Today I am starting a new series that examines who we are in Christ. These will be short posts, partly because that’s all I can handle as I continue on my recovery process from a major surgery, and partly because they will be most useful if we take the time to meditate on the truths included. Today I’m examining: I am a child of God.

“So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”  (‭Galatians‬ ‭4:3-7‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

There is one sure proof that you are a child of God – the Spirit of the Son is in your heart!  When we surrender our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us, to guide us into all truth and to enable us to live lives pleasing to God. Where before, we were slavess to such sins as fear, selfishness, and any other fruit of living in the fallen flesh, now the Holy Spirit is at work within us to develop the fruit of the Spirit: “… love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:22-23‬ ‭NIV)‬‬

God is Creator – we were each formed by Him in our mother’s womb – but this alone does not make us children of God. Being a child of God has nothing to do with our age or nationality. Only one thing matters: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (‭Romans‬ ‭8:9‬ ‭NKJV) Do you know that the Spirit of God lives within you? If so, you can be confident that you are a CHILD OF GOD!‬‬