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- Herausgeber: Unipro
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
The biggest,most convincing mistake of all time is the belief that everyone is a child of God. But how could this idea be truewhen there is so much evil, injustice, and chaosin the world? How could a loving God bear children who spew hatred and instigate war? How could God be the Father of those who do the very things that He condemns? If God were merelyhuman, this could be attributed to somegenetic flaw. But since Godis perfect, how can we reconcile the existence ofso many imperfect "children"? In "Are we all God's Children?", Edir Macedo answers these and other questions,and describesthe three types of people in the world, their characteristics, their conflicts, how each of us can become a child of God, and much more. An enlightening book that will lead you to discover thetrue paternity of your soul.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
CHAPTER 2
THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD
CHAPTER 3
CHILDREN OF RELIGION
How did religion come about?
The religious deception
CHAPTER 4
THREE KINDS OF PEOPLE
1. BORN OF THE WORLD
Worldly characteristics
Pride
Sin dwells in the flesh
The manifestation of the flesh
Children of the world, children of the devil
2. BORN OF THE FLESH
Those born of the flesh are flesh
Why are there so many born of the flesh?
Possessed believers
Why can a demon possess a believer?
Symptoms of demonic possession
The flesh hardens the spirit
3. BORN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
How to be born of the Holy Spirit?
How to be born again without having died?
Baptism in water
CHAPTER 5
THE CHARACTER OF A CHILD OF GOD
How can a person manifest God’s character?
The Father’s humility
A clear conscience
CHAPTER 6
EARTHLY NATURE VS. DIVINE NATURE
Flesh vs. spirit
CHAPTER 7
RATIONAL FAITH VS. EMOTIONAL FAITH
Faith and the heart
CHAPTER 8
THE MAN OF THE DUST VS. THE HEAVENLY MAN
Divine thoughts
CHAPTER 9
THE CHILDREN OF SARAH VS. THE CHILDREN OF HAGAR
How to become a child of God?
The values of the Spirit
CHAPTER 10
FAITH VS. FEELINGS
Faith and love
CHAPTER 11
BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
Strange tongues and the voice of deception
CHAPTER 12
THE GLORY OF THE WORLD
CHAPTER 13
THE TWO KINDS OF FAITH
Conquering and establishing
CHAPTER 14
THE BOOK OF LIFE
CHAPTER 15
SPIRITUALITY
CHAPTER 16
THE SACRIFICE
The spontaneity of sacrifice
CHAPTER 17
THE COMING OF THE LORD
CHAPTER 18
LIFE IN HEAVEN
About the author
Landmarks
Cover
Table of Contents
Copyright © 2022 by Unipro Editora
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
All Scripture quotations in this book, except those marked otherwise, are from the New King James Version (NKJV). Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Editorial coordination: Sandra Gouvêa
Art direction: Paulo Junior
Layout design: Willian Souza
Cover design: Paulo Junior
Copyediting: Evelyn Higginbotham
Translation: Sandra Gouvêa
Editorial assistance: Talita Valentin
eBook version: Ricardo Rodrigues
Macedo, Edir
M141a
Are we all God’s children? / Edir Macedo. – 1. Ed. – São Paulo : Unipro Editora, 2022.
Original title: Somos todos filhos de Deus?
ISBN 978-65-89769-78-1
1. Intelligent faith. 2. New birth. 3. Children of God. I. Title.
DDC 230
Rua João Boemer, 296 – São Paulo / SP
CEP: 03018-000 – Brasil
+55 11 5555-1380
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Only God’s children care about pleasing their Father.
INTRODUCTION
The biggest and most convincing lie of all times is the belief that we are all God’s children. Although it is one of the most important principles of Christianity, few people realise that the Lord Jesus was killed precisely because He said He was the Son of God.
What the Jewish people considered a sin worthy of death is now commonly regarded as a fact of life for humankind in general—everyone claims to be a child of God.
The belief that we are all children of God has no foundation through the point of view of faith and intelligence.
How can someone believe this when there is so much trouble in this world? How could God, who is love, bear children who would encourage hatred and make war? How could God, who is Spirit, be a Father to those who practise the works of the flesh, which He Himself condemns?
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21
If God was a human being, we could say it was a genetic flaw; but being who He is—Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient—how could He have so many unhappy and unsuccessful children?
That is exactly what we will discuss in this book!
CHAPTER 1
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
In the beginning, the world was the Kingdom of God. Everything on earth was in perfect harmony: the Creator, nature, and human beings.
We believe God’s purpose was to establish on earth the same system He had created in heaven. The only difference between them would be their inhabitants: spiritual beings in heaven and physical beings on earth—all of them under the infinite sovereignty of the Almighty.
The earth would have the same order, discipline, and hierarchy as heaven (archangels, angels, cherubs, and seraphs). Adam and Eve, the first parents, would be immortal and bear children with the same characteristics as themselves to live on the planet.
God had made Adam His representative on earth. He would have authority over all other human beings to expand God’s Kingdom on earth.
We see God’s plan for humankind in the following Bible verses:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.”
Genesis 1:26-29
This passage points out some extremely important facts:
God created man in His image and according to His likeness. He made him out of clay, with His own hands. Man was not conceived by the Holy Spirit, as the Lord Jesus was.Adam was given full authority over all the animals and over the earth. That is, God made him an ambassador of His Kingdom on earth.The earth needed developing and, for this to happen, Adam and Eve had to be fruitful—they had to multiply and fill the earth. They were not to restrict themselves to only one place; they should spread across the earth.There was no sin; for this reason, death did not exist. Adam and Eve, as well as all the animals, lived off the fruit of the earth. Even the wild animals did not have to hunt to survive, for they were herbivorous.Before the original sin, the earth was a paradise, for it reflected the Kingdom of God. There was no kingdom of darkness, but the moment Adam and Eve refused to obey God and decided to obey the devil, the kingdom of darkness began to exist.
For this reason, nature turned against man; the earth ceased to produce food for humans and animals. Man had to sweat and work hard to produce his daily bread. Death came into existence, and animals had to become carnivorous to survive.
Because man turned against God, nature cut off its partnership with him, which led to disorder and the rise of evil on the face of the earth.
The rebellious angels, who were cast out from heaven, became unclean spirits, working for Satan. Once the kingdom of darkness had been established on earth, they joined forces with the devil to lead more rebellions against God.
Human beings had become an easy target; for this reason, unclean spirits were free to possess them—after all, Adam and Eve had left their Creator’s territory.
When the Light is rejected, darkness takes over. When darkness is rejected, the Light reigns. Each one of us must decide for himself whom he will serve: the Light or the darkness.
Adam’s rebellion caused him to lose his authority. Not only did he lose his authority, but he handed it over to the devil, who at that time was still powerless in the world. Proof of the devil’s lack of power is that death was unable to exist at that time.
Yet, the minute the devil took possession of the authority Adam had passed on to him, death began to exist on earth, exactly as the Lord Jesus says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). In this way, the kingdom of darkness was created in the world, because of the rebellion of someone who was good—Adam.
God, however, because of His infinite compassion and mercy, designed a plan to rescue those who desired Him. He chose a man who was faithful to his own wife to start a nation separate from the others. From this new nation, He chose a young virgin, who was also spiritually pure, to serve as a tool to bring His Son Jesus into the world and, through Jesus’s sacrifice, He would be able to take guilt away from all those who believed in Him. In this way, all those who obeyed His Word would be taken from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light, or the Kingdom of God.
This is why the Lord began His earthly ministry by saying, “Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you” (Luke 10:11).
The kingdom of divine order and discipline was re-established through a “new Adam”, known as the last Adam.
This means that those who have been born into the kingdom of darkness have a chance to enter the Kingdom of God by following the Lord Jesus.
CHAPTER 2
THE KINGDOM
OF THE WORLD
We have just seen how the kingdom of the world, or the kingdom of darkness, began. What most people do not know is that they are naturally born into the kingdom of this world. This is because Adam and Eve only began to multiply, as the Lord had commanded, when they were already in the kingdom of evil. The moment they turned against the Light, they entered the kingdom of darkness. In other words, aft er turning against the Lord, they immediately went from the Kingdom of Light into the kingdom of darkness, where they began to multiply. The same thing happened to the animals, and so each creature that has been born has contributed to the development of the kingdom of this world.
Obviously, there was no relationship between man and the Creator in this process of development and, because of that, creatures were born and grew without any sense of discipline or order. Survival of the fittest, which had only existed among animals, began to prevail among human beings as well.
Whilst they had communion with God, Adam and Eve did not lack love, peace, good health, or prosperity. There was no dispute between them. Yet, once their relationship with God had broken down, it gave way to an intimate relationship with evil. If man could not give the Lord God the respect that was due to Him by putting Him first, what was he capable of doing to his neighbour? Inspired by the prince of darkness, man became selfish and wild to get what he wanted. Materialism replaced spirituality, and everything that was against God’s will was sown on the earth. Disorder and disrespect towards both the Creator and humanity were set in the world.
God created one woman for one man. This means that, since the creation of the world, each man would have his own wife. However, the spirit of evil inspired disorder in relationships, and man began to desire many women, and vice versa. People began to engage in all sorts of sexual immorality and unnatural relationships, including bestiality (sex between a person and an animal), paedophilia, same-sex relationships, etc. In other words, the kingdom of disorder has been established in this world. In light of such moral instability, the creation of a pure family has become meaningless and unimportant.
Innocent children are born in a society whose laws go against the moral and spiritual principles established on Mount Sinai, the mountain where God gave the Ten Commandments. Even though parents give their children the best education, the bad examples to which children are exposed and the influences of unclean spirits end up corrupting them.
Gradually, each generation has become more rebellious and more aggressive towards the moral and spiritual principles set by God. The result is a world without values and increasingly chaotic and wild.
Today, many parents suffer because their children are involved with drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, and rebelliousness. Parents cannot understand why they suffer so much after giving their children the best they could—a comfortable life, education and, above all, a good upbringing. God allows some parents to undergo this kind of pain so that they can feel a bit of what He has felt because of the rebelliousness of His Creation, for them to know how painful it is for Him to be rejected and so easily exchanged for the darkness. Just as parents have been rejected by their children, the Lord God has been rejected by humankind.
Why do children who have been brought up with so much love and care end up rebelling against their parents? Where have these parents failed?
“If man could not give the Lord God the respect that was due to Him by putting Him first, what was he capable of doing to his neighbour?”
CHAPTER 3
CHILDREN OF RELIGION
Religion has been the greatest and best weapon to destroy nations throughout the ages. It has separated people and nations, leading them to wars.
It is so harmful to society that it takes severe laws to force its followers to respect each other. If religion were pure, truthful, and beneficial, its followers would not need laws, such as the freedom of worship and human rights.
The true followers of the Lord Jesus are naturally loving and respectful towards others, regardless of their skin colour, sex, race, or religion.
The Lord taught us, saying:
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
Matt hew 5:44-46
To say that religion exists to connect man to God is a lie. If it were true, the world would be in perfect peace and harmony. In fact, religion has kept people away from God and, sometimes unconsciously, it has destroyed them. Religion subtly cancels out reason by using people’s emotions. Because of this, people have become more doubtful about God’s existence over time.
It is not by emotional faith that we come close to God, but by intelligent faith. This is why He gave us His moral, social and spiritual laws, which relate to our personal conduct, how we treat each other and how we follow the Holy Spirit, respectively.
These principles can be found in the Ten Commandments and in the laws given to Moses on Mount Sinai. However, because of spiritual ignorance, most people treasure their religious traditions rather than a relationship with God. This kind of behaviour has been going on since the Lord Jesus was on the earth.
Adam and Eve’s rebellion against the Creator immediately stopped them from being able to see in a spiritual way. Purity and innocence gave way to a strictly materialistic view of life.
Spiritual understanding is an essential tool in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. There is no one apart from the Spirit of God who can teach, guide, strengthen, inspire, and lead us to the right path. Lack of spiritual understanding means lack of guidance from the Holy Spirit. It goes hand in hand with a life of uncertainties, like a boat without a helm in the middle of the ocean.
How many people’s homes are a living hell just because they have married the wrong person? The consequences of a bad marriage are the worst possible—especially for the children, who always end up a reflection of the bad relationship of their parents.
How many people sacrifice money and years of their lives to graduate but, in the end, they find out they wanted something else?
These are some of the thousands of examples of what human beings have gone through simply because of lack of spiritual vision.
When a person does not have spiritual vision, his physical vision draws on his emotions, which immediately take over. This was how disorder spread to humankind, starting with our very first parents.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Genesis 3:7
