An Earthly Heritage

Greetings, Reader! I would like to think of us as family, brothers and sisters, together in this life. At the very least, we are all descendants of the first parents, Adam and Eve. Certainly, we are of the samehuman family. Nonetheless, in a cultural sense, we are not family. We were born into different immediate or extended families. If we accept the popular notion that every person on earth is a child of God, then everyone would bespiritually related as brothers and sisters, members of the samespiritual family. Is it possible that this popular notion could be true?

It’s an undisputed fact that I’m the child of my mother and father, just as you are the child of your parents. If you are a parent, you know the children born to you or adopted into your household. I’ll surmise you don’t claim legal responsibility for children not of your household. What about God? As a Father, would He claim as His own those whom He has neither fathered nor adopted? If not, then it cannot be assumed that everyone is a child of God. Is it possible that only those whom God has fathered can rightfully refer to themselves as children of God? This is an important question, as the answer to this question impacts identity, as well as eternity.

Thus far, we have approached the question of “Who are we, anyway?” from the perspective of family. We know we are loosely identified as being part of the human family. Further distinction is derived from identification with our immediate and extended families. We inherit certain characteristics by way of our family lineage. We might even be known in our community according to our family’s heritage and its history.

Everyone wants to be remembered well. We spend our lives investing in what matters most to us in hopes of gaining a good reputation. Our reputation is part of our identity or who we believe we have become. It is not uncommon to respond with who we are by what vocation we have chosen. After all, much of who we are is manifested by what we do. This is at least true in a n