“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Ephesians 3:14,15).

The word “family” in this verse is patria in the Greek, and a better translation is “fatherhood” or “lineage” (as in Luke 2:4—“the house and lineage of David”). While it is good to give due recognition to our earthly parents, especially if they have been godly men and women who tried to lead their families in the ways of the Lord, we must never forget that our first Father is our heavenly Father.

The very first mention of both fathers and mothers in the Bible is found in the account of creation itself, and is a command to leave father and mother (Genesis 2:24)! It is obvious that each human family can function only while on Earth, and even that can only be temporary, since everyone normally will have been a member of at least two family units—that of their parents and that with their children. It becomes more complicated when one has more than one spouse and possibly two or more sets of children.

But we all have one Father who cares deeply about us! This is even true for those who don’t know about Him or even believe He exists. “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being . . . For we are also His offspring” (Acts 17:28). These words were spoken by Paul to pagan idolaters. Every person is, in this sense, a child of God by the very fact of creation, and God loves him (John 3:16) for that reason.

However, we have all become “children of disobedience” by rebelling against our maker, and thus have become “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1–3). All must now, in fact, be “born again,” receiving Christ—God’s only begotten Son—as sin-bearing Savior, to become saved children of God through belief on His name (John 1:12). Then, we can truly rejoice in a loving and everlasting heavenly Father. HMM