John 1:9-13 The right to become children of God

That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  The Son came into the world that every one would be effected by His incarnation.  And there is only one true Light who is capable of projecting the true image of God, and impressing that true image upon our hearts.  As Isaiah records in Chapter 43:

Before Me there was no God formed,
Nor shall there be after Me.
I, even I, am the Lord,
And besides Me there is no savior.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  John further develops the irony of the fifth verse that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  The created world did not recognize its own Creator.  The heart of fallen man was so alienated from the will of God, and God's own image was so far removed from man's resemblance to God, that the world's inhabitants were unable to perceive the perfect Model after which they were copied.

 

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  Romans 11:36 affirms, For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.  The world, including mankind, belongs to God. 

 

You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created - Revelation 4:11

 

Man's alienation is made manifest by his denial of God as the source and purpose for life.  Man was created with a free will after the image of God.  But by choosing to ignore God, mankind has mistaken this gift of free will for a false sense of complete autonomy and independence from his Maker.  Yet even though man is born of blood into the material world, he is nevertheless born because it so pleases God.  Thus Jesus came unto His own when He came into this world.

 

But to be more specific, Jesus came to His own ethnicity - the Jews.  He was born in Bethlehem of Judea through the lineage of David the son of Jesse.  The Hope of Israel walked among His own people - unacknowledged by most, and even despised by many; fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy.

 

He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. - Isaiah 53:3

 

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.  The question is often asked, "What does it mean to receive and believe?"  John has just previously documented the failure of humanity at-large to grasp or accept the identity of Christ.  Most were either spiritual blind or willingly unreceptive.  The world did not know Him.  His own did not receive Him.  The first step in receiving Jesus is the willingness to get to know Him; being open to Him, receptive.  The awareness of our own alienation from God, and the consequences of our own personal sins, together compel us to believe in the only Savior who can take away our sins.

 

Those who have received Christ are those who have determined that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  They are persuaded that Jesus of Nazareth is that anointed One who was to come into this world and be God with us - Emanuel.

 

Those who believe on His name are those who have put their trust in the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  They have decided to trust that the Son is able to save fallen man from sin and death, and to grant everlasting life to those who believe.  And the reward for receiving Jesus and believing in His name is the authority to become children of God.

 

who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  One might ask, "aren't we all God's children?"  Well just as sin caused mankind to be cut off from eternal life, man's rebellion resulted in our estrangement from God as His children.  Adam's fallen children were born into a fallen world controlled by Satan.   Children who are born of flesh and blood all enter this world with the innocence of a blank slate - free of any good or bad works.  But every parent becomes quickly aware that fallen children must be trained to be unselfish, to share, and to be nice.

 

However, the restoration of a right relationship with God the Father does not come through training.  Only the forgiveness of sins afforded by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross can resolve our separation from God.  And God the Father has ordained that mankind may only be reconciled through His Son.

 

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. - Colossians 1:19,20

 

Let us not be resistant to the work of God like those who choose to remain in their dark, ignorant, and unreceptive world.  Receive Christ!  Believe Christ!  Truly live as children of the Living God.