God has no grandchildren.
Have you ever heard that before now? Think about it: how is a grandchild related to their grandparents? Because of their parents, the children of their grandparents.
But God doesn’t have grandchildren. We don’t have salvation in Him because our parents did. Our parents can raise us to love the Lord (and they most certainly should if they are Jesus-followers), but there is a point WE must choose for ourselves to receive our adoption by God the Father.
He only has children, not grandchildren.
Jesus’ last meal with His disciples before His crucifixion was filled with confusion, sadness, doubt, and emerging faith. Jesus is about to go through the most challenging part of His mission from Heaven to Earth. And while He has taught the disciples so much, their sadness remained in the room. They understood that He was going away, but they didn’t know why—even though He told them.
He prays there at the table (where we were last week in John 17:1-5), and this is not the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, but a different, intimate prayer the disciples would have heard. We continue this prayer of Jesus in John 17:6-12
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
John 17:6-12
New International Version
Jesus brought glory to the Father by completing the work set before Him. This work brings the Father glory because He is giving us eternal life.
When we experience salvation in Jesus, we start gaining eternal life in Him. According to verse 8, Jesus gave us the words the Father gave Him, and our acceptance [of these words] has opened the door for our connection with the one true God. The Holy Spirit reveals the truth, and we gladly accept these words.
Since Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God the Father (a point the Apostle John has been making since John 1:1), to reject Jesus is to reject the one true God He represents.
The gift of eternal life isn’t just living forever; it is knowing the Everlasting One.
The life Jesus offers is the same as the Father’s (verse 10). Verse 9 reminds us that Jesus prays for US, His followers. What a blessing!
Our new life in Him is not based on our merit but entirely on Jesus reaching down, making Himself known to us, and calling us to Himself. However wide the love of God for the world is, only those born from above to a new life in Him will experience the blessings of eternal life with Him.
Those of us who have been born into this new life in Jesus enjoy a fellowship like no other. He provides purpose, peace, and power, and we provide obedience.
Dear one, the entire Christian experience is built on the foundation of our relationship with Christ. If there’s no foundation in Christ, there is no Christian experience. You can’t skip this step and hope it all works out. This one is the foundation.
Everything Jesus is saying is built on this understanding! Like the A-1 Steak Sauce slogan says, “Yeah, it’s that important.”
God the Father doesn’t have grandchildren. He only has children. And we become His children through Jesus.
Do you know Jesus as your Savior?
Life Meets Theology 