Paternity Testing
In the last twenty years or so, we have become familiar with paternity testing, where DNA testing is used to determine whether or not a certain man is the biological father of a particular child.
Jesus says it is also possible to determine the spiritual paternity of a person. He tells us that we can know if someone has God as their Father: “If God were your Father, you would love me” (John 8:42). Immediately this tells us that God is not the Father of everyone. The idea of the universal fatherhood of God does not come from Jesus!
Next Jesus tells us the spiritual paternity test. What is the ‘spiritual DNA’ of a child of God? How do we know whether someone has God as their Father? They will love Jesus – and if someone does not love Jesus, then God is not their Father. Again, the implications are straightforward: ‘God’ is not the same in all religions – not according to Jesus at any rate.
And how do we know if someone loves Jesus? Again, Jesus explains: “He who belongs to God hears what God says” (John 8:47), by which he means holding to what he says! So, we will demonstrate that we really are children of God by loving his Son and holding to what that Son says.