Children of Promise

The children of promise are those to whom God foretold blessings through prophecy even before their birth. In the Old Testament, Isaac and Jacob serve as representative examples of such children. Likewise, the saints who will receive salvation are consistently prophesied in both the Old and New Testaments as the children of promise. Not all churches that profess faith in God are recognized as His people; only those who become the children of promise make up the true church that will receive salvation.

Children of Promise and Children of the Flesh

The Bible clearly distinguishes between the children of promise and the children of the flesh. The Apostle Paul explained this distinction by referring to the examples of Isaac and Jacob.

Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” . . . she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”

Romans 9:7–13

Only the children of promise are acknowledged by God as His true offspring—those who received His promise through prophecy even before their birth. In contrast, those born apart from God’s promise are regarded as children of the flesh. In the New Testament era, the promise of God remains of utmost importance, for it concerns nothing less than the salvation of the soul.

Isaac and Ishmael

Abraham Sending Away Hagar and Ishmael, Georg Pencz, 1541–1545

Abraham remained without a child until he was eighty-five years old. In his concern over having no heir, his wife Sarah gave her maidservant Hagar to him as a concubine, and through her, Ishmael was born. However, God did not recognize Ishmael—who was born apart from His promise—as Abraham’s heir.

And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.”

Genesis 17:18–19

When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God appeared to him in human form and promised that Sarah would bear a son. Just as God had spoken, Sarah gave birth to Isaac the following year, and he became Abraham’s rightful heir.

Jacob and Esau

Isaac Blessing Jacob, Govert Flinck, 1638

Isaac took Rebekah as his wife when he was forty years old. For nearly twenty years, they remained without children. Then Isaac prayed to God on behalf of his wife, and God granted his prayer—Rebekah conceived twins. When the two children struggled within her womb, she sought the LORD’s guidance, and He replied:

Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.

Genesis 25:23

The “two nations” refer to Jacob and Esau. Even before their birth, God prophesied that “the older will serve the younger.” This prophecy was fulfilled in Jacob, the child of promise. Although Esau was the firstborn and, by custom, entitled to the blessing, he was not the one chosen by God’s promise. Consequently, Esau did not receive the blessing, and the inheritance was given to Jacob, the child of promise.

The True Church and the False Church

Just as there are children of promise and children of the flesh, there are also the church of promise and the churches of the flesh. A church mentioned in the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets is recognized as the church of promise. Regardless of its size, influence, or prestige, any church not founded upon God’s promise cannot receive salvation and belongs merely to the flesh. The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of a prophet from the East who would accomplish God’s divine purpose, and the prophet Malachi prophesied about God’s promise concerning the final prophet and the last church.

See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.

Malachi 4:5–6

While exiled on the island of Patmos in the Mediterranean Sea, the Apostle John recorded a vision of an angel ascending from the East, holding the seal of the living God.

Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

Revelation 7:2–3

The children of promise, who are to receive salvation in this age, are the church that has fulfilled the prophecies of both the Old and New Testaments. According to the words of the prophets Malachi and Isaiah, as well as the revelation given to John, the church where the angel from the East appears—bearing the seal of the living God and carrying out the mission of Elijah—is the gathering of the children of promise. This church is the Church of God, destined to inherit eternal life.

Children of Promise and the Remnant

The prophet Isaiah also prophesied about the remnant who would receive salvation:

In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous.

Isaiah 10:20–22

Apostle Paul confirmed that this prophecy refers to the events of the last days:

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”

Romans 9:27–28

Although countless people today profess faith in God—like the sand on the seashore—not all will be saved; only the remnant will inherit salvation. The Bible refers to God’s people as both the children of promise and the remnant, showing that these two terms describe the same group. In other words, the children of promise are the remnant. In the days of Elijah, even amid rampant idolatry, God preserved seven thousand who had not bowed to Baal. Likewise, in this present age, there remains a remnant chosen by grace. Therefore, whether they are called “the remnant” or “those chosen by grace,” both refer to the children of promise who are destined to receive salvation.

The Rest of the Woman’s Offspring

The book of Revelation portrays the children of promise in the last days—the children of God—as “the rest of the woman’s offspring.”

Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony of Jesus.

Revelation 12:17

The dragon represents Satan—the devil, the ancient serpent who deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden. In the last days, the rest of the woman’s offspring engage in a spiritual battle against Satan. The prophecy concerning the woman, the mother of the rest of her offspring, traces back to the book of Genesis.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

Genesis 3:15

God declared that He would put enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between their offspring as well. This prophecy was first fulfilled at the First Coming of Jesus and will be fulfilled again in the last days through the rest of the woman’s offspring. Revelation 12 foretells that, after the religious Dark Ages, the rest of the woman’s offspring will stand against the dragon—the ancient serpent. In Genesis 3, the woman refers to Eve, the wife of Adam. Eve, who was created just before the rest on the seventh day, foreshadows the Wife of the Lamb who appears at the time of eternal rest. Therefore, the rest of the woman’s offspring who confront the dragon in the last days are the saints who believe in God the Mother, the Wife of the Second Coming Christ. Apostle John prophesied about the Bride who gives the water of life, and Apostle Paul, in the book of Galatians, testified that the children of promise, like Isaac, have a Mother represented by the Heavenly Jerusalem.

But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. . . . Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. . . . Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

Galatians 4:26–31

The children of promise are those who are born of the Spirit. In every age, those who live at the time when the prophecy that was foretold in advance is fulfilled are acknowledged as the children of promise and as those born of the Spirit. Today, those who belong to the church established in accordance with the prophecies of the prophets are regarded as the true children of promise and of the Spirit. In the fulfillment of all biblical prophecy, the children of the Second Coming Christ—who completed the mission of Elijah—and God the Mother are the remnant, the children of promise who will receive salvation in the age of the Holy Spirit.

See also

• The History of Abraham’s Family
• Isaac
• Jacob
• God the Mother
• Mother, the Source of Life
• The Spirit and the Bride
• Heavenly Wedding Banquet