The Reformed/evangelical reading of John 1:12 — “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” — treats creation and sonship as two different categories. All humans are God’s creation and image-bearers. Only those who receive Christ become children of God.
“You don’t become something you already are. You become something you previously were not.” (Dizzy Disciple, [02:50])
Pre-salvation, the Bible categorizes people not as neutral non-children but as “children of wrath” (Eph 2:3) or “children of the devil” (1 John 3:10, John 8:44). Jesus tells the Pharisees who claim God as father: “If God were your father, you would love me. But you are of your father, the devil.” Augustine, cited in the source: “We were not born of God in the manner in which the only begotten was born of him. But we were adopted by his grace.”
The argumentative payoff: if everyone is already in the family, the gospel has nothing to redeem from. The phrase “we are all God’s children” is sentimental, but it dissolves the need for the cross.
Compared with Unification theology
UC theology also rejects the flat “all are children of God” view — see 2026-04-13-jesus-opened-adopted-son-relationship and 2026-04-13-restoration-ascends-servant-adopted-true-child. Both traditions distinguish tiers. The disagreement is about the ceiling:
- Reformed: image-bearer → adopted child (terminal). Adoption is the gospel’s final word.
- Unification: servant of servants → servant → adopted child → true child. Adoption is the New Testament ceiling, not the final state; true-child status requires the Blessing through True Parents.
A Reformed reader hears “adopted son” as the destination. A UC reader hears it as one stop. The shared vocabulary obscures a real difference in eschatology.
For sermon prep
Useful when explaining why “we are all God’s children” — common in funeral language, civic religion, and inclusive-sounding Christianity — is theologically incoherent. The cross is the cost of adoption, not the celebration of pre-existing family membership.