The meaning of mortal life? Becoming Sons (and Daughters) of God

In the Fourth Gospel it is said that part of the mission of Jesus was to enable us to become Sons of God, as resurrected Men in Heaven.

Yet Jesus also makes clear that we are already children of God: God being both our father and Jesus's father, in what seems to be a literal rather than a metaphorical sense. Indeed, it is a new teaching of Jesus that God is our father in a personal sense, not only a tribal patriarch.

I make sense of this by assuming that we are born as spiritually-young children, and Jesus offers us the possibility of choosing to become spiritually grown-up children in our resurrected state. 


This leads on to the question: why grow-up? Children are wonderful - and perfect in their way; so why go to the bother and hazard of growing-up? - especially as it requires negotiating the (extreme) spiritual dangers of adolescence.

This has to do with the Christian understanding of creation - which I take to be a more like a continual dynamic work-in-progress (a process) than a finished perfection. If creation were instead regarded as complete, then Man would have no active role... Man could at most aspire to contemplate the finished-work of creation (in some kind of blissful state) - and for this there would be no need to become spiritually grown-up.

Indeed, if contemplation was the ultimate goal; there would be no need for Man to incarnate - he would be better to remain a spirit; nor would there be any need for mortal life - he would be better to be created directly-into Heaven (like an 'angel'), and stay there.

And this is, indeed, the goal of some Eastern (oneness) religious ideas, and the Platonic tradition in the West - even within Christianity. These systems have no necessary function for mortal incarnate life, and no active role for Men: the ideal is passive, inactive, absorbed (ego-less, self-less) contemplation - for which angelic spirits in Heaven are presumably better suited than incarnate mortal Men on earth.

And it is hard to see even why such a God would want to create Men, or indeed angels, or anything else - so complete, self-sufficient, perfect, inclusive and desire-less is this God understood to be... Such a God is better described in terms of an abstract deity, defined in terms of divine properties (such as omnipotence and omniscience). But the God that Jesus speaks-with and speaks-of is addressed as a person - so it is hard to see why Christians should go down the path towards abstract deity...


To my mind, matters are clarified when it is assumed that God wants us to become active participants in the on-going-work of his creation.

That makes sense of why we are encouraged grow-up; we need to grow-up if we aspire to become our-selves active creators, rather than remaining as children - who are absorbed-in life, and are not creative.

My understanding is that we are all born as children of God - in a personal and 'literal' sense. We are initially passively-absorbed-in the ongoing creation. But by stages we separate from it and become self-aware; so that we may mature and consciously-choose to return to participating-in creation - but this time as active, contributing, co-creators with God.

(And indeed with Jesus - since this active co-creation is what Jesus did, first as a mortal Man from the advent of his divine mission at the baptism by John; then after his resurrection to eternal life, and ascension. Examples of co-creation by Jesus include, but are not restricted to, his miracles.)

Thus, the definition of spiritual adulthood or maturity, is one who participates actively in creation, who consciously contributes some-thing from-themselves - and this is to be a Son or Daughter of God in the sense that Jesus promised to those who follow him.


We may do such active participating during mortal life, in a temporary way, as a part of our learning.

We may, for instance, learn (as I have) that active participation in creation is the single most satisfying experience of life (outside of family love); and may wish to continue it fully rather than partially.

And such active participation is the life of those grown-up children of God who choose - after biological death - to commit themselves eternally to resurrected Heavenly life. If we want this, we can have it; and that is to grow-up, spiritually.