Children of God in 1 John 3:1

Jonathan Robie (jwrobie@mindspring.com)
Sun, 10 Nov 1996 19:55:00 -0500

1Joh 3:1 (GNT) idete potaphn agaphn dedwken hmin o pathr, ina tekna qeou
klhqwmen, kai esmen. dia touto o kosmos ou ginwskei hmas, oti ouk egnw auton.

1Joh 3:1 (NASU) See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we
would be called children of God; and [such] we are. For this reason the
world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

In 1 John 3:1, I've always assumed that "we would be called children of God"
meant that *God* calls us his children. In my "Bible coloring class" at
church today, another possibility occured to me. I'm not aware that the term
"children of God" was ever used before Jesus. Was it? If not, perhaps some
Jews in "the world" were mocking Christians, calling them "children of God"
to make fun of them. Anybody want to argue for or against this theory?

Thanks!

Jonathan

***************************************************************************
Jonathan Robie
POET Software, 3207 Gibson Road, Durham, N.C., 27703
Ph: 919.598.5728 Fax: 919.598.6728
email: jwrobie@mindspring.com, jonathan@poet.com
http://www.poet.com <--- shockwave enabled!
***************************************************************************