God’s Family
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. …
Listen to the "Verse by Verse" episode covering this scripture.
In Greek the words Father (Patera) and family (patria) are related. The Father gives His name to the whole family as the patriarch.
What is this whole family? In a sense, all created things are part of God’s household, but many other scriptures show that God is actually calling humans to become His children in His family. As He created animals each after their kind, He created humans after God’s own image and likeness—after His own kind (Genesis 1:26).
This incredible human potential inspired the apostle John’s joyous statement, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). And John explained, “We shall be like” our elder Brother, Jesus Christ, “for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
See more about how God is planning to expand His family in the post “Bringing Many Sons to Glory,” our commentary on Hebrews 2:10, and our article “Children of God.”
