Children of God
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If you were with us last week, you remember how our passage we walked through stuck out like a sore thumb...
....from a grammatical structure standpoint...
This chapter began with an AMAZING introduction of Jesus Christ as the Word...
who had no beginning
fully distinct
God
Creator
Life
And then in our text last week, the author JUMPS into this section (v6-8) where he introduces John the Baptist...
Only then to jump back to Jesus and talk more about Him...
The structure was odd because everyone knows that it’s more precise, grammatically speaking...
....to finish an introduction of a Character before you jump into the introduction of someone else...
BUT then we also realized that the structure had a purpose...
We saw how GOD usually works by USING men to carry out His plans in the world...
And it was John the Baptist who was sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus Christ...
as we see confirmed for us in Matthew 3
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”
So again - with John the Baptist, we see God operating how we KNOW Him to operate...
Using mankind to display His power...
And now THIS week - we see this author - JUMP back to speaking of Jesus Christ...
As in the text itself - we see how John the Baptist prepared the way for the Son of God...
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Last week we saw the one who came to BEAR witness to THE LIGHT...
This week - we read of - THE TRUE LIGHT…!
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
Jesus Christ - as the TRUE LIGHT - was coming into the WORLD...
NOW - “the world” here doesn’t merely refer to the ROUND earth...
It means that - but also brings with it - humanity...
SO - Jesus Christ was coming into the WORLD…into humanity...
And in verse 10 we read some of that same TYPE of language we see in verse 1...
Jesus was IN THE WORLD…and the WORLD was made through Him...
So Jesus - is CREATOR - all things made by him and through Him...
And yet - what - the WORLD - did not KNOW Him.
Again - we need to define a term...
the word KNOW - here it doesn’t merely mean HEAD KNOWLEDGE...
Like - I KNOW that 2 + 2 = 4...
the KNOW that we’re talking about here in v10 is a RELATIONAL - knowing...
1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”
So - THIS kind of KNOWING is clearly more than knowing facts or information...
This KNOWING here in this verse - produced children...
And v10 told us...
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
The world DID NOT KNOW HIM...
which is why v11 says what it says...
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
SLIDE: The True Light: Rejected By Man
The True Light
The True Light
We see in v10 that the WORLD did not KNOW Jesus...
NOW - if v10 was all we had - we MIGHT think - Well, if the world would have come into contact with Jesus, then they would have ACCEPTED Him!
What v11 does is it actually CLARIFIES for us - that the world ACTUALLY REJECTED Jesus!
That they KNEW Him from an intellectual standpoint...
BUT REJECTED what they knew...
And this is what we see later in John as well...
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
So the world - has an EMOTIONAL response to Jesus...
the world - HATES Jesus...
It HATES the light…because the world is in LOVE with - darkness
NOW - How does this AFFECT Christians?
Well - if we’re going to live out the CALL to - TAKE the name of Jesus to the world...
…this community
…our friends
…our family
Then we MUST know going into that - that we’re NOT GOING to people who are NEUTRAL - when it comes to Christ...
We’re taking the name of Jesus to people who DO NOT WANT Jesus...
People who are in ACTIVE rebellion against Him...
And we see it all the time:
We see people who literally GET ANGRY when they hear the name of Jesus...
We see people who literally get up and leave the room when they hear the name of Jesus...
We see people, in their pride, war against the EXCLUSIVITY of Jesus Christ...
We see people, in their pride, war against the SIN ACCUSATION of Christ toward mankind...
We see people, in their pride, war against the Total Depravity of man...
We see people, in their pride, APATHETIC to the idea of FINDING eternal life in Jesus...
THIS is who we are taking the name of Jesus to...
And so - what’s the call?
Let’s do 3 “Ps”
Persevere In The Word
Pray In The Word
Point To The Word
And we DO all of this - with the intention that People Come to Embrace Jesus Christ...
And verse 12 speaks to this...
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
In v11 we see the BAD NEWS of mankind...
That we DO NOT seek out Jesus Christ...
That we LOVE the DARKNESS rather than the LIGHT...
But v12 here tells us HOW WE BECOME - children of God...
Which MEANS - NOT EVERYONE has God as their Father...
GOD is not the Father of everyone that you know!
This verse tells us HOW WE BECOME His children...
SLIDE: Children of God: Receive the True Light (Jesus Christ)
Children of God
Children of God
v12 said - BUT TO ALL WHO DID RECEIVE HIM…he gave the right to become the children of God...
To RECEIVE Jesus - means that when Jesus offers Himself to you…you WELCOME Him (receive Him) into your life - LISTEN - for what and who He truly is
Receiving Jesus means that when Jesus offers Himself to you, you welcome Him into your life…for what and who He truly is
If he comes to you as Savior, you welcome his salvation (and you’re satisfied)
If he comes to you as Leader, you welcome his leadership (and you’re satisfied)
If he comes to you as Provider, you welcome his provision
If he comes to you as Counselor, you welcome his counsel
If he comes to you as Protector, you welcome his protection
If he comes to you as Authority, you welcome his authority
If he comes to you as King, you welcome his rule.
Those who RECEIVE Jesus for WHO HE IS....have the right to become the Children of God!
Receiving Jesus doesn’t mean that you have a - peaceful CO-EXISTENCE with Jesus while He makes NO CLAIMS on your life...
That’s NOT what receiving Jesus MEANS...
Let’s look at an example of this in Scripture...
In Luke chapter 4, Jesus is going into the synagogue and teaching - and listen to how the people RECEIVE him...
22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”
So they SPOKE WELL of Him...
BUT
Just a few verses later....in v28 and 29 we read this...
28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.
29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.
v22 - they spoke well of HIM....
v28 - they wanted to kill Him...
They were HAPPY to receive Him when His words were PLEASING to their prideful hearts...
But THEN when His words would cause them to HUMBLE themselves...
they wanted to Kill Him!
That’s NOT what it is to RECEIVE Jesus!
Receiving Him means - TAKING Him into your:
Life
Home - (Leader, Provider, Counselor, Authority)
School - (that your school-mates would see He is your Leader…)
Work -
Marriage
Neighborhood
Those who RECEIVE Jesus - to them He gives the right to become Children of God...
But that’s not all...
SLIDE: Children of God: Believe the True Light (Jesus Christ)
Children of God
Children of God
Let’s look at the verse again...
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Amazingly enough, this word here - BELIEVED…is actually a PRESENT TENSE verb...
I like the ESV version of the Bible…but they GOT THIS wrong...
It should say - But to all who did receive Him, who BELIEVE in His name...
And in the PRESENT TENSE of the word - Believe - comes with it - PERSEVERANCE...
Always BELIEVING!
But what does it mean - biblically - to BELIEVE in Jesus…?
Let’s look at John 5
43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Here we can see the use of these same words - RECEIVE and BELIEVE...
And we can see that BELIEVING in Jesus DOES NOT INCLUDE - loving the praise and glory of men.
do you see that?
HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE - when you receive glory from one another?
It’s saying - How can you BELIEVE IN JESUS - when you seek the glory of man?
you DON’T believe - when you seek the glory of man...
So BELIEVING in Jesus means abandoning the craving for HUMAN PRAISE…
…and caring MORE about the praise of God!
Now let’s go to John 6
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
We’ve seen this verse before - but what is it really saying?
It’s saying that - BELIEVING in Jesus entails BEING SATISFIED with Jesus...
It means that Jesus is the FOOD that satisfies your SOUL HUNGER...
And so BIBLICAL BELIEF in Jesus - IS NOT - simply believing something about Jesus to be a fact.
Based on these other verses in the Bible - we could ACCURATELY rewrite (paraphrase) verse 12...
to read this way
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
This is BIBLICAL!
And yet - let’s look a little deeper at this verse...
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
To those who Receive Jesus, who believe in His name, He (Jesus) gives THE RIGHT (authority) to become children of God...
Question: How does this RIGHT (authority) fit in to the equation of SALVATION?
Here’s how I believe this RIGHT or Authority fits into the equation...
Let’s look at Romans 4
23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,
24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Lots to see in this passage...
What I want to focus in on is verse 25...
It says - Jesus was DELIVERED UP (killed) - for our trespasses…(SINS)
and
He was raised - for our justification…(right standing before God)
Now think back to our text today…v12
To those who RECEIVE and BELIEVE in Jesus - to them Jesus GIVES the right to become children of God
It’s clear that JESUS - HOLDS the KEY to the Kingdom…right?
That it’s ONLY - THRU Jesus that we get to heaven!
NOW - we’ve talked about this before...
WHAT’s the REQUIREMENT for us to get to HEAVEN?
Answer = perfection...
So - what’s TECHNICALLY our problem - with perfection being the requirement?
We’re SINNERS…right? - that’s the first problem!
So let’s say - OK, we can have our sins forgiven!
Does having our SINS forgiven NOW MEAN that we’re perfect?
NO!
We would STILL need the PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS that’s required to get to heaven!
SO - when it comes to what we NEED...
We need - our SINS forgiven...
And - Perfect Righteousness applied to us...
What does Romans 4:25 say?
Jesus was DELIVERED UP (killed) for our trespasses...
…and RAISED for our justification...
And in this verse we see that BOTH of our needs are met! By Christ!
Let’s start with the end of the verse...
The resurrection of Christ - proved that the RIGHTEOUS requirement of the law - was fulfilled!
Jesus was DELIVERED UP (killed) for our trespasses...
He BECAME sin on our behalf...
and IN HIS DEATH - He took upon Himself the wrath of God due us!
THAT took care of our sins!
He paid our PRICE...
BUT THEN He was raised!
And His resurrection PROVED that the Law (which REVEALS sin) did not WIN!
Christ won…He FULFILLED the law!
He was PERFECTLY RIGHTEOUS...
And it’s HIS RESURRECTION that now demonstrates that we can - BY FAITH in HIM - stand JUSTIFIED OURSELVES before God
We’re justified - because HE is justified!
And if that wasn’t enough...
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
There are roughly 131 million births every year...
That’s 360,000 births per day...
That’s 15,000 births each hour...
AND ALL of them - people born of the flesh...
Born of the will of man...
But when it comes to SPIRITUAL CREATION...
THAT’S God’s work…!
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Sounds important no?
Jesus says - we MUST be BORN AGAIN if we’re going to see Heaven...
But HOW DO WE MAKE THAT HAPPEN?
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Jesus says - This is out of your control!
God chooses you before you choose Him...
The question for you is: Do you RECEIVE Jesus for who He truly is?
Do you BELIEVE in what He’s done for you?
What did He do?
He DIED for your sins…WHY?
The bible teaches that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s GLORY!
The Bible teaches that ALL of mankind is in NEED of rescue!
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The question is - DO YOU BELIEVE this?
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Let he who boasts....boast in the LORD!
Will you become a CHILD of God today?
SLIDE: SUMMARY
Receive Jesus Christ
Believe in Jesus Christ
Let’s pray