The apostle Paul takes up the same theme with unmistakable clarity. For him, the children of Abraham are not those who share Abraham’s bloodline, but those who share his faith-line of Abraham. He writes that “those of faith are the sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7) and that “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Romans 9:6).

The “ethnicity” produced by Christianity is not a matter of shared genetics, geography, or cultural heritage in the worldly sense. Instead, it is a new spiritual reality based on a shared spiritual birth and a common Lord. The New Testament consistently portrays the Church as a new humanity, a new people, a new family forged by the Holy Spirit.

Although this son saw all the evil of his father, he did not delight in it. Instead, he chose/desired a different path, a righteous path, and chose to be the opposite of his father. His desires – which are metaphysical – were different from his fathers’.