between being born as if a child of God by virtue of the fact that our Heavenly Father is the One who gives us our ability to think and understand and demonstrate the ability to be creative, unlike unreasoning, irrational animals of instinct.
- With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. (James 3:9)
Adam and Eve, the first parents were fully created by God. In fact, Adam was called the son of God in the genealogy of Luke, for Seth was the son of Adam, the son of God. Now he would not have been called a son if God were not his Father.
- the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. (Luke 3:38)
Humanly speaking, sons are not created beings. Everybody understands that sons possess the DNA of their father. Created things, like robots, are not really sons, as they were not procreated. Although, the story of Pinocchio is about a wooden puppet made by the woodworker Giuseppe, who later calls the puppet his son.[1] However, Pinocchio is a story about how a man created a creature who later became a liar—similar to God creating Lucifer, who become Satan, the Ancient Serpent known as the Devil renown for being a liar (just not sure about the nose).
In the case of Adam, he is called the son of God because he was given the ability to procreate the human race and was made in the image of God. But not being truly born of God, Adam was an adopted child of God. Likewise, his progeny are adopted children of God. We are all Adam’s progeny.
If we acknowledge that God is our Father in Heaven, then we can approach Him and be received by Him. If we do not acknowledge God as our Heavenly Father, we will not approach Him. Nobody, will voluntarily approach our Heavenly Father if they do not really accept the truth about Him as being the Creator and final arbiter of our thoughts, words and deeds.
Hypocrites might make out that they believe God is their Heavenly Father, but the insincerity of their hearts is known by Him; consequently, they only fool themselves, even if they think they might be fooling others.
Jesus identified hypocrites and He even numbered Gentiles as being among them, because they made out they prayed to God (some even use prayer wheels), but in reality they were seeking out the god of this world—and still do.
That those who approach our Heavenly Father do so because of a genuine heart is evident in the instruction by the Son of God regarding prayer.
- Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Fatherforgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:8-15)
For those who accept their Heavenly Father as the Creator of Life, while this is a responsibility beholden upon each one to learn to recognize this truth—for which each will be held accountable—to come into His presence is a privilege.
The difference between having a responsibility to learn for ourselves that the Lord God, Creator of the Universe is our Heavenly Father, and recognizing that we have this as a privilege, has to do with attitude and appreciation.
We have the responsibility of seeking God and establishing our relationship with Him as our Heavenly Father. We have the privilege of having been given the faculty by which we can seek God and worship Him as our Heavenly Father. Being a child of God is a privilege that carries responsibilities, as does any privilege that is bestowed upon anyone for any reason. Recognizing that we are children of God is both a responsibility and a privilege. The privilege of the responsibility diminishes at a certain point in time and morphs into the reason why we are accountable for our behavior—our words spoken and deeds done.
Footnotes
Answer requested by Vince Peñaflorida
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