Author’s Note: This article is also available in video format on Timothy Alberino’s YouTube channel in English here and in Spanish here, and in audio format on The Alberino Analysis on Charisma Podcast Network.
In the previous episode, we discussed the extraterrestrial provenance of the beings ambiguously designated as “angels” in the biblical narrative. We determined that these beings are, according to the Scriptures, both preexistent and preeminent in the order of creation, and we deduced that they must be the members of an advanced civilization that predates our own. In this episode, we will discover that they are also the members of a family to which we once belonged. This ancestral relationship between the angels and mankind is communicated through a term frequently employed in the Scriptures—sons of God.
Whereas the ambiguity of the word “angel” does little to illumine the silhouette of our extraterrestrial elder siblings, the term sons of God (b’nai Elohim) is much more elucidative, uniting the elder race and the human race in extraordinary ways. Sons of God is always and only used in the Old Testament to denote the nonprocreated children of God (that is to say, beings who were not conceived in a womb, such as angels and Adam). It is a familial designation of one’s paternity and estate. The term carries over into the New Testament, where it maintains its Old Testament meaning but is now applicable to the sons of men who, through Christ, can become the sons of God, as John explains:
“But as many as received him [Jesus], to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13, KJV).
This verse has been mangled and twisted to undergird all kinds of strange theology, but the meaning is explicit if we allow the term sons of God to retain its original context. Those who are born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man are the sons of God. Human beings do not yet qualify to this estate, as we are all the product of procreation by means of sexual intercourse (the will of the flesh). John is not saying that those who believe in Christ are already the sons of God, but rather, they are given power to become the sons of God by being born again. This power is the hope of the gospel—the resurrection.
Notice how Jesus replies when the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, tried to entangle Him in a parable related to a widow who had been the wife of seven husbands before her death. “Whose wife,” they inquired, “does she become at the resurrection?”:
“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection'” (Luke 20:34-36).
The sons of God in heaven and on earth are destined to be united in Christ in what is essentially a family reunion, since mankind was conceived as a son in the beginning. That Adam was a son of God is evidenced in the genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth as reckoned by Luke, who affirms Him to be the son of Joseph in the line of David, and then traces his lineage all the way back to the preflood age through Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:23, 36-38).
Adam, like the angels, was a son of God, a sibling in the Father’s house. He enjoyed this privileged estate until the fall which alienated him from the divine family and indentured him to Satan, the original fallen son with whom he would have been condemned forever if a way of reconciliation had not been made through the cross. This is the essence of the gospel, the Good News which was declared to mankind through Jesus Christ who came to seek and save the lost sons of Adam and lead them back to the Father’s house.
Jesus beautifully illustrates the story of the gospel in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).
There are five characters in this parable: the father, the older son, the younger son, the servants and the swineherd. The protagonist of the story is the younger son, an archetype of Adam, who squanders the coinheritance of his father’s estate which he shares with his elder brother. The squalor that befalls the younger son is symbolic of the wages of sin and the consequence of estrangement from the family. Due to his impoverishment, the prodigal son becomes subject to a swineherd, the archetype of Satan. Recognizing the depravity of his condition, he repents of his folly and decides to return to his father’s house in the hope that he might be received back, if only as a lowly servant.
(It is important to note that not all those who are in the Father’s house are sons. The servants, though employed in the house, are not members of the family. This circumstance implies that there are other sentient creatures inhabiting the cosmos who, though citizens of the kingdom, are not the sons of God. We will return to this point in a forthcoming episode.)
When the father sees his son approaching, he runs out to meet him. The son, assuming his father would be fuming with displeasure, is surprised to find him brimming with joy and kissing his face. The father escorts his son home and adorns him in new clothes (representative of the righteousness of Christ and the resurrection), placing a ring on his finger (the seal of his house). A fattened calf is slaughtered, and a great celebration ensues, with feasting, music and dancing.
The older son, who has always been with the father (in heaven), is bewildered. Why should they celebrate the return of his younger sibling, who foolishly squandered his portion of the inheritance? The father’s answer conveys the message of the gospel: “because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:32).
If anyone should doubt that the parable of the prodigal son concerns the reuniting of the family of God (i.e., the elder race and the human race), consider that in the two preceding parables (namely, the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin), Jesus remarks that there will be joy in heaven among the angels over every sinner who repents. The sons of God rejoice at the repentance of their sundered siblings because they know that soon we will be reinstated in the family of God, and the fellowship of Eden will be renewed.
On the eve of his crucifixion, as he reclined at the table with his disciples, Jesus evoked the parable of the prodigal son,
“‘In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'” (John 14:2-6).
Before Adam and his offspring could be reinstated in the family of God, they had to be redeemed from the swineherd to whom they were indentured. By offering up His body and blood on the cross, Jesus paid our debt and delivered us from condemnation with Satan. We were redeemed so that we might be reconciled to the Father and restored to the fellowship of Eden. All that was lost in Adam is regained in Jesus Christ who leads us back to the Father’s house.
In Ephesians 3, Paul provides a fitting summation of the topics we have explored so far in this series:
“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord … 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” (Eph. 3:8-11, 14-15).
If you wish to further explore the topics featured in this lecture, I encourage you to get my book Birthright: The Coming Posthuman Apocalypse and the Usurpation of Adam’s Dominion on Planet Earth. {eoa}
Known as a modern-day Indiana Jones, Timothy Alberino is a writer, explorer and filmmaker whose inquisitive mind and intrepid spirit have led him all over the earth in search of lost cities, lost civilizations, hidden treasures and legendary creatures. His appetite for adventure was manifest at the age of 18 when he dropped out of high school in Cleveland, Ohio, and moved to the Amazon jungle in Peru. Alberino is an accomplished autodidact and scholarly researcher. After years of rigorous study, he has garnered an expansive knowledge base that allows him to dissertate with authority on a wide variety of topics.
Read articles like this one and other Spirit-led content in our new platform, CHARISMA PLUS.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.