"Every Person is Someone's Child" by Jason Hilburn

Jason Hilburn, a faithful gospel preacher and close friend, recently started a website called "The Bible Domain." I wanted to take the time to promote his website by posting an article and a link to his website. He is a native of Brantley, Alabama and is currently preaching at Nesbit church of Christ in Nesbit, MS. He is a graduate of the Memphis School of Preaching and is a blessing to those who have the opportunity to hear him speak. It is with his permission that I post a favorite article of mine and I would like to encourage everyone to visit his website The Bible Domain.

"Every Person is Someone's Child"

My wife and I have been blessed with children, which are one of God’s greatest gifts. Children are described in the Scriptures as  “a heritage of the Lord”  (Psalm 127:3), and they have the innate ability to stir up great joy in our hearts. It just seems natural to feel an especially close bond to one’s own children. However, even though my children are especially dear to me, I am reminded that other people’s children are just as precious as mine, and in reality every person is someone’s child, no matter how old he or she is. No matter who the person is you meet on  the street, that person was once a precious little baby with a mother and a father, and no matter how old children get, their parents will always view them as their “children.” Keeping this in mind may help us remember how priceless every single soul is.

When keeping things in perspective, one realizes that the soul of a homeless man on the street is just as precious in the sight of God as the soul of one’s cute little child. The difference is that the child’s soul is unstained by sin, while the same cannot be said about the adult who has sinned against God: “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee” (Ezekiel 28:15; cf. 18:20). “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). Even the souls of those considered “horrible people,” such as murderers and thieves, are precious in the sight of God, and they need to be saved. God does not desire that any soul perish in Hell, even one who might seem to be the “chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15; 2:4; Ezekiel 33:11; 2 Peter 3:9). That is why we are commanded to “preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), because God wants every soul saved, and we should as well.

When it comes to one’s “spiritual family,” every person is the child of one of two fathers. By the way one lives his life, he chooses either to be a child of God or a child of Satan. Although we all began as innocent children, those who get older eventually sin against God and become separated from Him: Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness (Isaiah 59:1-3).

We then become a child of Satan, as many of the Jews of Jesus’ day were: I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? [even] because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it (John 8:37-44).

When we live in sin, we not only become the devil’s children; we effectively become his slaves: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:34).

If we wish to become Christians, we must humble ourselves and become as obedient little children once again. Jesus loved little children, and He said,  “...Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven”  (Matthew 18:3-4; cf. 19:14). It is when we obey the Gospel to wash away our sins that we are born again, becoming the children of God instead of the children of the devil: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ”  (Galatians 3:26-27; cf. John 3:1-5; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 5:25-26). Paul went on to write that, as God’s faithful children, we look forward to the inheritance He has waiting for us: “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29; cf. 1 Peter 1:3-4).

While it may sometimes seem easier to love little children than many adults, please remember that every adult was once a little baby, and the adult’s soul is just as precious and priceless. Also remember that your soul is precious to God, and He wants  to be your loving Father forever.

http://www.TheBibleDomain.com