Have you ever pondered the thought of the devil having children? He is not a father in the sense that men are physically fathers, for the devil is a spirit, an evil one at that. Nevertheless, the devil has had children, and he continues to have children. Who are these people? How did they become the devil's children? Why should we be concerned about them?
First of all, God himself prophesied that the devil would have children. After the devil was successful in tempting Eve to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had commanded Adam not to partake of (Genesis 2:17), he pronounced punishment upon him. As part of this punishment, God said, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel (Genesis 3:15 NKJV). The devil would have "seed," that is, offspring. Moreover, there would be enmity, that is, hostility between the children of the devil and the children of God.
The apostle John informs us that this hostility began in short order. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous (1 John 3:10-12). By his works, Cain proved himself to be a child of the devil, while Abel, whose works were "righteous," proved himself to be a child of God.
This hostility between the seed of the devil and the seed of the woman continued all throughout the history we read of in the Old Testament. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Galatians 4:4-5); but some wanted to kill him. They claimed Abraham as their father. Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this (John 8:39b-41a). When they subsequently claimed God as their father, Jesus told them plainly, You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44).
So people become children of the devil by their works. People become children of God when God adopts them (cf. Gal. 4:5). That occurs when they obey the gospel through the resurrection of Jesus Christ - that bruising blow to the devil's head. They continue in the grace of God as long as they walk in the light (1 John 1:7; Revelation 2:10). It is sobering that some who thought they were God's people, the Jews in John 8, were actually the devil's. Could the same happen to us? Yes, it could, but it does not have to happen. Let's heed the warning of the apostle Peter: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you (1 Peter 5:8-10). Brotherly, Jamie
