Teknon: What It Really Means to Be a “Child of God”

• Greek: τέκνον (teknon) – child, born one
• Hebrew conceptually: יֶלֶד (yeled) – child, But deeper image restoration concept ties to צֶלֶם (tselem)

“Child of God” is one of the most familiar Christian phrases used in the church. But for all its popularity, it’s often not clear what we mean. Who is a child of God? Are all humans His children—or only those who have been “born again”? And what does it mean to be one, not just as a title but as a lived reality?

The Greek word most often translated “child” in key New Testament passages is teknon (τέκνον). And if we listen carefully to how the first-century writers used it, we see that becoming a teknon is not just a sweet metaphor. It’s about identity, transformation, and the restoration of the image of God in us.

And that ties directly into what we saw in our last post on dikaiosynē—God’s justice is restorative, aimed at repairing the family rift and bringing estranged children back into harmony. But to grasp how, we need to start with the basic question that divides so many today.

But Wait, Aren’t We All Children of God?

This is the heart of the debate. Some Christians argue that only believers can rightly be called God’s children. Others claim that all humans are God’s children by birth. Which is it?

Paul gives us a crucial starting point in Acts 17. Preaching in Athens, he quotes a pagan poet to affirm that:

“We are all his offspring” (Acts 17:28–29).

Here he uses the Greek word genos, meaning “offspring,” ancestry, family line. All humanity comes from God. All bear His image (Genesis 1:27). Nothing can erase that origin, nothing can undo that worth. In that sense, yes—all humans are God’s children.

But Paul uses a different word elsewhere: teknon. Unlike genos, teknon doesn’t just mean “biological descendant.” It implies resemblance, relationship, alignment. To be a teknon of God is to reflect His nature. Which is why Paul can also write that we were, by nature, “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3).

How can both be true? Because though all people are God’s genos—His offspring by origin—we live estranged from Him, bearing the likeness not of His household but of exile. In other words, all humans are God’s children, but apart from Him we are relationally dead children. Still His, but far from home.

This is where the Greek distinctions for “life” help. The prodigal son wasn’t dead in terms of bios (biological existence). He wasn’t even dead in terms of psychē (personality, inner self). He could still eat, feel, wander, speak, even pray. But he was dead in terms of zōē—the deep, abundant, relational life that flows from being rightly connected to God, others, and our true selves.

To be a teknon of God is to share in that zōē. Estrangement cuts us off from it. And this is where God’s dikaiosynē comes into view: not as cold legality, but as restorative justice—the Father working to bring His estranged children back into the life of His household.

Estranged Children

Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15) gives us the picture. The younger son never stopped being his father’s child. His identity, his inheritance, his DNA—all remained intact. But when he demanded his inheritance early and walked away, the father let him go.

In first-century culture, children were expected to remain in the family household, learning the family trade, eventually carrying on the family name and work. For a son to take his inheritance early and leave was unthinkable—it was to reject the family itself. Yet the father, in love, handed him over.

That’s exactly what Paul describes in Romans 1: God “handed them over” to the desires they insisted on. This is what Scripture calls God’s wrath (orge). Not God striking down His children in rage, but God allowing them the freedom to walk their chosen path—even when that path leads away from Him and into destruction.

This is the story of humanity. We are all prodigals. We have squandered the inheritance of God’s image. We still bear His likeness, but in exile—cut off from the life of His household, enslaved to what Scripture calls the “counter-kingdoms” of sin and death.

Born in Exile

Now take the prodigal’s story one step further. Imagine being born not in the father’s house, but in the far country where the son squandered everything. Imagine growing up never knowing your true origin, never realizing there was a home to return to.

That is exactly what Paul says in Ephesians 2:1–3:

“We were dead in our trespasses… by nature children of wrath.”

Not because God created us as His enemies, but because we were born into the exile our forefathers chose. We inherit their estrangement. We are born into a household of brokenness, into an environment where God’s wrath means being “handed over” to the consequences of a life cut off from Him.

This is why so many of us live like spiritual orphans. We stumble in the far country, not knowing our source or our true home. And yet—even there—we are still His children. Just as the prodigal son never ceased to be a son, humanity never ceased to be God’s offspring.

The tragedy is that we live as estranged children, relationally dead to the Father’s life of zōē. To be restored as a teknon is to be brought back into zōē. It is to return home and be healed—to begin again the life you were always meant to live.

The Healing of the Image

Even in exile, we still bore the image of God—but that image was fractured, weakened, and bent under the weight of the false kingdoms of this world. We were not dead, incapable of choosing to respond to God’s drawing, but we were deceived, broken, and enslaved to lesser loves.

Peter reminds us:

“By His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Not just in body, but in the deepest places where sin and shame have warped the image of God in us. The Gospel does not merely forgive; it restores, transforms, and makes whole.

Paul tells us in Romans 6 that we are freed from sin so that we may become slaves to righteousness.

To be a teknon—a child of God—is to begin again:

The image of God within us is being healed. We are freed from slavery to sin and awakened to our true home in the Kingdom. The Spirit bears witness that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16). We are made partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

Being a teknon is not a label—it is a new way of being. It is life restored, a return from exile, a reclaiming of zōē within the family of God.

Grace Restores Us as Children

The Father does not leave us in exile. John declares:

“To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children (tekna) of God” (John 1:12).

Notice the language: gave the right. This is gift language, this is charis—grace. We do not earn our way home. We simply turn from our pigsty and start heading home having not made anything right yet but we are immediately welcomed, embraced, restored—because the Father runs to meet us.

To be called a child of God is the undoing of exile, the reversal of shame, and the restoration of belonging. It is heaven’s declaration: we are not strangers, not orphans—but beloved family.

Sharing the Divine Life

But grace does not stop at restoration. Peter tells us:

“Through these promises you may participate in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

Imagine that: not only forgiven, not only restored, but drawn into the very life of God Himself.

This is no imitation, no distant echo of holiness. The divine spark, God’s very own nature becomes renewed in us. Our fractured image of God and law of God written on our hearts begin to pulse with a new rhythm, a divine heartbeat that reshapes our lives. We are invited into the life of God, empowered to love as He loves.

Restoration blooms into participation. Healing flows into life. Life flows into belonging.

So What Was Mistranslated?

Too often, “child of God” has been flattened into a title, a status, or a legal category.

But teknon speaks of something far deeper. It speaks of origin and image and when we have failed to recognize and live out our family heritage when our image bearing has been weakened and sick it speaks of healing, transformation, and the restoration of the full healthy divine image in us. It is a return from exile, a reclaiming of life (zōē), and a new way of being that flows from the very heart of the Kingdom.

How This Fits into the Gospel of the Kingdom

So far in this series we’ve explored:

Euangelion: the royal announcement of God’s Kingdom coming on earth and Jesus as its King.

Metanoia: turning from false kingdoms.

Pistis: loyal trust pledged to the King.

Sōzō: salvation as liberation and healing from the false kingdoms we were not meant for.

Zōē: abundant, relational life in the Kingdom.

Orge: God’s passionate setting-things-right order.

Dikaiosynē: true justice as relational restoration of God’d family.

And now:

Teknon: the Gospel restores the image of God in us, draws us into the family, and empowers us to live in freedom as children bearing His nature and capable of love.

The Kingdom of Love is not merely about forgiving sins—it is about bringing prodigals home, restoring their dignity, healing their identity, and allowing them to walk in the fullness of life they were created for.

The Spirit as the Down Payment

And yet, the story is not complete. Paul tells us:

“He who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing… and has given us the Spirit as a first deposit” (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13–14).

By this Spirit, we cry Abba, Father! This is the pledge of life renewed, the Spirit confirming that we are restored as children and heirs and in this is our restored potential. This first deposit gives us the power to develop into the fullness of maturity—the likeness of God, the life of huios—still lies ahead. The Spirit restores the image (tselem) awakens our hearts, and invites us to share in God’s life, yet the journey toward likeness (demut) and full placement as Sons and Daughters requires growth, faithful walking, and trust.

🔜 Coming Next: Huios & Huiostheia

From Children to Mature Sons and Daughters

If teknon is about being restored as a child of God, the next step is growth into maturity. The biblical story moves from teknon to huios—mature sons and daughters—and huiostheia—the full inheritors of God’s Kingdom.

That’s where we’re headed next.

Mistranslated Series: Word 20 – Huios & Huiosthesia- What we have tragically gotten wrong about Biblical Adoption