Father, not grandfather

The truth that God does not have grandchildren is not exactly rocket science information.

Yet, from what some churchgoers tell us, they presume that God is their grandfather.

“How did you become a Christian?” That is a question I like to ask when I encounter new members at church.

A common response I get is: “My parents are foundation members of this church, so I was born into it.”  Or, as one young man told me, “My parents are Christians, so I am a Christian.”

A family

Christianity is a family into which we are born, not an association or a club we join.

Unless you are spiritually born into this family, you are practically an outsider, even if your name is recorded in your church’s register.

That is the born-again marvel that Nicodemus didn’t understand.  

The Lord Jesus explained to Nicodemus that believers have two births: born by our parents into the world, and then reborn by the Holy Spirit into God’s kingdom as believers.

What probably worried Nicodemus was when Jesus told him, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

Desiring to see the kingdom of God, he defied the darkness to see Jesus at night.

“Come again, Teacher,” Nicodemus pleaded.

“How can I be reborn when I’m already so old?”  Those who seek God with all their hearts find him, and those who find him become his children.

That is what happens when we apply John 1:12: “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Parents’ faith

Children, not grandchildren, are born to God no matter the generations. 

So, all believers are children of God.  If you are a believer and your children are believers, you and your children have one Father.  

On an interesting level, therefore, you and your believing children are brothers and sisters because you have one Father.  That is why the Lord Jesus, who is the Son of God, is our brother.

He said, “Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister” (Mark 3:34-35).

Those who rely on their parents’ faith to assume their membership in God’s family will do well to remember that God has children, not grandchildren.

For circumstances beyond their control, some people, especially children, sadly do not have anybody they can call their father.  Others have abusive fathers they seem better off without.  

Whether you have an earthly father or not, God is the father figure for all, who is always there for us.

You cannot be an orphan if you’ve established a relationship with God through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Pastors’ faith

A subtle phenomenon happens in church between some members and their pastors.

One day a charismatic church pastor was compelled to address his congregation with a barrage of hard questions —“Did I, your pastor, die for you? 

Was my blood poured out for the remission of your sins?

Am I the Messiah?

Do I have any divine powers?”

The pastor’s frustration was raised because some of the church members seemed to require him to consult God on their behalf; or even worse, be a mediator for them.

By considering their pastor as “father”, those members were indirectly seeing God as grandfather.  

Some people flock to modern-day sects or churches looking only to their founders and having no relationship whatsoever with God.

Without their leaders, they are helpless because they’ve not established a relationship directly with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

If we fail to know God in our lifetime, how shall we know him hereafter? And if we don’t relate personally with him now, how shall we draw close to him and find favour in his sight?

Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven . . .” not “our grandfather in heaven . . .”

We are God’s children, not his grandchildren.

For this reason, we can pray directly to him through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The point

The point of this article is this: We are required to reach out to God one-on-one in a personal relationship, not via our parents or our pastors.  

When old man Israel (Jacob) was about to die, he told his son Joseph, “Your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine.”

That prophetic pronouncement made Ephraim and Manasseh a part of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Joseph’s place was split by his two children who became half-tribes of Israel.  

Israel’s grandchildren became his children under a special covenant that transcended physical realms; hence God calls us to himself as his children, not his grandchildren.

As children, therefore, we are directly accountable to God, our Father.

As someone has intimated, this “signifies a direct, personal relationship with each individual as his child, rather than a more distant, generational connection like a grandfather would represent.”

The writer is a publisher, author, writer-trainer and CEO of Step Publishers.

E-mail: lawrence.darmani@gmail.com