Are we all God's children?: A reflection on humankind's current spiritual situation

By Edir Macedo

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Unipro
• Release date: Nov 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9786589769781

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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.

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Rua João Boemer, 296 – São Paulo / SP

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CONTENTS

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 HA

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

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

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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