Believe! Receive!
Believe! Receive!
May 18, 2008
John 1:9-13
Continuing on in our series of messages from the book of John, John resumes his revelation of Jesus’ true nature and purpose in the world. In John1 and verses 9 through 13, we read:
“The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power 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. “
Here is the first reference in John's gospel to the incarnation of Jesus. He was "the true light that gives light to every man." What is this "light" that the "true light" gives to every human being? It is the light of creation. It is the witness that God's creation gives to the existence, the power, and the awesome intellect of God. Jesus is that light, because He is the Creator behind all creation. The creation speaks of God, and Jesus is the creative Word which spoke the creation into being.
This point in John's message raises a question that many people have asked — both Christians and non-Christians. "What about those who have never heard the gospel? How can you say that people who do not know Jesus Christ in a personal way are condemned for eternity if they have never heard of Jesus Christ in this life?"
What these people are really saying is, "Isn't God unfair? We can understand how God could say that people are responsible if they have heard the gospel, if they have Bibles to read or a Christian witness to listen to. But what about those in remote places, people who have never been reached by missionaries, those who have had no opportunity to hear about Jesus? Is God going to condemn them too?" Listen to what Romans 1: For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Brian Derksen has written a beautiful song called “Creation Calls”. The chorus reads “How can I say there is no God/ When all creation calls.”
There are no people who have not heard about God. You may find this a surprising statement, yet this is exactly the point that Paul argues so eloquently and definitively in Romans 10:8 But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, God has planted the seeds of faith in each heart. Now listen to what Paul says toward the end of Romans, chapter 10. But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; "THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD."
But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, "I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER YOU."
And Isaiah is very bold and says, "I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME."
But as for Israel He says, "ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE." All day long God’s hand stretches out to us through His creation. Now, listen to Psalm 19:1-2 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.
I confess to you that I am amazed and a little perplexed that so many scientists — men and women who work on an intimate, daily basis with the marvels of nature, the miracles of modern medicine, and the wonders of high technology — have concluded that the universe came into existence by blind chance! Astronomers explore the heavens — the very heavens that declare God's glory and proclaim the work of His hands — yet many astronomers insist that the billions of galaxies which wheel through the heavens in orderly arrangement just happened! Biologists study the complex interactions of plant and animal life, while talking about the genetic "code" that is written in a strand of DNA — yet many biologists refuse to acknowledge the existence of a "Code-Maker."
All of this complex, fine-tuned order is the result of "blind chance," say unbelieving scientists. And they say Christians believe in miracles! To me, an atheist's faith in "blind chance" is much more miraculous than a Christian's belief in a Cosmic Designer! As someone has observed, it is comparable to having a tornado blow through a junkyard and spontaneously assemble a space shuttle! What is it that blinds human beings to the testimony of nature?
John tells us that God has a witness in the form of the "light" (or revealed truth) of creation. But he also tells us that the "light" that is revealed by creation has also been personified in Jesus. The light has walked among us. The light has demonstrated God's power by commanding the wind and the waves to be still. The light has turned water into wine, has taken simple elements of bread and fish and fed thousands of people, has delivered men and women from crippling disease and blindness and death. The Creator, says John, has stood in our midst.
The true light, that sheds a revealing light on everyone, came into the world—the world that he had made. As it says in verse 10: "He was in the world and the world was made through him." Cut Knife and all the area around it and everyone in them—including you and me—were made through him. As verse 3 says, "All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made."
Therefore when it says, he came to "his own" for that's what verse 11 says, "He came to his own." He came to what belongs to him by right of creation. He came to his own possession, his own domain, the house of humanity that he had built for a dwelling place.
But verse 11 goes on, "But his own received him not." He came to Cut Knife and they received him not. They rejected him in their stores with "Seasons' Greetings" instead of "CHRISTmas." They rejected him in their restaurants with "Happy Holidays" instead of "CHRISTmas." They rejected him in their secular marketing exploitation of his birthday. They rejected him with a thousand knick-knacks and baubles instead of a baby in a manger. They rejected him in their stripped down carols and nonsense tunes. They rejected him in their public schools, and even in their churches, with Christ-less plays. And they rejected Him at Easter by substituting a rabbit for the crucified Christ who raised Himself from a stone-cold tomb after paying the ultimate price for our salvation. A rabbit who lays eggs! How bizarre is that? That would take a miracle!
He came to his own and his own received him not. As John 3:19–20 says, "This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who is evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." The light came to his own and his own were in love with the dark. And so they did not receive the light.
What's more, the Creator came to His own people as the Messiah, the promised One, and was not received. "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him," says John 1:11. This is clearly a reference to the people and to the land of Israel. Jesus came to the place where God had put His name, to the land that had been promised to Abraham. He came to the temple that was dedicated to God the Father. Yet His own people — the chosen people who had been instructed for centuries about the coming suffering Servant of Jehovah who would take their sin upon himself — would not receive Him.
Ray Stedman talks about a discussion he had in a meeting with eleven Reformed Jewish rabbis in Los Angeles. “We had a very rich and cordial exchange of viewpoints. During that discussion one of the rabbis joked, "You know, when the Messiah comes, we Jews will say to Him, 'Welcome,' and you Christians will say, 'Welcome back.' But the Messiah will say, 'No comment.' "
I laughed — but I did not agree! I believe that when the Messiah returns, He will say what is recorded in the prophecy of Zechariah. In that day, says Zechariah, the Jews will ask Him, "What are these wounds on your body?" And the Messiah will answer, "The wounds I was given at the house of my friends."Truly, Jesus came to His own people, and they did not receive Him.”
So we are confronted right away in John's gospel with the darkness of the world — a darkness resulting from blindness. The Gentiles are blind because they will not acknowledge their Creator, even though He has given a convincing demonstration of His power in nature and in the appearance in our midst of God the Son. The Jews are blind because they cannot see their own long-promised Messiah — even though He has fulfilled all the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. Josh McDowell has written two books, “Evidence that Demand a Verdict” an “More Evidence that Demands a Verdict” listing every Old Testament prophesy fulfilled by Jesus. If you are interested in fact on fact to build your faith, I highly recommend these two books.
Does this mean that Jesus was a failure at what He set out to do? Absolutely not! God always accomplishes His purpose. Despite the world's rejection, despite the Jews' denial of His Messiahship, there were those who believed and received Jesus, the eternal Creator, as their Lord.
"But," verse 12 says, "to all who received him, who believe in his name, he gave authority to become children of God." This means that those who reject the light are not the children of God. God is not everybody's Father. He created everybody, and they are his. But Jesus says in John 8:42, "If God were your Father you would love me." God is not everyone's Father. And the test of who your Father is, is whether you love his Son.
Verses 12 and 13 are so important because they tell us how we may become children of God. O how I want you to fix in your minds this question: "Not everyone is a child of God; am I?" Ask it to yourself right now, "Not everyone is a child of God.” Then ask yourself, “am I?" The difference it makes to you is this: Jesus said in John 8:34–36, "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues for ever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."
In other words, if we will not be children, we will be slaves. And the slave does not remain in the house forever. The children do. What is at stake in becoming a child of God is eternal life. So we ask ourselves that question again: "Not everyone is a child of God; am I?" And now add: "Not everyone will have eternal life; will I?"
Paul says in Romans 8:15–17, "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."
In other words, if you become a child of God, you become an heir of all that God owns. All that belongs to Christ is your inheritance. But if you do not become a child of God, then there will be only judgment. There will be no slaves in heaven, only children. The slaves do not remain in the house forever (8:35). They experience what Jesus calls "the resurrection of judgment" (5:29), and it will be too late for any adoption proceedings.
So we turn to verses 12 and 13 for the all-important answer to the all-important question: How do you become a child of God? What would have to happen this morning to make you a child of God? And if you are a child of God, do you understand how you became one? Can you lead another person into the Father's family? As john 1:12 says, anyone wanting to become a child of God, heir of salvation, must BELIEVE and RECEIVE. Believe that they are a sinner and see that Jesus willingly died for their sin. The believing, they must RECEIVE and free gift of salvation. All have sinned and fallen short and the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23). There is eterrnal life in no one except Jesus (John14:6; Acts 4:12). Scripture is clear on this point. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans10:9) And you will have life everlasting and His Spirit will dwell in you (Romans 8:11) Pray God will give you the opportunity to lead others to become His children!
Wrapped up in today’s key passage is yet another of the many mysterious paradoxes of Scripture: Again and again it seems that God allows everything to appear to be totally lost. Though the Messiah was rejected and the Creator was spurned, still God was at work in the midst of that rejection, producing an entirely new creation, a whole new society of people. (This may happen in your own life as well, so you had better be ready for it!) Just when it appears that all is lost, that all your hopes are dashed, that all your dreams are doomed to failure — that's when God may work! And that's what God does here.
It starts, as John tells us, like the old creation: with a birth. Every human being comes into the world by birth. There is no other way. And every human being who would enter the new kingdom must come in by re-birth. There’s no other way. (Later in the book of John, we will see Jesus astonish one of the leaders and teachers of Israel with the news that he must be "born again.")
In verse 13, John goes on to list the many ways people mistakenly think they can come to God. He says, first, that the new birth is "not of natural descent" (some translations say, "not of blood"). That means not by inheritance, not by human ancestry. You cannot get into the kingdom of God, or be born into the family of God, by being raised in a Christian family. You can't inherit the kingdom of God like you would inherit brown eyes or a dimpled chin. You can grow up in a Christian home, attend a Christian school, spend all your life involved in Christian activities, but you are not a member of the kingdom until you are truly "born again."
Second, the new birth is not by "human decision” or the will of the flesh. You cannot make yourself a Christian by positive thinking or by making a resolution or by deciding to live a good life. The kingdom has been opened to you by God's decision, by God's own sovereign will. It is a gift to you by God's grace — not something you accomplished by your own volition. 2 Corinthians 9:15 says, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift”
Third, the new birth is not by "a husband's will," or as some versions translate it, "the will of man." When you were born into this world, it was not your idea; it was your parents' choice. But when you are reborn into the new kingdom, there is no other human will involved. Your parents may pray with you and instruct you and take you to church every Sunday, but they cannot cause you to be "born again." Nobody can make you a Christian. No pastor, elder, bishop, archbishop, priest, or pope can make you a Christian. You cannot be reborn by a ceremony, by reading a creed, by standing up or sitting down, by going forward or by kneeling at a bench. None of that makes you a Christian.
John says that God's children can only be "born of God." It is a new birth, accomplished by God within the human heart. Because it is all God's doing, no one else's, it is an accomplishment beyond any human effort, any human cleverness, any human manipulation.
The new birth is available "to all who received him," says John. Not merely all who "believe" in Him, but all who receive Him. Many people say, "I believe in Jesus. I believe He lived, died, and rose again. I believe He was who He said He was." But that doesn't make you a Christian.
Only when you receive Him, yield to Him, and surrender yourself to His lordship do you truly become a Christian. "He who has the Son has life," said the apostle John in his first letter. "He who does not have the Son of God does not have life." It is just that simple. If you receive Him, invite (1John 5:12) Him to be Lord, and ask Him to take over control of your life, you will enter the kingdom of God. You will be re-born.
The rebirth experience takes place deep in the human spirit. God accomplishes this miracle. It is not something you can do, and you may not even feel it happening. Just as a mother does not feel the moment when a baby first begins to form within her, when the egg and sperm unite and the cells begin to multiply, you cannot always sense the precise moment when the process of re-birth begins. There may not be a rush of ecstatic emotions. There may not be any sensation of change at all.
But the new life has begun, and God knows the moment and God nurtures the new life and God controls its growth. New life has sprung up within you, and with it comes light — the light of God's truth and spiritual understanding — for as John says, "that life is the light of men." The eyes of your understanding.
The Bible will take on new meaning for you. Once you receive new life, the Book will provide new light. It will make sense where it never made sense before. What was once dull and uninviting will take on a new radiance and fascination. That is a mark of a new birth. God’s love letter to you will gradually become clear. You will no longer be reading someone else’s mail!
In time, and by God's grace, that new life will change you and mold you into the likeness of Christ himself. It is a growth process that takes time and patience. Do not resist this growth process. Remember, we are commanded “to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior.” (2 Peter 3:18) You do not suddenly, by magic, become a new creature. You grow after your re-birth just as a baby grows after the first birth. God has designed it so. But God's promise to you is sure: "To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."
Think of the encouraging power of those words: "the right to become." That is what God gives. He does not wave a magic wand over us and change us, like Cinderella's fairy godmother changed a pumpkin into a coach! He begins a process. At times, it is a difficult process.
We resist that process, like babies sometimes resist growing up. Sometimes I think babies are a little over-romanticized. If we parents are honest, we must admit that there are times when babies are not very nice creatures to be around. Someone once said, "A baby is a digestive apparatus with a loud noise at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other!" But babies are human beings — and eventually they grow to become mature human beings.
So it is with the new creation.
If you have never received Jesus as Lord of your life, then why not do so now. But most of all, receive Jesus now so that the rest of your life — including your eternal life — will make sense. Surrender to Jesus. Ask Him to take control. Experience the second birth. Then begin the process of daily becoming more and more like Jesus. Enroll yourself in His school of higher learning.
Don't worry that you don't know how to be a Christian. Don't worry that you don't know how to act like a Christian or how a Christian is supposed to pray. Just talk to God, tell Him what's on your heart, tell Him you mean business and you want Him to be in control of your life. He'll hear and He'll act and He'll do all the work. He is the sanctifier of His children. He who calls you is faithful; He will do it. (1Thess. 5:23-24)
Verse 12 sets two conditions: receiving Jesus and believing Jesus: "But to all who received him, who BELIEVE in his name, he gave authority to become children of God."
Receiving Jesus means that when Jesus offers himself to you, you welcome him into your life for what he is.
He comes to you as Savior, so welcome his salvation.
He comes to you as Leader, so welcome his leadership.
He comes to you as Provider, so welcome his provision.
He comes to you as Counselor, so welcome his counsel.
He comes to you as Protector, o welcome his protection.
He comes to you as Authority, so welcome his authority.
He comes to you as King, so welcome his rule.
Receiving Jesus means taking Jesus into your life for all he is. It does not mean a kind of peaceful co-existence with a Christ who makes no claims—as though he can stay in the house as long as he doesn't play his music too loud.
When Jesus preached in Nazareth in Luke 4:15ff., the people received him gladly. It says in Luke 4:22, "All spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth." But a few verses later it says in Luke 4:28 they were "filled with wrath" and tried to throw him down from a cliff. They were happy to receive him while his words were pleasing. But when their pride was fingered, they rejected him. Receiving Jesus does not mean a kind of peaceful co-existence with a Christ who makes no claims on your life. Receiving Jesus means taking him into all of your life (your home, your school, your work, your marriage, your dreams) All!.
That's the first condition in verse 12: receiving Jesus, the light of the world. The second condition is believing in his name: "But all who received him, who believe [present tense!] in his name, he gave authority to become children of God."
What does believing in the name of Jesus mean? Let's do a little tour of this gospel to find out. First look at John 3:18 to see that believing in the NAME of Jesus is virtually the same as believing in Jesus. John 3:18 says "He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." Here believing "in him" and believing "in his name" are used interchangeably. The "name" simply emphasizes the full stature and dignity and authority of the person.
Next look at John 5:43–44, where "receive" and believe" are used again in close connection, the way they are in 1:12. "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?"
Do you see what verse 44 implies about believing? It implies that you can't believe in Jesus if you love the praise and glory of men. This means that believing is so contrary to pride and self-exaltation that it involves a deep humbling. It means abandoning the craving for human praise, and caring more about the praise of God. Believing is not merely intellectual assent to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God.
Next look at John 6:33-35. "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." This verse teaches that believing in Jesus means being satisfied with Jesus. It means that Jesus is the food that feeds the hunger of your soul. Believing is not merely intellectual assent to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God; it also means getting all your fulfillment from Him. Are you doing that? Are you getting all your fulfillment from Him?
We could go on to John 8:42 and 12:36 and 12:46–49. All these texts, plus the ones we have seen, show that believing is a deep work in our heart. It includes breaking free from the craving for human praise and it includes being satisfied with Jesus as the bread of life, and it means abiding in His light.
So I would paraphrase verse 12 like this: "But all who received Jesus into their lives for who he really is, and who feed upon him as the all-satisfying bread of life, to them he gave authority to become the children of God."
We need to be spiritually born. We need to have spiritual life. That is what God does without any help from us—"not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God." We are born of God by a free act of sovereign grace. He chooses us before we choose him.
He sent his Spirit to quicken us and make us pass from death to life. And so he overcomes the first obstacle to our salvation – our spiritual deadness/darkness.
In perfect harmony with the work of his Spirit God sent his Son, the Lamb of God, to die for our sin (John 1:29) and remove the guilt of all who believe in him. So the moment we believe in him and receive Him, even though we are sinners, we are authorized in him to lay hold of the inheritance of the children of God. And so the second obstacle to our salvation is removed – our sinfulness.
This is a great salvation for sinners like you and me. It is full and free and corresponds to our exact need and condition. I offer it to you this morning in the name of Jesus. Receive him as he really is. Believe in him as the all-satisfying end of your search for peace. Believe! Receive!