John #04 - ... To All Who Received
That you may believe … and have life #4 - Gospel of John
John 1:10-13
Mothers And Arithmetic
A teacher in one of our public schools put this question to little James in the arithmetic class, "James, suppose your mother made a peach pie, and there were ten of you at the table-your mother and father and eight children-how much of the pie would you get?" "A ninth, ma'am," was the prompt answer. "No, no, James. Now pay attention," said the teacher. "There are ten of you. Ten, remember. Don't you know your fractions?" "Yes, ma'am," was the swift reply of little James, "I know my fractions, but I know my mother, too. She'd say that she didn't want any pie."
Lord Shaftesbury said give me a generation of Christian mothers, and I will undertake to change the whole face of society in 12 months
Prayer's Chain Reaction
Picture an old woman with a halo of silvered hair-the hot tears flowing down her furrowed cheeks-her worn hands busy over a washboard in a room of poverty-praying-for her son John-John who ran away from home in his teens to become a sailor-John of whom it was now reported that he had become a very wicked man-praying, praying always, that her son might be of service to God. The mother believed in two things, the power of prayer and the reformation of her son. God answered the prayer by working a miracle in the heart of John Newton.
John Newton, the sailor-preacher. Among the thousands of men and women he brought to Christ was Thomas Scott, cultured, selfish, and self-satisfied. Because of the washtub prayers another miracle was worked, and Thomas Scott used both his pen and voice to lead thousands of unbelieving hearts to Christ, among them a dyspeptic, melancholic young man, William Cowper by name. He, too, was washed in the cleansing blood and in a moment of inspiration wrote "There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood." And these song has brought countless thousands to the Man who died on Calvary. All this resulted because a mother took God at His word and prayed that her son's heart might become as white as the soapsuds in the washtub.
Well we've been in John 1
In the beginning was the word, who was with God and was God. He made everything that was made.
But despite the fact that he made everything, he is Lord of everything, he is light in the midst of darkness, he came to his own people and they wouldn't receive him. We also realized last time that we, his own followers, are guilty of failing to receive Christ when he comes to us. Failing to follow, failing to believe his revelation
But the good news is that there isn't JUST an indictment on those who don't receive, there is a promise for those who do, a promise for inclusion into the family.
Family, isn't that one of the things that we all want, that we all need? Family?
Don't we celebrate family today?
One of the beautiful things we celebrate about Mothers is their selfless love that receives and rewards us more than we deserve.
A mother's love is always there, but oh when we receive it … we live in the blessing of it
So much more the unconditional love available because of the Word of God, Jesus Christ.
Return with me to verse 10 and read through verse 13
READ 10-13
So many look at Jesus with indifference
So many look at Jesus with ignorance
So many look at Jesus with insolence
However,
But,
Yet,
To as many as
To all that received …
How do we make the shift from being apart from him to being IN him?
We find a hint in verse 10 … and we talked about it 2 weeks ago
Before we can receive … we've got to recognize
1. Recognition
What is it to recognize God? To Recognize Jesus?
People want to talk about God, in the generic sense. It is not offensive to them.
When they get offended is when we want to bring Jesus into the equation
They don't want to recognize him.
First we have to be Aware
> Awareness
We have to realize who he is
That's why John wrote verses 1-3
God is not a life force
God is not just a generic being or a higher power
God is a self-existent, self-sustaining, self-revealing intelligent God. He has chosen to reveal himself in Father, Son, and Spirit.
John sought to make us aware that this Jesus is our Creator and that awareness is step one
Awareness should lead us to step two
> Respect
If he is Creator God, then I have to respect his rights over this universe and thus his rights over me
If he is ruler, then I have to respect his right to rule in my life
If he orders this universe, he orders the world
He should order my life
To respect means "the quality of being esteemed" …
Is. 53:3 says "he is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not"
What do you recognize? What do you
Respect and esteem? Those that follow the way of faith esteem and Respect Christ above all
Heb 11:26 speaking of Moses says "he regarded (or esteemed) disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward."
Awareness of God is step one to recognition, Respect is step two and that leads to step three …
> Fear -
Deuteronomy 6:13 (NIV)
13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.
Ps 19:9 says the Fear of the Lord is pure and endures forever …
You want to know where to go, what to do?
Ps 25:12 says that the one who fears the Lord, finds the Lord instructs him in the way chosen for him …
And 25:14 says the Lord confides in those who fear him
And of course Ps 11:10 says that wisdom begins in the Fear of the Lord
What is it? Psalm 34 instructs us … it is of course recognizing God's place, his authority and loving him more than life. It is living your life as if in his presence all the time. It is walking in the way he would have you to walk.
Simply put, the fear of the Lord is living your life under the gaze of God.
So, there were those that did NOT recognize him … but those who did recognize him, take the natural step of receiving him
2. Reception
What does that mean? To receive him …
> Accept
We use that word a lot … we talk about Accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior.
The English word accept, means "to receive willingly; to give approval to; to recognize as true; to make a favorable response to"
To receive him we must accept, willingly receive, approving of his way over ours, his truth over our understanding, respond with a resounding "Yes Lord"
And
> Embrace Him
The word means "to clasp in the arms, to cherish, love; to take up readily or gladly, to welcome"
What a powerful image of receiving Christ is the word embrace
How do you feel about Jesus?
Do you tolerate his way or embrace it
Do you cherish him
To Receive Christ fully is a deep emotional as well as intellectual decision
Cherish means "to hold dear: feel or show affection for; to cultivate with care and affection; to entertain in the mind deeply and resolutely"
> Invite
To receive Christ we have to take him in fully, embracing him as Lord, accepting his place in your life.
It is more than just saying "sure come on in" …
The word translated "received" is lambano - defined to take with the hand, lay hold of … in order to use it; to take up a thing in order to be carried … to associate with as a companion; to apprehend; to receive what is offered; to give access to one's self
Let the fullness of that invitation to sink in for a minute.
Every Sunday when I preach, every time I share a witness with someone I encourage them to invite Jesus into their lives, to ask him in.
Did you catch that definition?
To Receive Christ is to reach out and take hold of him as with your hand, to lay hold of for the purpose of using, to take up in order to carry, to associate as a companion, to receive what is offered, to give access to one's self.
There are so many things that you lay hold of …
There are things that you receive into your life
There are things that you give control to …
There are people and things that you give access to your life …
but my question is … what is the result of receiving them?
Because John makes it clear to us that there is a Reward to all who receive
3. Reward
(reread v12)
TO all … that tells me there is room for me … room for you
All who receive … all who believe on his name … who believe he is who he says he is and receive that … take it up carry it associate with it …
But what's in it for me … for you? The power to become …
> power to become
Oh we are so often handcuffed by the fears that we don't have the power to become
We are held back by feeling that we can't become what we dream of becoming
We can't become what God wants us to become
We can't become Great
But in Christ … there is POWER …
What does that mean?
NIV translates it Right …
He Empowered us … he gave us a right or a power that we don't have
Exousia /ex-oo-see-ah/ - power of choice, ability or strength that is endued to be exercised, power of authority; power of rule; authority to manage domestic affairs; regal authority a crown
When we give him our lives, when we receive him as Lord, when we receive his sacrifice for us, dying in our place,
The ability to become is not ours … we don't have the right or the power, but when we receive him … we have the right the …
Power to Become … what does that word "become" mean
Ginomai /ghin-om-ahee/ to come into existence, to receive being, to arise, to appear in history, to come upon the stage
We have been given the right, the power to become to take the stage, to become something we never were before or could have been on our own … and that is …
> children of God
Wow, the children of God, with all the rights and privileges that come with being the children of God
The Expanded Translation reads this way
As many as appropriated Him, he gave to them the legal right to become born-ones of God, to those who place their trust in his name.
He gave us the right to be CHILDREN of God. The word children is the word teknon - a male child
He gave us all the right be me MALE children in Christ.
Now don't get bent out of shape ladies, in their economy, this is GOOD news
Galatians 3 says there is neither jew, gentile, slave, free, man or woman in Christ. But it says all of those, verse 26 … "you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus 27 you were baptized into Christ and have clothed yourselves in Christ … 29 If you believe to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Then it moves to Chapter 4:6 "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out 'Abba, Father' 7 so you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir."
In Christ, when we embrace him fully for who he is taking up his name as one takes up a cross to follow him, believing fully that he is who he says he is … we place ourselves in him and we gain the right, given by God to become heirs the to the promise. Joint heirs with Christ Jesus
Hosea 1:10 is a beautiful prophesy for us … "… in the place where it is said 'you are NOT my people' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'
Not only the children of God … but also
> children because of God
Now this is really an interesting statement. It is interesting, because the first to read this, would have been the People of Israel. They are the children of God, aren't they? So didn't they already have that right?
Obviously not …
Look at verse 13 … we become the children of God upon believing in and trusting in Jesus, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
What a clear and beautiful picture of the negative side of how we do NOT come to Christ.
John gives three NOTs to the spiritual birthing process.
Literally the three are these
Haima - bloodline
Thelema sarx - your will, desires, wishes of the flesh
Thelema aner - desires of a man or husband
Listen close now, and search your heart. If you claim Christ, your only hope is in a personal faith in Jesus Christ
You are not a child of God because your grandparents were. You are not a children of God because you are born in a "Christian nation" - John was telling them that they are not children of God because they were a child of Israel.
You are not a Christian because you made a decision to be a better person, or because you are morally better in your actions than someone else.
You are not a child of God because your parents baptized you, because your Father told you to attend the church or be a good person.
The only way is born in the heart of God, who so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, who had always existed, and created this world, who holds it together, who stepped into time at Bethlehem and bore our sins on Calvary. So that, if we would realize the reality of our sin and recognize that Jesus Christ is Lord and our substitutionary sacrifice and believe that what God promises can be true … and claim it for ourselves … THEN we can gain the right, the power, to BECOME the children of God.
We are ALL his creation. He loved us ALL equally in giving his son, but we are NOT all his children.
ONLY those who Recognize him, Receive him and then have the right to the Rewards of Sonship.
If you know this and have responded to this, celebrate. Since it wasn't dependent on your worth, but on the worth of Christ, then keeping it is dependent on Christ and not on you so rest in him.
If you have never considered this reality, then you must do something with this truth today.
You cannot gamble your eternal soul on your lineage, your goodness, or anything other than your faith in the provision of God in Christ Jesus.
If you have been basing your salvation on someone else's decision, you need to come to Christ today
If you are basing your salvation on your goodness, you need to come to Christ today
If you are basing your salvation on anything else, come to Christ today.
But if you have placed your hope in Christ alone, you have confessed him as Lord, received him for yourself, followed him in believers Baptism and are walking with him in faith … Worship him for the unmerited Grace that you stand in
You have a blessed Hope
You have a Royal Inheritance
You have the rights and authority of sonship
You have the promise and hope of Heaven and an eternity in God's presence
Praise Him
Praise Him
Praise Him
To As Many
To All
Who receive him, to those whoi believed in his name, he gave the RIGHT the power, to become children of God!
Hallelujah